A St Michael Well on the Cork /Waterford Border

St Michael’s Well, Tobernhulla, Well of the Anointing

I was sent an image of this well by Michael O’ Sullivan who suggested that I visit it as part of my research in the holy wells of County Cork. I was amazed I hadn’t come across it before and it has proved too be a bit of a conundrum for it may actually be in County Waterford and is listed in the Archaeological Inventory for this county. The Schools’ Folklore Collection for both Counties Cork and Waterford however contain entries about the well and it appears in the Cork section of the Irish Tourist Association and Topographical Survey (ITA). A pursual of the Discovery maps and it seems that it’s literally on the border of both Cork and Waterford. I reckon if you stand on one side of the little stream that wends around the site then you’re in Cork, and on the other you’re in Waterford. It doesn’t really matter and I decided to visit it anyway.

The well comes under two names St Michael’s Holy Well and Tobernahulla – the latter being the name of the townland. There are various interpretations for the meaning of Tobernahulla:

… some of the stories trace the name of the well to … (faction) fights and refer to the well as Tobar na Fola, on account of the amount of blood spilt near the well and the people using the water to wash their wounds. Other stories refer to it as Tobar na h-Ola or well of the holy oils ; and a third version is that on the hills around were reared flocks of sheep. Their wool was caught here and there on the brambles and [?] pieces were blown into the well giving the people cause to call it Tobar na n-Olainn. (SFC:32:0640)

I like the possibility that it is Tobar na hOla, Well of the Anointing or Oil. There is another well with a similar name on Valentia Island, dedicated to St Brendan who anointed dying pagans with water from the well.

St Michael became a popular saint during the medieval period and is patron of several wells in Cork and Kerry. It’s interesting to read a text pinned onto the central tree which suggests that St Carthage of Lismore, also known as Mochuda, was the original patron and was probably superseded by Michael during the Anglo-Norman period,

The well is found on the side of the road between Ballyduff and Kilworth, the Glenfinish Stream meandering attractively around it.

It is an extremely scenic site with a large sycamore tree dominating the centre. The bark from this tree, like many others at holy wells, was once considered to have healing powers of its own, a sliver kept in your pocket would offer good luck and protection. Several wooden shrines are attached to the tree, along with various offerings and notices. It doesn’t look as though it has changed since this extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection was transcribed by James Cashman, teacher, from an interview with 75 year old Patrick Shea of Inch, Cork in the 1930s:

Directly over the well is a large spreading tree, on it are hung beads, medals, crucifixes and leaflets. There are three or four little wooden altars, fixed here and there on the trunk and branches of the tree. On these altars are wooden figures of Our Lady, and crucifixes and figures of some saint (probably St Michael the patron saint of the district and of the parish of Ballyduff in which the district. (ibid)

The central shrine still contains a statue of St Michael, flamboyantly about to pierce a very human looking Satan squirming under his golden sandals. In the shrine on the left are statues of Our Lady and the Infant of Prague, and on the right are various statues of the BVM, the main one a little alarming. Rosaries and other personal votives are attached to the tree.

I didn’t notice the well the first time I walked around the tree and a second round was needed to find it tucked underneath the roots of the sycamore, well maintained but today only containing a little, cold and clear water. Cups were stacked expectantly in a natural alcove, sparkling.

The water was once used to baptise local children, many baby boys taking the name Michael. Maybe that is how it got it’s name relating to anointing. It also holds a cure for sore eyes:

The last cure told of as having taken place at the well, occurred in the year 1886. A woman of Poneraile took her blind daughter to make the Novena, and wash her eyes in the water. On the eve of the feast the girl told her mother and the people with whom they lodged, that lights were passing before her eyes. On questioning her, they found that the lights of the tents in the district around the well were the lights she was able to see. The next morning she again bathed her eyes and was then able to distinguish all the objects around her. (SFC:32:0640)

And another cure seems to have been especially noted:

