Well, Well, Well? The making of an arthouse film

Fieldwork has taken a bit of a back burner this year for I have been involved in a very exciting project which has just come to fruition. Almost a year ago I was contacted by Marie Brett, an award winning visual artist, who wondered if I might be interested in working with her on an art project centred around holy wells. I had worked briefly with Marie once before when she invited me to lead an expedition to a holy well as part of the outreach programme based on her exhibition The Hidden mountain, The Fort and the Five Trees, held at the Sirius Gallery, Cobh. We had a very damp but enjoyable encounter at Lady’s Well, near Cloyne and both admired each other’s work and enthusiasm.

A new project sounded intriguing and I jumped in and said yes!

She explained that she was hoping to produce a series of art works focusing on the healing, rituals and folklore surrounding holy wells. My job would be researcher and community-liaison which sounded interesting if terrifying! First she wondered if I might consider some holy wells that might be suitable. Her requirements were fairly straightforward: an active well, that could be walked around, which had some interesting folklore and possibly where full immersion was traditional. Where to start? I hummed and haaed and came up with four possibilities: Tubrid Well in Millstreet and Lady’s Well near Liscarroll, County Cork, and Tobar na Molt, Ardfert and St Michael’s Well, Lixnaw, County Kerry. We spent an enjoyable couple of days visiting the wells, taking photos and making notes. A post-visit discussion and Marie revealed she loved all of them! Plan B.

We then went back for a couple of days of serious investigation. I had done a little further research and was delighted to find that each well appeared to have a custodian and we arranged to meet them and see if they were happy to consent to the project and come on board. How fortunate we were to find everybody totally supportive and welcoming, as they have remained throughout the project.

At Tubrid Well, James Ó Sullivan has created a safe and welcoming space, one that is used by a constant stream of visitors – some paying the rounds, some taking the water, others praying by the grotto.

At Tobar na Molt, Annamarie and Richard Ó Flaherty take great pride in providing a welcoming and attractive space, beautifully maintained. Again the well is constantly in use and feels as though you are in a little enclosed haven, surrounded by trees.

St Michael’s Well, Lixnaw is in the care of Tim Joe Connell and the well committee. A very different enclosed space but immaculately kept and again very welcoming and much visited and valued by the community.

Perhaps less well known than the first three, Lady’s Well, Liscarroll has been in the care of Maureen Crowley’s family for generations and is also a source of great pride and respect and mainly visited in May. At first we couldn’t find Maureen although we were greeted enthusiastically by the resident dog, Pippa!

Thus encouraged we applied for funding and were delighted to eventually be supported by the Arts Council, CreativeIreland and Kerry Arts. We could now swing into serious action. We wanted the project to be fully community-led and were happy for the project to develop and evolve as we proceeded. First we wanted to hear people’s first-hand stories and encounters – how were holy wells used today, what did people do at them, why did they go there, were there examples of healing to be had? We held story-gathering workshops in both Cork and Kerry- kindly hosted in the public libraries in Bandon, Kinsale and Millstreet, Ceolann Hall in Ardfert, the Community Hall in Abbeydorney and in Annmarie’s bungalow in Ardfert.

Some brave souls even came to two creative writing workshops held in Millstreet and Ardfert.

These were wonderful events and we were astonished and encouraged by how important holy wells remain to people on many different levels. Stories were shared, some profound and emotional, many with a focus on healing and recovery. A big thank you to everyone who came and contributed experiences, and to each venue for their hospitality. What lively, dynamic places libraries have become!

Further information and contacts were made by visiting the wells on their the pattern days. I managed to attend St Michael’s Well on the 29th September, Tobar na Molt on the 16th May and Tubrid on the last Friday in May. Each pattern was very well attended with an open air Mass and then water from the wells was enthusiastically gathered. Good to see.

As the project progressed we tried to reach out to as many interested people as possible, enlarging our community to include landowners, custodians, healers, folklorists, poets, farmers, academics, musicians, storytellers, archivists and creatives. A special thank you here to the National Folklore Collection held in UCD and Seán Radley at Millstreet.ie for their help.

