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Holy Wells of Cork & Kerry

not all who wander are lost

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Gougane Barra

An Irish Pilgrim Journey

11th June 2024 Leave a Comment

A quick shout out out to the Irish Pilgrim Journey which is taking place from 15- 22th June this year, 2024, described as: … a fully-guided mid-summer walk along Ireland’s passported pilgrim paths, with all logistics taken care of, it enables walkers to obtain the required stamps for the Irish Pilgrim Passport in 6 days […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Ballintubber Abbey Cahersiveen Cnoc na dTobar Cosán na Naomh Croagh Patrick Glendalough Gougane Barra Mount Brandon pilgrim paths 2024 pilgrim routes pilgrimage St Brendan St Finbarr St Kevin St Patrick Ventry

The Case of the Missing Spectacles: All Saints’ Well, Loo Bridge, near Kilgarvan

3rd May 2022 12 Comments

Finally back in County Kerry and in search of a holy well that has long intrigued me: All Saints’ Well, Tobar na Naomh near Loo Bridge, Kilgarvan. This is the folklore that enticed me: There is a well at Loo Bridge called Tobar na Naomh. The people around the place go doing rounds to the […]

Filed Under: South Kerry Tagged With: All Saints Ardtully Castle Caoimhín ÓDanachair Eyes Folklore Photographic Collection Glenflesk Good Friday Gougane Barra ITA Kerry Kilgarvan Kilpadder Loo Bridge pattern day pilgrimage rounds Schools' Folklore Project Slighe na Naomh spectacles St Agatha St Finbarr St Peter & St Paul

Trout & Tussocks: the Strangeness of Holy Lakes

11th October 2021 9 Comments

I don’t know what the situation is in other counties but Cork and Kerry seem to have a fondness for holy lakes. In County Cork for example, the entire Lake at Gougane Barra was once considered sacred for it was here that St Finbarr wrestled with the resident water serpent, Tú, and of course won. […]

Filed Under: South Kerry West Cork Tagged With: Beara Peninsula blessed fish Derrylough eels fish Gougane Barra holy lake Lough Adereen Lough Mackeenlaw miraculous tussocks Parknasilla pattern day pilgrimage rag tree rounds St Anne St Kilian Wurzburg

On Wells 4: Pilgrimage, Partying & Paying the Rounds

7th January 2019 9 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Act to Prevent Further Growth of Popery Ballyvourney Bantry Carrigaline Castletownbere Cullen Decree of Excommunication faction fighting Gougane Barra John Barrow Kealkil Lough Hyne Millstreet Mitchelstown pattern day PJ Hartnett sile na gig Southern Reporter St Bartholomew St Bridget St Colman St Fanahan St Finbarre St Gobnait St John St Olan Stations of Cross Synod of Tuam Thomas Crofton Croker Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry William Carleton William Wilde

On Wells 3: Saints & Sinners

13th December 2018 2 Comments

All holy wells hold a capacity for healing. As far as I can ascertain, there some subtle distinctions between them: a Blessed Well, Tobar Beannaithe, holds a cure – often for sore eye or warts while Tobar Slanán, a health giving well, as the name suggest, contains water that is good for you and may or […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Ali Isaac Bachall Ísu Bealtine Biddy Tree Blessed Virgin Mary Boann Cape Clear Carrigaline Colonel Grove White Feast of the Assumption Feast of the Immaculate Conception Gougane Barra Imbolc Kerry Kilnamartyra Kinsale Lunasa Marian year May Day Midsummer Millstreet Mór Pope John XV River Boyne River Lee Samhain Schools' Folklore Project St Bericheart St Bridget St Ciarán St Colman St Finnian St Gobnait St John the Baptist St Lachteen St Michael St Patrick

On Wells 2: the Water & the Cure

6th December 2018 11 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Ballykerwick baptism Blessed Virgin Mary bullaun Castlemagner; Cattle Cloyne Crannahulla Donoughmore Drimoleague Eyes Gougane Barra Irish Times Knockyrouke Lissagriffin Lough Hyne Mary Brenneman Murrain River Lee Ronan Foley Schools' Folklore Project Skibbereen Heritage Centre St Bridget st Cranat St Finbarre St Lachteen St Olan Templeboden Thomas Crofton Croker Walter Brenneman Warts

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