It is believed that many people have been cured at this well, but one incident that I heard of from the older people was, that about seventy years ago, a man from Bartlemy, which is near Castlelyons Co. Cork, who suffered from deformed feet, visited the well on the eve of the feast, and remained there during the night, and on the following day he was able to walk around completely cured. (SFC:467:0634)

Although the cures described happened some time ago, a notice suggests that the site has been visited fairly recently and new healing places identified. Tacked onto a wooden board at the entrance is a diagram of six healing points for various parts of the body: knees; thyroid & throat; heart & lungs; liver & lungs; belly button & fertility and hips. Each area is marked by a hexagonal -shaped slab. You are recommended to stand on the relevant slab for five minutes in the hope of a cure.

I think these energy points have been identified by the traditional folk healer David Lynch who has worked at two other Michael wells to my knowledge, one in Lixnaw and the other at Ballinskelligs, both in County Kerry.

The rounds were paid as follows:

The rounds are made by going round the tree, three times and say a rosary going around. You could not go around the well because the river is flowing too near it. When you would have the rosary said you would kneel in front of the well and ask St Michael to intercede for you. Then you would drink of the water and wash your face in it. (SFC:009:0377)

As you circle the tree you pass two other shrines, one containing another statue of St Michael, the plaque informing that it was erected in memory of a former custodian of the well who built the nearby grotto containing a statue of a rosary-strewn BVM.

The pattern day is the 29th September, the Feast Day of St Michael and All Angels. La Fhéile Mhichil is a quarter day, linked to the abundance of the harvest and the coming of the darker days. It was traditionally a day when debts were paid, leases started and servants hired. The spring goose, so carefully reared, was slaughtered and eaten. The date was also associated with pilgrimage and with paying respects to the Archangel Michael, spiritual champion against evil and protector of justice. At Tobernahulla the celebration a was a novena lasting for nine days, centred around the 29th. (Traditionally the eight days after St Michael’s Day are also considered to be the time when the veil between angels and humans is at its thinnest.) Pilgrims would often arrive on the Eve of the pattern, some being put up by local people, others spending the night in vigil. It was very much a community holiday but also attracted pilgrims from Lismore, Fermoy, Mallow and even Cork city :

On the eve of the feast the crowds began to gather to the vicinity of the well. They slept in their cars or in the fields, or in adjoining farmers houses that night.
Some did not go to bed at all, for when they had prayed and walked in the stream around the well and washed their faces and hands with the blessed water, they all assembled at a crossroad a short distance from the well and danced there till midnight. Sometimes people who were suffering from diseases and had come long distances, remained at the well all night and then joined in the prayers which were said on the following day. People used to arrive at all hours and on the feast day the place was thronged with people, and barrels of beer were drank there from morning till night. Cakes, sweets, apples and oranges were sold at tents which were erected round the well a few days previous to the feast. (SFC:0634:463)

As often seems to be the case, the pattern eventually disintegrated into into a massive faction fight:

Games of all kinds were carried on and faction fights were carried on by opposing parties. On one patron day fighting was engaged to such an extent, that it is said the stream near the well was red with blood and this incident ended all the sport and amusement at the well. (ibid)

The parish priest eventually had to step in:

Tradition relates that the pilgrimages to the well were discouraged by the Rev. Fr. Fogarty, late P.P. of Lismore on account of the fierce quarrels and abuses which took place during the celebrations. This year the feast was kept in St Michael’s Church Ballyduff. (SFC463:0634)

By all accounts the popularity of the well faded and the ITA for Cork noted in the 1940s that very few people visited. Today the well is looking very well cared for and prosperous. A well attended Mass is still held here on it’s feast day, 29 September.

It had a lovely peaceful air, I sat and lingered for a while.

The location of this well can be found in the Gazetteer under both North Cork and County Waterford.

Thank you to Michael O’ Sullivan for alerting me to this well.