Blessed Earth & Healing Priests

A couple of books have recently drawn my attention to the fascinating phenomenon of blessed clay/earth. The Holy Wells of Ireland: Sacred Realms & Popular Domains (Indiana Press, 2023) contains a variety of interesting essays covering all subjects connected with holy wells – I even have an article – but the one that is specially interesting for the purpose of this blog is by Dr Gerry Quinn of Swansea Medical School, entitled Healing Soils and Holy Wells of County Fermanagh.

Dr Quinn has been focusing on the rituals carried out at Father James McGirr’s grave in Boho, County Fermanagh. Parish priest Father McGirr had a reputation as a faith/folk healer and his parishioners were worried who would look after them when he died. On his deathbed in 1815, Father McGirr assured them that:

The clay that covers me will cure anything that I was able to cure when I was with you while I was alive.

His grave quickly became an object of devotion and soon it became customary for the sick to visit the grave, scoop up a spoonful of earth, place it in a cotton pouch, then take it home, ensuring they spoke to no-one on the way. The pouch was then put under their pillow for three nights. After that time the earth had to be returned, either left in the cotton pouch or sprinkled on the grave. The traditional cures were for toothaches, skin infections and tuberculosis.

Quinn and his colleagues began their investigation in 2018. They took small samples of earth from the grave, as was traditional, and ensured they returned it within a few days as was required for the cure. They discovered that the healing clay was found to contain a group of antibiotic-producing bacteria known as streptomyces which make up 50% of modern antibiotics and are particularly useful in the healing of cancers, bacterial diseases and fungal infection. Seven strains were identified from one soil sample.

They also investigated the ritual details – the cloth napkins, the close contact with the sufferer and the expectation that the earth would be returned. The team found that a strong antibiotic response could be encouraged by the presence of competing streptomyces ie an active response to the exposure of other bacteria from another sufferer that would occur when bags or earth were reused.

Dr Quinn’s conclusion is unequivocable and fascinating:

We do not think it a coincidence that antimicrobial streptomyces have been isolated in healing soils at our holy wells where people found help.

In her excellent book Remnants of the Past, Deirdre O’Neill includes a chapter on Blessed Clay. She references the work of Gerry Quinn and has kindly allowed me to use some of her photographs taken at the grave of Father McGirr, which now includes signage describing how to pay the rounds and use the clay. Note the teaspoons near and on the grave itself.

O’ Neill also cites other examples of blessed clay around the country including Shanrahan, County Tipperary, where the tomb of Father Nicholas Sheehy (1728-1766) is also visited for the purpose of gathering earth from his grave – there is even a little door in his tomb to provide access (and a fascinating backstory but no time for it here!)

At St Moling’s Well, St Mullins, County Carlow, earth from the grave of Father Daniel Kavanagh was traditionally mixed with water from the nearby holy well:

 If you want to be cured you take a small amount of clay from outside the graveyard gate, you place it under the tomb, you get some clay from under the tomb, place it in the mouth and walk on to the Holy Well where you wash the clay from your mouth with water from the well, saying a short prayer to Fr. Kavanagh. (County Carlow – Ireland Genealogical Projects)

Interestingly, the earth is then returned to the grave or replaced with soil from elsewhere, another possible example of competing streptomyces encouraging an antiobiotic bacterial response.

Over in Killedoran graveyard, Delvin, County Westmeath this entry from the Schools’ Folklore collection also sparked my interest:

About three miles from my home, there is an old graveyard. This graveyard is situated far from the road. The name of this graveyard is Killedoran. There is a priest named Father Cahill buried there. It is believed by the people of this locality that clay procured from this priest’s grave cures headaches. It is customary for a person who takes clay from this grave to replace it by putting some ordinary clay on it. (SFC 249:0726) 

In his engaging book Ireland’s Pilgrim Paths, Darach MacDonald describes how a tree growing near Dabhach Pádraigh, St Patrick’s Vat in Aughagower, County Mayo was also valued for the clay at its base and for its rotting branches. This too had to be returned once the cure had been received:

… clay from the base of a tree beside Dabhach Pádraigh has traditionally been applied in poultice form for its curative powers and has to be returned to the tree once the ailment heals. (Ireland’s Pilgrim Paths, 2020)

This well is where St Patrick is said to have baptised his first converts to Christianity and is one of the stations on the traditional pilgrimage from Ballintubber to Croagh Patrick.

This started me wondering if there was any similar practices being carried out in Cork and Kerry, and of course there are, especially in Cork, where there are many variations on the theme. Sometimes the petitioner needs to take the earth from the grave of a healing priest to obtain a cure; sometimes, this earth is combined with water from a holy well; often the presence of a specific priest’s grave is all that is necessary for healing to occur; and sometimes a different substance other than earth is used and mixed with holy well water, no priest involved.

