Fresh from marvels connected with St Manchán we then moved onto St Féichín and the Seven Wonders at Fore in neighbouring County Westmeath.
By the time we reached the outskirts of Fore we were gasping for a cuppa and some food. How very fortunate to come across the Barrel and Bean Cafe which not only served a delicious lunch but was rich in creative imagery hinting at what lay in store. You can sip your Americano and marvel at the murals depicting the story of St Féichín.
Should you be tempted you could also avail of their home distilled poitín! It looks very enticing – and almost healthy.
How could anyone not be intrigued by the possibility of seven wonders and spurred on by good coffee and toasties we set off to be enticed. I was especially pleased to find out that Fore is the anglicised version of Fhobhar Féichín or St Féichín’s Spring.
Fore is an enormous site in the middle of nowhere conspicuous for the dramatic and impressive remains of the extensive fortified abbey. The original ecclesiastical settlement was founded by St Féichín in the seventh century but these remains are of the Benedictine abbey dedicated to St Taurin and St Féichín, established in the twelfth century by Hugh de Lacy.
Now, the seven wonders – here they are clearly listed on the walls of the café. Do they still exist and can there be a holy well? Let’s find out …
1. The Monastery built on a bog
Yes, here it is and excavations in 1992 proved that the thirteenth century abbey was indeed built on a bit of flat land in the middle of a bog created by water from nearby Lough Lene.
2. The Mill without a race
St Féichín needed a mill but initially there didn’t seem enough water for a mill race. Helen Cooney of Carpenterstown collected this story from her father, Patrick in the 1930s:
This mill is situated on the right hand side of the road going from Fore to Castlepollard. The saint got the mill built of streams about Fore none of them were strong enough to turn a mill wheel. When the mill was built the mill-wright set the wheel. He considered the Saint very foolish to get a mill built in such a place. St Fechin then took some of his monks with him and crossed the green hill, and went down to Lough Lene. Having arrived at the edge of the lake he struck the rocks and they divided and a river began to flow from that side of the hill underground to the other side. A torrent of water rushed through the hill not far from the mill and set the wheel turning. It is said that the mill-wright was asleep near the wheel and was killed by the sudden turning of the wheel. The Saint was grieved for what happed to the man and restored him to life. There is no mill working in Fore at the present day as where there was once a mill there is only a ruin. (SFC:108:0722)
The actual mill pond has long since dried up and I missed the ruins of the mill but there are still many springs and little streams running through the site.
3. The water that doesn’t boil
As we all know holy well water never boils and should never be used for domestic purposes. The water in question here seems to come from Tobernacogany, possibly meaning Well of the Kitchen. It is encountered just before entering the main monastic site and is at the end of a narrow path. When I visited (October 2025) the well was dry, in fact it was very hard to make out where it actually was.
Peter Harbison, in his book Irish Pilgrimages published in 1991, describes how the water gushed up from underground and a photo in Elizabeth Healy’s book In Search of Ireland’s Holy Wells , 2002, shows the well as being flush with the ground enclosed in a keyhole-shaped stone-lined basin full of water. Tobernacogany was renowned for its cures, especially for toothache and headaches and was visited on St Féichín’s feast day, 20th January, as well as St John’s Day, 24th June, and St Peter’s Day 29th June.
And an interesting snippet from Muadhnaith Ní Fhaoláin, a pupil at Ballynacrea National School, County Meath, who collected it from Rose Gilsenan :
The water in this well is dull in appearance and it cures some sicknesses. It is said that when the Black and Tans were in Ireland they were near Fore and they tried to boil the water but the water refused to boil. It just became tepid and then the canteen burst. (SFC:311:0717)
How disappointing that this wonder should be so neglected. The next wonder is in the same spot, also looking a little reduced.
4. The wood that won’t burn
Literally growing out from the well site is an ash tree. The original tree was impressive and ancient and sported three branches in honour of the Holy Trinity. The wood was believed to have been non-inflammable and, as such, fragments were collected by pilgrims probably in the hope of being protected from fire. It was also traditional to hammer coins into the bark, which was probably the caused of the death of the original tree. Today’s specimen is single trunked and spindly, yet coins continue to be hammered into the trunk.
It is covered in rags and other offerings so is obviously still considered potent.
How interesting that the tree remains but the well has gone.
5. The water that runs uphill
Apparently if you stand in a certain position the water from a stream appears to flow up hill, an optical illusion. I’m afraid I missed this wonder.
