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 […]
West Cork
Enchantment around Myrtleville
I always love being invited to see a well. Deirdre contacted me during the first severe lockdown and explained that she had beaten a track to a holy well at Gortigrenane, within her 5km! She was delighted to have found the well, still flowing, and sent me some photographs, offering to take me there when […]
Trout & Tussocks: the Strangeness of Holy Lakes
I don’t know what the situation is in other counties but Cork and Kerry seem to have a fondness for holy lakes. In County Cork for example, the entire Lake at Gougane Barra was once considered sacred for it was here that St Finbarr wrestled with the resident water serpent, Tú, and of course won. […]
St Finán Cam: the Squinty One
On the lookout for St Gregory’s Well, Tobar i Choill, in Glenbeigh, a chance conversation in the excellent Emilie’s café alerted us to St Finán’s Well. St Gregory proved elusive, too overgrown, but St Finán’s Well turned out to be a much loved and distinguished well in an imposing situation, located about two kilometres out […]
In pursuit of two grumpy & enigmatic saints: a day on the Beara
Long ago St. Finnian and another Saint were out boating in the Kenmare River, and a British Man of War came along. The two Saints came into the land to preach to the people, and the owner of the Man of War stole their boat. When they came back to where they left it, they […]
Holy Fish, Faction Fighting & some Meandering
Who knew an innocent paragraph could lead down so many different paths and involve so much detective work and strange stories! Browsing through Sacred Waters, I came across an intriguing reference to a holy lake in County Cork that I had not yet come across: … the sacred lake of Loughadrine (Cork) which cured all […]