Father O’ Callaghan’s grave & Well of the Church, Tobar a’Teampaill, Caum Graveyard, Aghinagh

One of the most intriguing examples of mixing earth from a priest’s grave with holy water can be found can be found in Caum graveyard, Aghinagh near Macroom. Here, the parish priest, Father John O’Callaghan, was renowned for his healing which continued after his death via taking soil from his grave, much as at Father McGirr’s grave. There is a complicated and lengthy round associated with his grave which included taking water from the nearby holy well, Well of the Church, Tobar a ‘Teampaill. This extract gives the gist:

When a person suffers from a disease or injury of any kind he must first of all enter the graveyard, climb over the wall to an adjoining field and get some water in a well known as the Church Well. Returning to the graveyard he takes a pinch of earth from Father O ‘Callaghan’s grave and puts it into the water. Then he rubs the water to the affected part … The person stands by the tree at the foot of Father O ‘Callaghan’s grave and walks to an unmarked grave immediately to the left and then to an unmarked grave on the right and so back to the tree. Up to this no prayer has been said. Then he kneels at the foot of Father O ‘Callaghan’s grave and says Five our Fathers, Five Hail Marys  and Five Glorias for Father O Callaghan’s soul…  (SFC:354:0342)

The mixture could then be applied to the body or taken internally. I have attempted to find the grave on several occasions and revisited the graveyard for the purpose of this blog in July 2026. After searching the very attractive graveyard, two headstones, each roughly marked with a cross, seemed possible contenders for Father O’Callaghan’s grave, but I have been unable to confirm if either is correct.

The holy well has also proved enigmatic. On the recent visit, the field had been mown and we could find no obvious signs of a spring. We were fortunate in encountering Eamonn and John, both busy with the silage, who very kindly stopped to have a chat. A quick phone call to Eamonn’s mother, the historian of the family, confirmed that there had been a holy well and indeed Father O’ Callaghan’s grave had been the object of veneration and was to be found near a yew tree. John speculated that the well had dried up due to drainage going on in the field and all four of us, Himself was here too, gazed at a damp area in the field and wondered if this might be where the elusive well had once been.

There was also another well-like structure in the next field but this didn’t correspond with the map – yet?

Father Patrick Murphy’s grave, Knockavilla graveyard, Innishannon, West Cork

In Knockavilla graveyard, near Innishannon, a similar practice occurred though it is not stated if the water used was from a holy well (though there are two wells, both now abandoned in the next townland of Lissanisky):

The Grave of Rev. Patrick Murphy, PP of Murragh who died in 1835 is the source of a local tradition. Apparently rounds were paid there by people seeking a cure for certain ailments eg Rheumatism, toothaches and neuralagia. Visits were made on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Earth from the grave was mixed with water and the mixture is applied to the affected part. The visitor then made the sign of the cross on the headstone. This is no longer practised and no locals remember it ever been practised. (Historicgraves.com, Knockavilla)

Father Barnane’s grave & Little Well of the Church, Tobairín na Teampaill, Maulinward, West Cork

In a remote and scenic little cemetery near Durrus, West Cork is a grave of another healing priest, Father Denis Barnane. He was parish priest from 1790-1818 and was renown for his healing skills for both humans and animals and seems to have been much loved by the local community. He was less favoured by the established church but that doesn’t seem to have deterred him. As he became frailer his parishioners grew concerned as to who would care for them on his death. His response was almost exactly the same as Father McGirr:

I am dying, I’m in bad health and when I am dead I’ll cure the same as I do now.

After his death in 1834 his grave became a focal point for pilgrimage and cures continued to be attributed to him. This extract from The Story of Kilcrohane by Frank O Mahony, is part of an interview given to the author by Johnny Crowley who was born in 1915:

Anyway, even in my family, we were very fearful of things called ‘fairy strokes’. My own grandfather, Willie, got two fairy strokes ( a mysterious affliction usually attributed to the fairies or Other Crowd) … On one particular evening, I’d say it was about the year 1874, Willie was fourteen years of age. He went down east to the bog … He had the bag of turf got and hoisted it on his back. Straightaway he got the pain in his shin bone … The mother said there was only one answer to it, only to take him down to the old graveyard at Durrus where Father Barnane had been buried. Father Barnane was a Curate in Durrus. He had the gift of curing. It was going that far that the Bishop of the day … brought him to Cork and reprimanded him. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. The priest said, I am dying, I’m in bad health and when I am dead I’ll cure the same as I do now. On the 28th June every year (or St John’s Eve 23^rd/24^th June) that would be his anniversary.  And every year on that day, the graveyard  would be full of fathers and mothers bringing their complaints and children and all to that.  They used to come down from Cork, women to do the catering, boiling cans and giving out sandwiches and things like that to make a few bob.  You’d be there all night.  What you do is take a fist of earth from the grave, rub it to the sore, and that’s what Willie did. The next thing it all died away. Later Willie got another one on his arm, and he had that till he died. I remember the doctor saying to me that William was eighty-nine when he died. (The Story of Kilcrohane, Frank O Mahony, 2000).