One further development included the production of a chapbook. We were keen to involve experts who were working in interesting areas connected with holy wells and hoped to include a series of essays in the booklet. We approached appropriate academics and were delighted by the response, eventually receiving contributions from: Prof Bruce Misstear, Fellow Emeritus at Trinity who specialises in hydrogeology and has recently published a study of the chemical components of the water of holy wells; Dr Ronan Foley, Maynooth who has conducted many studies into therapeutic landscapes – why do places such as holy wells make us feel better; Dr Richard Scriven, UCC whose specialism is cultural geography including pilgrimage; Dr Lucy Wright, Axis, an artist who examines female-led folk customs with a nice subversive touch and Dr Jenny Butler, UCC whose specialism lies in world religions, especially pagan and folk religions. The booklet also contains a poem by Alan Cooke, the Wild Irish Poet, one of the many interesting people we met on our journey, as well as anonymous quotes and stories gathered at the workshops.

Finally it was time for the filming and a week in July saw us visiting three of the wells – St Michael’s Well, Tobar na Molt and Lady’s Well. (Tubrid Well supplies the town of Millstreet with its drinking water and although a large well, does not have a tradition of immersion so although we did not include it in the final filming, we did make it the focus of our event for Culture Night). A crew of two cameramen, a photographer, a choreographer, a producer, two dancers, Marie’s daughter and husband and me, worked under Marie’s guidance as the story of a young man encountering a guardian of the well emerged, the film depicting his often uncomfortable road to ultimate healing. The weather was kindish but not warm and the two dancers were both submerged in the wells several times! There were flowers, endless bottles of water, and finally some pink flamingos!

Special thanks to the custodians for their cups of tea, sandwiches, buns, apple pies, showers and great humour and kindness!

As a prelude to the opening of the exhibition, we held an event at Tubrid Well for Culture Night, 20th September. Two votive-making workshops were held in Millstreet Library the day before, which were enormous fun. Marie showed us how to make lotus blossoms out of greaseproof paper which were then filled with a candle and fresh flowers. I found them incredibly difficult but one kind participant took home some extra sheets of papers and made another 50!

We checked they floated and were relieved to find they did!

At around 7.30, on the Friday night, around dusk, people started to arrive. Candles were lit, offerings slipped quietly into the water and loved ones remembered, all to a haunting and ethereal soundtrack of music especially composed by singer-songwriter Maija Sofia and musician and folklorist Billy Mag Fhlionn. I think about 70 people participated, from babies to elders and it was was a remarkable event – profound and meaningful, and it looked beautiful.

Finally we were ready for the exhibition and invitations were sent out for the opening event held at Siamsa Tíre, Tralee. the National Folk Theatre.

The exhibition opened on the 3rd October and included the screening of the short arthouse film, a series of fine art prints and the chapbook of essays plus postcards.

The evening was a wonderful celebratory event with all holy well custodians in attendance plus many other people we had met on our travels.

After an introduction and welcome by the CO of Siamsa Tíre, Marie spoke of her original vision and described how the project had evolved. She thanked the creative team for their professionalism and ease.

Then I said a few words about the community aspect, in particular the value of the custodians and the kindness and generosity of the extended community.

The exhibition was formally opened by Alan Cooke, writer, film-maker and poet, who described his profound respect for holy wells and their stories, and he recited the poem he had composed especially for the project.

The evening was rounded off in lively fashion by some songs from well known rambling man Sonny Egan – another of the many engaging people we met on our journey.

A very enjoyable finale.

The next morning we quietly sat and revisited the film. It is one of those films that you will take something new from each time you watch it. The story is simple yet profound, a young man visits a holy well and encounters the guardian – though whether he is aware of this is left mysterious. Through rounding, taking the water, and being fully immersed in the water he eventually emerges from his experiences a different person. There are some light and lovely touches, the strewn flowers, the water bottles handed from hand to hand, the feet of the guardian disappearing into the changing house, the young man drenched and covered in flowers, the final shot of him shivering (real shivers), the guardian sitting calm and all seeing behind him. The music, is haunting and lingering. Here’s a taster:

The exhibition is on in Tralee until the end of October and will be moving to the Working Artist Studios in Ballydehob, West Cork from the 8th November. Do come and have a look.

The exhibition opened on the 8th November and was another enjoyable evening, attracting an interesting and interested crowd. Here’s the room before the visitors arrived.

Apologies for all the links! And thanks to the following for their photographs: Peter Clarke, Gail Tangney & Jack Ó Callaghan. Special thanks to the calm and visionary Marie Brett, the custodians of the holy wells and all the many interesting people we met on the way.