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 […]
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On Wells 4: Pilgrimage, Partying & Paying the Rounds
You can of course visit a holy well any day of the week but there are certain times when a visit is considered to be especially potent. The main day for visiting a well is the pattern day or pátrún day, usually celebrated on the patron saint’s feast day. St John’s wells are visited on […]
Lady’s well, Ballycurrany
There are but two holy wells in this parish, one in Ballycrana and the other in Templeboden, both of which are very well kept. The people still visit them on the week preceding the twelfth of August and perform three visits around the well. We go to the one in Ballycrana which is in Mr […]
St Bartholomew’s Well, Tobar Partalam, near Bantry
This little well proved very elusive. I had tried on two previous occasions to locate it and had driven down small lanes, asked two women on horseback and generally found nothing. Armed with the GPS and a navigator, things proved a little easier the third time. We pulled into the corner and looked hopefully into […]
St Brigid’s Well, Castlemagner
This has to be one of my favourite wells visited so far. We had had an energetic day searching out holy wells in North Cork and this was the last on the agenda. It is not easy to find and seems to be on the fold of several different OS maps but eventually, after much […]
Lady’s Well, Tobairín Muire, Kealkil
South of the old graveyard of Kilmocomoge (signed from the road as Lady’s Well) is the still much revered and beautifully kept Tobairín Mhuire – the Little Well of Mary. The site is enclosed in blue and white railings and there are some jaunty blue seats looking up towards the statue of the BVM who […]