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Holy Wells of Cork & Kerry

not all who wander are lost

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Eyes

Signage, paths & no cows: three wells in North Kerry

3rd November 2019 9 Comments

This was rather an unexpected sight to see in a remote area of North Kerry: three larger than life statues of St Bridget, Our Lady and Christ crucified lined up along the side of a road. They were of course connected with a holy well. Knoppoge Holy Well, St Brigid’s Well, Tobar Eilís, Tobereleesh, Tobar […]

Filed Under: North Cork Tagged With: Ballyduff Blessed Virgin Mary Caoimhín ÓDanachair Céile Dé Culdees Eyes GoKerry gold trout grotto hermit Jane Brideson John Galvin Kilflynn Linda Graham Mass Muintir na Tire offerings Pádraig Ó Riain. pattern day pilgrimage quartz ring fort rounds Schools' Folklore Project Shannow River Sheridan Stained Glass St Bridget St Flainn

The Holy Girl & the Wayward Boys: St Dahalin’s Well, Kerry Head

20th October 2019 7 Comments

 Once upon a time there was a holy girl who founded a small religious cell for women on the green slopes of Kerry Head. Here she passed her time in contemplation and general goodness. Some wayward boys decided to cause havoc and set out to either abduct her or make mischief. The holy girl was […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Ballyheigue Ballyheigue Castle Bryan MacMahon cilleen dogs Eyes fish Kerry Head Laimhín Crosby Mass Rev Jerry Kirby Richard Cantillon rounds Schools' Folklore Project St Dahalin St Erc The Kerryman trout

An Epic Pilgrimage for Michaelmas

28th September 2019 12 Comments

There is a very picturesque area near Baile an Sceilg, Ballinskelligs, on the Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry known as the Glen. It stretches from Duchalla Head to Puffin Island, encompassing the enigmatic Skellig Rocks nine miles off the coast. The most famous rock, Sceilg Mhíchíl, Skellig Michael, was an early Christian settlement, where the monks […]

Filed Under: Iveragh Peninsula Tagged With: An Seabhac Ballinskelligs Blessed Virgin Mary Caoimhín ÓDanachair Charles Smith clochán Conan mac Mourna cross slab Duchás Photographic Collection Dungegan Eyes Fenian Cycle Fionn Mac Cumhaill fulacht fiadh gable shrine Gentleman's Magazine Henry S Crawford HM Westropp holed stone Iveragh Peninsula Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries Kerry Archaeological Magazine Kilkeaveragh Mountain Killemlagh church Kinnitty Lake Killarney Lameness laura MJ Delap offerings oratory Pádraig Ó Riain. Patrick Logan pattern day pilgrimage PJ Lynch Rosary rounds Skellig Michael St Brendan St Finián Cam St Finián's Bay St Michael St Patrick stations turas UNESCO World Heritage Site Valentia Island Waterville

Cream Pies & Crubeens: Pattern Day in Ballyheigue

15th September 2019 11 Comments

The most important day in a holy well’s spiritual and social calendar was the pattern day – the day when the patron of the well was celebrated. Up until the early 1800s patterns days were common at most wells and were frequently boisterous affairs attended by literally hundreds of people. (See Pilgrimage, Partying & Paying […]

Filed Under: North Kerry Tagged With: Banna Strand Bishop of Kerry Blessed Virgin Mary cream pies crubeens Duchás Photographic Collection Eyes grotto Irish Times Kerry Mary Brenneman Mass North Kerry offerings pattern day quartz rounds Schools' Folklore Project Stations of the Cross statue trout Walter Brenneman

Tobar Mhíchíl, St Michael’s Well, Lixnaw

2nd May 2019 14 Comments

I suppose I must have visited nearly 400 holy wells over the last few years and some are still capable of surprise, none more so than this one in Lixnaw, North Kerry, dedicated to St Michael the Archangel: Tobar Mhíchíl. The Site The well is clearly signed off the R557 just before reaching the village […]

Filed Under: North Kerry Tagged With: Charles Dickens David Lynch diviner Eyes fish Kerry Lixnaw maggie sticks Muintir na Tire offerings pattern pilgrimage rag tree Rheumatism rosaries rounds Satan Schools' Folklore Project shrine smock frock St Michael statue The Kerryman thimble men thimblerig William Frith RA

Tobar an Bhile & a lot of Serendipity

20th April 2019 10 Comments

Many years ago, and I’m talking about the late 1990s, we came for a family holiday in Kerry, staying in a cottage on the old butter road high on the slopes above Coad Mountain not far from Caherdaniel. Whilst in the local shop, I saw a notice about a pattern day at a holy well […]

Filed Under: South Kerry Tagged With: Archaeological Inventory bile blessed tree butter road Caherdaniel Caoimhín ÓDanachair cave Coad Church Coad Mountain copper mines Duchás Photographic Collection Eagle's Hill Eyes hermitage Kilcrohane Lunasa Mass Rock pilgrimage rounds Schools' Folklore Project St Brendan St Crohane Stations of the Cross Windy Gap

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