6. The anchorite in the cell
On the hill above St Féichín’s church is an interesting looking building. It is a fifteenth century tower with an imposing mausoleum belonging to the Greville-Nugent family attached to it. Inside the tower is the tiny cell belonging to Patrick Beglin, who may have been the last religious hermit/anchorite in Ireland. He entered this cell with the intention of never leaving and devoted himself to prayer, relying entirely on others to provide food and water. He died in 1616 and is believed to be buried within.
7. The lintel raised by St Féichin’s prayers
A little below the anchorite’s cell is St Féichín’s church. The original building was constructed in the seventh century century and was probably made out of wood. The monastic settlement that grew up around it was renowned for its learning and is said to have attracted at least 300 monks. This sturdily made building dates from the early tenth century.
The final wonder can be spotted on the outside of the entrance door. It is an extremely large and hefty lintel believed to weigh around two tons. Look carefully and you can just make out a Greek cross within a circle, hard to make out from my photo.
There is of course a story as to how it was raised:
A short distance from the village of Fore, on the road to Castlepollard, about two miles from Carpenterstown stand the ruins of an old Church. It is supposed to have been built by Saint Fechin. The door faces the west. Over the door there is a massive stone which local tradition says was placed there by the Saint himself. The workmen prepared the stone and rolled it to the foot of the wall but were unable to raise it to its place. St Fechin told them to go to their dinner and he would remain there until they came back. When they returned they found the stone in its place over the door, where it remains to this day. This stone is supposed to be six feet in length, two feet in height, and the full thickness of the wall. (SFC:108: 0722)
Another extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection describes how two angels came to assist the saint while another describes the workmen going off to look for a crane but by the time they returned St Feichin had done the job, leaving his fingerprints in the stone! There’s another impressive lintel on the side door and a small figure on the interior wall
Other wondrous things: Doaghfeighin, St Féichín’s Bath
Not an official wonder but there is one other holy well on the site known as Doaghfeighin or Féichín’s Bath, This can be found on the way into the abbey and is in a very sorry state, looking distinctly unloved. Once well cared for, judging by another photo in Elizabeth Healy’s book, today it looks a jumbled mess. It seems to have originally been a large stone-lined vat.
According to the notice on the site, this is where the saint immersed himself in cold water, later chaining himself to the rocks in a form of penance.
This must be the site poetised here:
The Hospitable Féichín of Fobhar loved,
It was not a false mortification,
To lay his fleshless ribs upon the
Hard rocks without clothes. (Saint Fechin of Fore, The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, referenced by VoicesfromtheDawn.com)
Rather ironically, there are still chains in evidence today – keeping pilgrims out, for health and safety reasons apparently. I’m afraid this one slipped through.
Sickly children were once dipped in the well in the hope that St Féichín would intercede on their behalf.
Another ancient and venerable tree once graced this well. It was still there in 2002 and covered in rags and offerings but has now vanished. This image was taken from the sign on the site, the trunk of the tree still evident
The columbarium
A final wondrous thing – it’s easy to miss and situated overlooking the site, accessed up a flight of wooden steps. This is a columbarium or dovecot, once essential for providing fresh meat and maybe eggs for the monks.
St Féichín
An St Féichín himself – what a delightful description by an early unknown admirer:
A man, abstinent, pleasant, charitable, powerful, slender-bellied, just-worded, honest, pious, rich in sense, godly, affectionate, discreet, opportune, wise, prayerful, skilful, righteous, holy-worded, active, chaste, possessed of illuminated books, to wit, a man of bright, summery life, an abbot and an anchorite. Fair-worded Fechin of Fore, from the delightful borders of Luigne, from the loveable province of Connaught. (The Life of St Fechin of Fore, author unknown, from The Lives of the Saints, Whitley Stokes, 1890)
And two very different but striking images of the saint: yellow-haired and bearded in the mural from the coffee shop Barrel and Bean on the left; and, on the right, a detail from a stained glass panel by Harry Clarke showing the saint with a dazzling red halo and soulful eyes. This can be found St Mary’s Church, Ballinrobe, County Mayo.
St Féichín died of the yellow fever on the 20th January 664, an epidemic that also carried off his contemporary, St Manchán in Lemanaghan.
My goodness – what was a marathon post! Feichín might become my new favourite, mainly due to Stoke’s wonderful languages. I’d love to be called Fair-worded!
Me too and there’s so much more! I rather like slender bellied and full of summery life too.