The sun was shining and we nipped across the border into Kerry. It would have been rude not to explore whilst there, so a guest well today. I left Himself at Molly Gallivan’s and he disappeared off into the mountains for a long hike. I headed for Innisfoyle and what sounded like an interesting Mass […]
Other
Thwarted
Thwarted at every turn today by cattle, streams, briars and tiny winding roads with five rather obscure wells on the agenda, roughly between Macroom and Carrigadrohid. No great successes well-wise, but I did encounter a few things of interests and the day was beautiful. Well of the White Fort, Tobar an Rátha Bháin, Toberbaun, Tobar […]
In search of Blessed Fish
Confined to barracks due to hurricanes and tidal surges, my thoughts turned to blessed fish. During the year and a half I have been exploring holy wells in County Cork, I have been fascinated by how many are said to contain a blessed fish – roughly one tenth. The fish are usually described as eels […]
St Declan’s Well, Ardmore
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 […]
Cornish Cousins: seven wells from across the water
A few days in Cornwall for a family reunion, and a chance to explore some of the holy wells over there. There are strong ties between Ireland and Cornwall, indeed many of the Cornish saints seem to have originated in Ireland, so no surprise to find the wells shared many similarities yet retained their unique […]
One year in ….
This is the first anniversary of my attempt to visit and record all the Holy Wells of County Cork. So far I have visited 149 wells: of these 131 can be classified as definite holy wells, four are a bit iffy and 14 couldn’t be found. I have discovered a few things: Wells are everywhere! […]