It’s been a while since we had a proper fieldtrip and this one was bittersweet – the first time we had ventured out without Robert, our dear friend, husband of Finola, and one half of Roaringwater Journal, who sadly passed away in March. Although much missed he seemed ever present and I know he would have loved this trip.
Finola accompanied us and we were joined by two other friends, Con and Una, as we ventured into County Tipperary and beyond. Con was doing a recce for the annual field trip for the Irish Society of Antiquaries and had various possible sites that needed visiting and checking. I had one or two things on my list as well! First stop Cahir and Tobar Íosa, Jesus Well.
Tobar Íosa, Jesus Well, Cahir
This is just off the busy M8 but as soon as you leave the motorway and head down the small roads you arrive in a peaceful cul de sac. The name of the well, Tobar Íosa, Jesus Well, is clearly seen on the gate and a carved stone sporting a simple Latin cross announces that something special lies ahead.
The walk to the well is enchanting, fringed by an avenue of massive poplar trees, planted around 30 years ago, shimmering slightly in the breeze.
The site has seems to have changed little since described by teacher Herbert T Kenny of Garryclogher National School in the 1930s:
Near the town of Cahir is a holy well called ‘Tobar Íosa’. It is nicely situated under the shadow of the eastern abuttment of the Galtees. There are two ‘wells’ with a stream and the ’rounds’ include walking round both wells and walking in the stream for a certain distance. This hallowed spot is plentifully supplied with statues, big and small, and various religious objects. Numerous cures have been attributed to the performance of the ’rounds’ and there is no specified time when they may be performed. (SFC: 119:0569)
These images from the National Folklore Photographic Collection show how the site looked in the 1950s. The area is verdant and leafy with two wells close to each other, each stone lined.
Behind them are a circle of mature trees and two shrines have been built onto a chunky wall.
This entry from the Irish Tourist Association Topographical and General Survey for County Tipperary (ITA) from the 1940s, clearly describes how the two wells had distinct purposes:
This well is still in some repute although there is no fixed annual pilgrimage … It consists of two parts, one the drinking well, enclosed by a circular wall, and the second, the washing well, enclosed by four walls. There are also two shrines containing numerous statues. (ITA)
This photo, taken sometime pre 2007 shows the wells, the shrines and a rag tree. A bottle on the wall of the wells hints that the water is still being taken.
The site looks remarkably similar today, with two wells, two shrines and a neat pathway for the rounds.
However, there have been some enormous changes in recent years. Coming across Megalithic Ireland’s account of the well visited in early 2019, I was surprised to see no sign of the shrines, their site occupied by a stone altar with a cross slab on it. Jim Dempsey explains that the cross slab was not in its original position but had been found in a bog about 800m away and brought here. He describes it as dating from the 7th/8th century and as: an incised Latin cross with expanded terminals within a circle.
Canon Patrick Power, (priest/archaeological/historian), writing in 1907, gives more information about the cross slab (and the cross at the entrance to the well):
The masonry covering the well is modern though some of the carved stones
inserted are of unknown antiquity. One of the latter with a small inscribed
cross in a circle was found many years ago together with a small rude cross in
a bog close to the Bansha road a full half mile from the well. This information
I had from the actual finder Roger Sheehy aged 80 years at the date of my
interview. The rudely inscribed stone at the gate was placed there by Sheehy himself. (Canon Peter Power, Placenames of the Decies, 1907)
But looking at again at Jim Dempsey’s photos, where were the shrines, so evident in the early photos and on site today? All was revealed in a chat with Ger ÓBrien from the well committee and Cahir Tidy Towns who very kindly supplied me with written information and many photographs of Tobar Íosa. It seems that around 2007 the site had become very neglected and the shrines and statues were suddenly removed by the then owners. This caused huge dismay and the photos below show the immediate aftermath. Thankfully the cross slab remained and, although vandalised itself a couple of years later, still survives – later discovered in one of the shrines.
When the site eventually changed hands in 2018, everywhere looked rather forlorn and unloved.
The new owners, Coolmore Farms, were keen to work with the community to preserve and enhance this special place. Cahir Tidy Towns stepped in, and with the full cooperation of the new owners, instigated a renovation project. Work began in September 2019. The site was tidied and focus went on rebuilding the grottoes. They arrived on the back of a lorry with help from the County Council!
They were identical to the originals with similar shaped frames, also painted red and were erected in the original spaces. The final touches included the arrival of the statue of the Sacred Heart which looked heavy!
The end result was very pleasing. The cross slab was protected in the shrine to the right, where I was delighted to find that it still remains.
Other improvements included tidying up around the wells and creating a clear path so that rounds could be paid more easily.
