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Holy Wells of Cork & Kerry

not all who wander are lost

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Charles Smith

A mysterious well at the end of the world – St Erc, Kerry Head

6th April 2025 14 Comments

I have unsuccessfully tried to find St Erc’s Well on two previous occasion and written about my first experience here. It has played on my mind however, and another trip to North Kerry in the company of Himself and Finola from Roaringwater Journal, provided an opportunity for a third, and hopefully, fruitful exploration. St Erc’s […]

Filed Under: North Kerry Tagged With: bulla bullaun bulley Charles Smith Corridons Glenderry Heneas MacNichaill Irish Tourist Association Kerry Kerry Head leacht pilgrimage rounds St Brendan St Brigid St Erc St Gobnait St Macadaw

An Turas: in the footsteps of St Crohane

28th June 2021 14 Comments

Tobar an Bhile, St Crohane’s Well near Castle Cove on the Ring of Kerry was the well that originally sparked my interest in Irish holy wells. Way back on the 30th July 1998 (I remember the date exactly as it was my son’s 18th birthday) I left our holiday home in the lashing rain to […]

Filed Under: Iveragh Peninsula Tagged With: blessed tree butter route Castle Cove Charles Smith Coad Mountain copper mines Eagle Hill Eyes hermitage Kerry Way Lunasa Mass Rock pattern pilgrimage Ring of Kerry Samuel Lewis Schools' Folklore Project St Crohane The Book of the Skelligs turas Windy Gap

Holy Fish, Faction Fighting & some Meandering

27th April 2021 16 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: blackthorn blessed fish Charles Smith Doireann Ní Ghríofa faction fighting Father John Power fish Herbert Thomas Knox Kilmacabea Leap Mass Rock O Donovan Rossa pilgrimage rag tree Rosscarbery rounds Schools' Folklore Project Thomas Walford trout WG Wood Martin William Carleton

Cork City Wells Revisited

30th January 2021 11 Comments

Cork city originally had six wells in its vicinity: Lady’s Well, Leitrim Street; St Francis Well, Franciscan Well Pub; Sunday’s Well, Sunday’s Well Road; Toibar Bhrionach, Wise’s Hill; St Finbarr’s Well, Kilbarry and St Bartholomew’s Well, Doughcloyne. The first four were investigated on an atrocious day way back in February 2016 and are due for […]

Filed Under: Cork City Tagged With: All is Well BVM Charles Smith CHAS Cork Public Museum Doughcloyne Franciscan Well Pub John Windele Michael Linehan Murphy's Brewery pattern day pilgrimage Seán Ó Coindealbháin St Bartholomew St Finbarre St Francis Sunday's Well Thomas Crofton Croker Tiobar Bhrianach Togher Historical Association Women of the Water

North Kerry Escapade Part 2

1st March 2020 6 Comments

The second part of our day trip around the tip of North Kerry and refreshed with a bowl of soup in a supermarket somewhere rural, we paid a quick visit to Lislaughtin Abbey. It has seen better days but even in a derelict state it was apparent how fine it must once have been. The […]

Filed Under: North Kerry Tagged With: Asdee Astee Ballybunion Blessed Virgin Mary bull Caoimhín ÓDanachair chalybeate Charles Smith Cnoc an Áir Donoughmore Eyes Finn McCool Fionn MacCumbhail fish gold trout Kilnamartyra Lámh Lachtáin Lislaughtin Abbey Marian year Mary Brenneman National Museum of Ireland offerings pilgrimage rag tree reliquary Rheumatism rounds Schools' Folklore Project shrine St John the Baptist St Lachteen St Seanán The Kerryman Walter Brenneman

St Macadaw’s Well, Kerry Head: yet to be discovered

12th October 2019 13 Comments

Kerry Head is a tiny peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic, the very limit of North Kerry. It is incredibly scenic and remote but home to several interesting holy wells. Today’s destination was St Macadaw’s church and holy well in the townland of Glenderry, a place of much folklore and tradition connected with one particular […]

Filed Under: North Kerry Tagged With: amulet Ballyheigue Bryan MacMahon bulley butter stone Charles Smith Corridons Glenderry Heneas MacNichaill ITA Kerry Kerry Head Kilvicada leacht Mary Brenneman Mount Brandon penance pilgrimage Schools' Folklore Project St Brendan St Bridget St Erc Walter Brenneman

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A mysterious well at the end of the world – St Erc, Kerry Head

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