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Holy Wells of Cork & Kerry

not all who wander are lost

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West Cork

Summer meanderings

18th August 2023 7 Comments

In between all the excitement of the book finally being let loose into the world, I have had time to visit a few, mainly local, wells, which had so far escaped detection; and caught up with a few old favourites. Ballybane Holy Well In June Thomas Wiegandt Invited me to inspect his well in Ballybane […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: Ballydehob Bandon Bandon Male National School bulllaun BVM Caharagh cross slab eel Father Shinnick ITA Cork pattern day pilgrimage Schools' Folklore Project Schull sore eyes St Brigid Timoleague

Derrynafinchin: a bullaun, Mass rock & stone circle

16th October 2022 3 Comments

The townland of Derrynafinchin – Doire na Fuinseann which seems to mean rather confusingly oak wood of the ash trees – lies in the incredibly scenic and remote Borlin Valley in West Cork. Everywhere was looking Autumnal and lush in the soft drizzle as we ventured forth. First stop a wayside grotto, tucked neatly into […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: Archaeological Inventory Borlin Valley boulder burial bullaun cupmarks Derrynafinchin stone circle grotto Hilary Bishop Mass Mass Rock Penal Times quartz stone circle

Good Well Hunting: what exactly makes a well holy?

28th August 2022 7 Comments

Dotted around County Cork are many wells, some which seem to have the potential for being a holy well yet are not officially recognised as such. Over the summer I have been invited to visit several wells in different parts of the county by people curious as to whether their well was holy or not! […]

Filed Under: North Cork West Cork Tagged With: Cooldaniel Courtmacsherry Earl of Shannon Glensheskin Woods Kilworth Moneycusker Rossmore Toames Wood Point

Turas agus Snamh agus Comhrá: three wells in Castlehaven parish

18th August 2022 7 Comments

Enjoying a wonderful run of summery weather and invitations to view wells coming in thick and fast, I have spent just two days in the Castlehaven/Toe Head area revisiting a trio of holy wells. St Bartholomew’s Well, Tobar Bearcháin, Castlehaven Reading through the Southern Star I came across an article about Gormú, the brainchild of […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: Bawnishall blessed fish Castlehaven Castlehaven&Myross History Society EIRE signs Glendalough Gormú placenames Schools' Folklore Project Seamus Heaney sore eyes St Barrahane St Bartholomew St Bearcháin St Kevin Stomach ailments Toe Head

Stranger Things: Apparitions & Visionaries

1st June 2022 13 Comments

Returning home from the City of Shrone on May Day I inadvertently passed two Marian grottoes and of course had to stop. Travelling around Ireland you may notice an abundance of grottoes! Some are discrete and tucked into gateposts or placed in gardens: private, household shrines. But the vast majority are Marian shrines depicting the […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: apparition Asdee Ballinspittle BVM Fiona Tierney Gortaneadin grotto Inchigeelagh Jesse James Lourdes Marian shrine Marian year offerings pilgrim shelter pilgrimage Rossmore shrine St Bernadette visions

A Grand Day Out in Dunworley

16th April 2022 1 Comment

Sometimes I have not visited a well simply because it sounds as though it has long gone and there is literally nothing to see. This can be a dangerous assumption for several wells have been there when eventually visited, often covered in undergrowth but still there. I was contacted by Diarmuid a few weeks ago […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: Archaeological Inventory Area of Special Conservation British Museum Donaghmore Irish Tourist Association Survey 1944 offerings pilgrimage Promontory fort Roaringwater Journal Samuel Lewis Schools' Folklore Project Seven Heads signal tower St Anne tower house

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