This year, 2024, marks the 1500th anniversary of the death of St Brigid, one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with St Patrick and St Colmcille. Brigid is believed to have to have been born around 450AD in Faughart, County Louth but she is mainly associated with Kildare where she founded a religious […]
bullaun
Circles, swastikas & labyrinths: enigmas on the Iveragh
The first well expedition of the year set off at a cracking pace as we, in the company of the Roaringwaters, set off for the Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry, rock art and holy wells on our minds. After a damp, mild and very wet Christmas the second week in January was cold, crisp and sunny […]
Vikings, priests & enigmatic bullauns in South Kerry
Recently my friend Pól sent me some interesting information about a well near Bonane in South Kerry and wondered if I had visited it yet: Tobar na Lochlannach. Tá an tobar sin suidhte ar an dtaobh thiar den pharóisde ar bharr an chnuic, Nuair bhí na Lochlannaigh ag déanamh beorach as an bhfraoich gheibhidís uisge […]
Derrynafinchin: a bullaun, Mass rock & stone circle
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 […]
A holy stone & a crooked half crown: meandering in South Kerry
A quick field trip to County Kerry recently produced a couple of interesting finds. The first was a bullaun stone, recognised as a holy well, now enclosed in its own ivy-covered stone enclosure at the side of the Cloonalassan road out for Castlemaine. Closer inspection revealed the bullaun to be large, flush with the ground […]
Three Stragglers in South Kerry: Coolmagort & Kilclogherane
Whilst trawling through photos, I came across three wells which had somehow escaped being recorded. All are in South Kerry not far from Killarney. Tobar Críosta, Toberchreest, Well of Christ, St Brigid’s Well, Dunloe Tobar Críosta is in the townland of Coolmagort, wild and scenic country to the west of Killarney near the Gap of […]