After two days of solid rain the sun came out and we headed down to Baltimore to catch the ferry to Sherkin Island, in search of a well. The journey over is a short one but highly picturesque as you sail past the Beacon, glimmering like a gigantic sugar cone. Some impressive clouds today but miraculously […]
West Cork
A clutch of Bullauns
Stouke burial ground comes as a bit of a surprise. It seems to be miles from anywhere, high up overlooking some spectacular countryside in West Cork. The name is odd too. The old name for the site is Kilaspick Oen – Church of Bishop John. Later it became cillin stuaice – little church of the […]
Island Wells 4: Oileán Baoi; Dursey Island
A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Dursey with a friend, her friend, a husband and a dog, two wells on the agenda. Although we had a wonderful day, the well hunt was not entirely successful as the field in which the first well was supposedly located contained a lot of very large cattle, […]
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 […]
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 […]