I was shown the site of his grave some years ago. A little gentle uncovering of the vegetation and fragments of delft and bottles were revealed.

It seems Father Barnane was also fond of a drink and it was customary to leave bottles on his grave. Recently, whilst visiting the site on St John’s Day 2026, I met a young man with an intriguing story. When he was a teenager he had a cow that had been sick for 29 days. In desperation he decided to do what the old folk did and visit the grave of Father Barnane. He poured whiskey on the grave, then took a pinch of earth and returned to his cow, rubbing the earth onto her. Shortly afterwards she was cured. How interesting to have confirmation of this practice and to know that it is still occasionally carried out, nearly 200 years after the priest’s death.

There is a nearby holy well, Tobairín na Teampeall, which was originally included in the rounds but there is no evidence that the water was used to mix with the clay. It seems the grave always took precedence over the holy well. The well was restored by the Durrus Men’s Group in 2021 and they visit every year on St John’s Eve and now include Father Barnane’s grave in their respects.

Other priests’ graves revered in County Cork

There are several other priests’ graves that are revered in County Cork and although the graves are visited in the hope of cures and included in rounds, as far as I know, earth is not removed from these particular graves. Interesting most seem to be visited on St John’s Eve/Day. These include: the large chest tomb of Father James Barry and his brother Father John Barry found in Stouke graveyard near Ballydehob. Both men worked tirelessly during the Famine and rounds are paid to their grave on St John’s Eve. A holy well is also on the site and visited during the rounds.

Father John Power (1764-1831), parish priest of Rosscarbery and a contemporary of Father Barnane, was another controversial priest, much loved by his parishioners but distrusted by the church. He too was renowned for his healing. He is buried in the Abbey graveyard in Rosscarbery, his funeral said to be one of the largest ever seen in the town. Pilgrims continue to visit his tomb, especially on St John’s Eve, which is heavily scored with crosses. The nearby holy well is no longer visited.

In Ballygarvan near Carrigaline, the tomb of Father Florence McCarthy is still revered but the attractive holy well down by the river is abandoned although both were once included in the rounds.

In Killingley stands the ruins close beside the rectory …. of an old church within which is the grave of Father Florence McCarthy. Pilgrims from near and far came to pay rounds at this grave and at a Holy Well nearby. They did the journey from the grave to the well on their knees, a distance of several hundred yards and many cures are said to have taken place at this well. (218/219:0392)

St Fachtna’s shrine, Rosscarbery, West Cork

Near St Fachtna’s Shrine, Teampuillín Fachtna, in Rosscarbery, West Cork inside what is considered to be the original site of St Fachtna’s church, is an intriguing artefact. Sometimes it is covered by a crate but lift that up and a rectangle of earth is revealed. The signage at the entrance to the site advises that if you rub your eyes with this earth they will be healed.

St Fachtna suffered from bad eyesight though this extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection describes how he used a very different substance to obtain a cure for his affliction:

He (St F) was practically blind from middle life owing to an accident and thro’ prayers and the intercession of Naomh Neasa (sister of St Ita) his sight was restored. (SFC:010:0318)

The intercession involved St Fachtna bathing his eyes in St Nessa’s breastmilk. No mention of the clay and I wondered if it needed to be mixed with water from the nearby holy well, also dedicated to the saint, which also holds a cure for sore eyes.

Once you start looking, information about blessed clay pops up all over the place. Browsing though the recent copy of Archaeology Ireland (Vol 40, No 2) I was delighted to find more references. In her article Red Sky in the Morning Shepherd’s Warning Tamlyn McHugh describes how clay was taken from the grave of St Cummin in Ballinlena, County Mayo in the hope that it would protect seafarers from drowning. She also mentions how clay from St Mogue’s grave, St Mogues Island, County Cavan was also use to protect travellers against drowning or burning. (And now I’m thinking of St Berrihert in Tullylease, North Cork where fragments of stone were taken from his house to protect people from burning). In Lacknacoo, County Donegal Gartan Clay was taken from a site traditionally believed to be St Colmcille”s birthplace. This had an extra proviso in that only members of the O’ Friel family were allowed to lift the clay:

Gartan less than a mile from the birthplace of Columcille, the clay known as Gartan clay is to be found. A peculiar thing about this clay is that no person can lift it only one family named O’Friel. This family has been lifting Gartan clay for hundreds of years. The gift of lifting being handed down from father to son. No person is allowed to even look on while the O’Friels are lifting this clay. We are told a story of a man who wanted to find out where and how this clay was obtained and he went spying upon O’Friel when he went to lift some clay, and it seems this man died immediately afterwards. This clay is as white as chalk and makes up into nice balls. Anyone who kept this clay on his person has never been known to be drowned no matter what danger he was in. (SFC:022:1083)

Deirdre O’ Neill describes similar faith in earth from St Lassair’s grave, Kilronan, County Roscommon and St Declan’s grave, Ardmore, County Waterford.

