A few waifs and strays remain from the many trips to Kerry this year. Here’s a quick round up of those in Corca Dhuibhne, Dingle Peninsula. Baile an Bhoithín, Ballywiheen ecclesiastical site We pulled in to examine an intriguing site that lay right on the side of the road having spotted mounds and crosses from […]
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St Batt’s Well & an Abundance of Cattle
It is the season for frisky and curious cattle and they were in abundance near the first two wells encountered in today’s exploration in North Kerry. St Lúireach’s Well, Tobar Luráigh, Toberlury Tobar Luráigh looked remote and difficult to find on the map, and it was. The footpath shown on the early OS maps had […]
Water into Wine & Other Stories; three wells dedicated to St Brendan
There are a wealth of wells dedicated to St Brendan in County Kerry. So far I have visited where he was baptised, where he anointed two heathens, where he received the vision to go across the Atlantic and various others that are dedicated to this well beloved and wandering saint. Three more were on my […]
Two wells & a whole lot more at Cill Mhaoilchéadair
The western tip of Corca Dhuibhne, the Dingle Peninsula, is remarkable for the sheer density of early Christian remains: ecclesiastical enclosures, early crosses and holy wells abound. Passing through these clusters is Cosán na Naomh, the Saint’s Path, which is surely no coincidence.This pilgrim path starts in Dingle, Ventry or Kilmalkedar and wends its way […]
Trekking through Glens: Tobar na nGealt
… A long time he went faring through all Ireland, poking his way into hard rocky clefts, shouldering through ivy bushes, unsettling falls of pebbles in narrow defiles, wading estuaries, breasting summits, trekking through glens, till he found the natural welcome of Glen Bolcáin. That place is a pastoral asylum, where all madmen Of Ireland […]
On Wells 2: the Water & the Cure
The most significant thing about a holy well is of course the water. Not all wells are wells though, they can be springs, lakes, scoops in rock, ponds, hollows in trees or part of a stream. And not all wells now contain water – 37 holy wells visited were dry. Hopefully a few of those […]