I’m just back from an excellent two day conference on Holy Wells, An Tobar, in Waterford. It’s always good to meet like minded fellow enthusiasts and it was a very cosmopolitan and interesting gathering. Congratulations to the two organisers, Celeste Ray and Shane Lordan, for such a well organised and comprehensive conference. After all the […]
Way out East, a clutch of wells around Youghal
A while ago I spent a couple of days around Youghal, several wells on the agenda. While doing a spot of research I came across reference to some wells en route to Youghal, notably in the Carrigtwohill area: The five Holy Wells in our parish have gone dry or disused. Their locations are as follows: […]
St John’s Wells, Castletownbere
I knew this would be a bit of a challenge and had put off exploring until I had plenty of time – and energy. Just by looking at the OS map I could see these two wells, dedicated to St John, were situated right on top of a pretty steep mountain – the Maulin. From […]
Island Wells 3: Bere Island: An tOileán Mór
It’s always a pleasure to visit one of the islands off the coast of Cork, and each of the seven inhabited islands have a very distinct personality of their own. Today I was off to Bere island, An tOileán Mor (the big island); a short ferry trip from Castletownbere. Castletownbere was in a bit of […]
A bit of Blarney
I always seem to be heading to the airport but what better excuse for a spot of well hunting. Three very different wells discovered today and a reminder of what real traffic can be like! Holy Well, Ballycannon, near BlarneyThe first well was located near Kerry Pike, a few miles outside Blarney. I spotted the […]
Four Curious Wells enroute to Allihies
Two days exploring the remote and scenic tip of the Beara Peninsula and some very curious wells discovered. Kilaconenagh Holy Wells, near Castletownbere The weather on day one was not promising – thick fog and a steady mizzle. We persevered however and the first well stop was just outside Castletownbere. The GPS led us down […]