St Gobnait’s Holy Well, Ballyvourney, West Cork and St Brigid’s Holy Well, Castlemagner, North Cork

Sometimes a substance other than earth was mixed with holy well water to obtain a cure. In the extensive penitential site at Ballyvourney dedicated to St Gobnait, a tiny figure above a window on the ruined medieval church, is gently rubbed or in some cases scratched and the scrapings collected. These are then mixed with water from the nearby holy well and drunk as a cure for infertility.

Women who are unable to conceive rub the genital area of the carving, taking rubbings of the stone in their handkerchiefs and drink them in water. (Maureen Concannon, Maureen. The Sacred Whore: Sheela, Goddess of the Celts. Collins, 2004)

I was also told that women would sometime collect the scrapings in a hanky and sleep with it under their pillow in hope of procuring the cure, reminiscent of the pouches at Boho.

At St Brigid’s Well, Castlemagner, the intention and ritual is very similar. An enigmatic stone sculpture on one side of the well is known as either a sile na gig or St Brigid, depending on who you talk to. The custodian showed me the ritual require by couples seeking a cure for infertility. The man first scrapes the crosses on the figure’s head and tummy and collects the powder which he then mixes with water from the well. He then hands the mixture to his partner to drink.

El santuario de Chimayó, New Mexico, USA

And these practices are not unique to Ireland. Recently I had an interesting conversation with some American friends and Cathy told me about the Holy Dirt of Chimayo, New Mexico, also known as the Lourdes of North America. This site had long been revered for its hot healing springs, especially by the Pueblo people. in 1810 a local man saw a light shining near the Santa Cruz river. He followed it and found a crucifix bearing a dark-skinned Jesus which instantly became an object of devotion. Eventually a chapel was built to house the crucifix in Chimayó – chosen presumably because it was already a sacred site. Although the springs eventually dried up the earth that was left behind continued to be revered for its healing qualities- and still is. Inside the chapel is a small room called el pocito which contains a round pit which in turn contains the holy dirt , reputedly good for skin diseases, brain cancer and infertility. Pilgrims scoop up the dirt in the hope of a miraculous cure and often rub it on their bodies but originally the dirt was often eaten. The earth is regularly replaced by the church, sometimes more than once a day – totalling an incredible 20-35 tons a year! A very interesting article about it here: Article Los Angeles Times

St Féichín, Fore, County Westmeath & Jesus Christ, Pool of Siloam, Jerusalem

One last observation and apologies for yet another trip down a rabbit hole. In the absence of holy water, or indeed any water, spittle from a holy person was sometimes combined with healing earth. St Féichin of Fore, County Westmeath mixed his spit with clay to  to turn an unshapely man into a comely man:

One day, when Féchín was preaching to the tribes in front of the monastery, a godly (but) unshapely man came to the sermon, and he entreated Féchín to help him from his unshapeliness; and for very shame he could not bear to sit near the monks, so he sat down at a distance from them. Now it happened that Féchín cast his spittle on the ground, and the unshapely man mixed clay with the spittle, and rubbed it on his face, and thenceforward he was comely, so that in his time there was no one comelier than he. And God’s name and Féchín’s were magnified by that miracle. (The Life of St Féichín of Fore, anon)

There are two holy wells in Fore but maybe St Féichin had no time to visit them so urgent was the need of the unshapely man.

This lead me to discover that Jesus himself had once mixed his spittle with mud and applied it to the eyes of a blind man. He then instructed the man to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam, rock-cut pools in the Old City of Jerusalem. The man was then cured:

… He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’. So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (John 9:1-12)

I imagine this is where it all started and I have been travelling backwards! What a fascinating subject and I am sure there must be many other examples countrywide, if not worldwide, of these practices. Is anyone has any more information or knows of any other examples, I would love to hear more. The healing properties of certain earth seems to have been understood forever.

Many thanks to Deirdre O’ Neill for permission to use her photographs. Thanks also to John, Eamonn and John Joe for their assistance at Caum and to Peter Hickey for his information about the cure at father Barnane’s grave. Thanks also to Durrus Men’s Group for allowing me to be an honoray member.