… but a Spa Bathing Well or chalybeate well! And a very interesting one too. I had an email from Janine, who sent me to John who sent me to Ray to find out about an intriguing well deep in the woods at Garrettstown near Kinsale. Lady’s Well, Ringrone, Kinsale I arranged to meet John […]
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Found, Lost & Unknown: Three Beara Wells
A trip out to the Beara Peninsula. It was misty and mizzling, low clouds moving over the rugged mountains, the scenery spectacular, the colours ever changing; incredibly imposing even in the damp weather. The search for wells had mixed results: one definite, one confusing and one not found. Holy Well, Tobar Beannaithe, Roosk, near Adrigole […]
Well Hunting around Ballinspittle
A crisp clear morning in Kinsale, we had four wells on the agenda on our way home. First stop Lady’s Well, just over the bridge at Ringrone. Lady’s Well, Tobar Mhuire, Ringrone The well looked to lie quite close to the road in pasture. According to the Archaeological Inventory, it no longer had holy use […]
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 […]
Two wells for Bealtine: Tubrid Well & City of Shrone
Just back from a brief but fruitful tour of North Cork, culminating in two very special wells that are traditionally visited at Bealtine. Bealtine was one of the four ancient Celtic festivals and is a Cross Quarter Day, half way between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. It was usually celebrated on May 1st. […]
Island Wells 1: Tobar Ciarán, Oiléan Cléire
Today’s exploration involved a ferry, not my favourite means of travel as I have no sea legs, but the forecast was good, the sea looked calm and a well beckoned. What a great excuse to visit Oiléan Cléire, or Cape Clear Island – eight miles off the mainland and a really beautiful island, with crystal […]