Today the circular well is still considered to be the main well and is known as the Upper Well. It is joined to the Lower Well by a small channel running under the dividing wall. The water in each is clear, cold and percolating and holds a cure for sores, warts and other diseases. Miraculous cures have been attributed to it:
Above Cahir Abbey at the foot of the spur of the Galtees called Bengurragh there is a curious little holy well known as tobar íosa. Its name points to its early days. Once upon a time, a man had only one leg and a half, and he did his ’rounds’ in the well and when he went back he had his two legs and was walking as good as ever. He thanked God when he was going away and he said he hoped he would not be long going to Tipperary so that he could tell his friends what happened. He brought three stones in his pocket in memory of the holy well. He met three men when he landed at home in Tipperary. They were delighted when they saw him, and he asked them was there any blind or lame so that he could tell them about this miraculous well. They said that there was a deaf man and a blind man and they set them to it, and they came back again cured as good as ever. The blind man could see and the deaf man could hear, as good as ever, and from that day until this they are going to it, and coming back cured, and so it is called the ‘Well of Jesus’. (SFC: 078:0576)
This story crops up frequently in the folklore surrounding wells, but what is unusual in this retelling is that both men are cured – often it’s just one.
Today the water heads off down a channel into the undergrowth, vigorous and clear. The shrines continue to be much revered and are full of statues and other offerings, their protective grills easily opened.
The cross slab remains on the large flat slab which is considered to have once been used an altar or Mass rock during Penal Times.
It is the starting point of the rounds which are as follows:
At the Altar say seven Paters and Aves and the Creed in honour of the seven joys and sorrows of Our Blessed Lady. Then walk down the grass barefoot and up the stream seven times saying Paters and Aves each time. At the Altar again kneel down and say five Paters and Aves in honour of the Divine Redeemer’s five sacred wounds. Then walk round the wall of the upper Well five times saying a Pater and Ave each time and five times around the inside of the Lower Well. To conclude this devotion wash your feet and hands in the stream, take a drink of water out of the Upper Well and three pebbles to carry about you in remembrance thereof.
Prayers at the Altar to finish: O lord Jesus may I be all yours as you are all mine. Imprint me with your love and humility, your purity and your charity, and your virtue, Amen. O Jesus, who for love of me, did’st bare thy cross to Calvary. In thy sweet mercy, grant me to suffer and die for Thee.
As well as taking three pebbles from the well in remembrance it was also customary to tie a rag onto the holly tree though there wasn’t much evidence of this today. The stones were especially treasured by soldiers from the cavalry barracks at Kilcolman who would collect them before heading off to some faraway posting. Similarly, emigrants would take them with them when going to America or Australia, very much like the pebbles at Barrigone Well in County Limerick.
Three rounds were usual and it was traditional to visit the site on Christmas Eve when pilgrims gathered at midnight with candles inserted into hollowed out turnips as shown in the image below, dating from 1994. Ger described how his mother was a frequent visitor to the well and would always come at 3pm on Christmas Eve or every first Sunday of the month. There is no pattern day held here currently but how nice it would be if it were revived, especially at midnight and with the evocative candles.
What a calm and attractive place, made even more pleasant by the encounter with Eddie Costello, a folk musician of some renown, who was having a quiet moment here with his banjo. He very kindly played a tune for us and that was the icing on the cake!
St Patrick’s Stone
Nearby on the way to the Swiss Cottage (also worth a visit) is a remarkable and rather bizarre monument – a double bullaun stone, literally in the middle of the road!
Known as St Patrick’s Stone, the man himself is said to have been travelling to the Decies in Waterford and stopped to have a quick pray. He knelt down on a handy stone and as he arose left his saintly knee prints.
The Schools’ Folklore Collection relates a strange incident whereby a woman took a fancy to the stone and wanted to add it to her collection. She sent a horse and cart to prise it away and, although initially reluctant, a small group of men who agreed to do the job. On returning with the booty, her horse died and various misfortunes befell her. She was entreated by the citizens of Cahir to return it which she eventually did and the stone was then firmly cemented in place. It is now protected by a chevron infilled with various pebbles. Traces of green paint suggest it was once painted.
The ITA for Tipperary suggests it might have been a termon stone – marking the sacred boundary of nearby Cahir Priory, and describes how it was still an object of veneration in the 1940s.
The water in the stone had a cure for headaches, sores and cuts – just don’t get run over trying to reach it!
T his one made me tear up, with that photograph of Robert doing what he always did, drink the water, no matter how we advised him not to! Tobar Íosa had such a tranquil air, for being so close to town. What a great story this is. Also – those knees – I won’t soon forget that sight!
Yes, I wanted one with him sipping away – fearless. It made me a bit weepy too.
Those knees, Robert would have like them too!