On the lookout for St Gregory’s Well, Tobar i Choill, in Glenbeigh, a chance conversation in the excellent Emilie’s café alerted us to St Finán’s Well. St Gregory proved elusive, too overgrown, but St Finán’s Well turned out to be a much loved and distinguished well in an imposing situation, located about two kilometres out […]
Kenmare
Piety, Pleasure & Miraculous Tussocks: Killmackillogue
This sounded an intriguing place – a holy well that in fact might be a lake but which may no longer be there, remembered for its miraculous floating tussocks! We set out to investigate, heading to a remote coastal tip of the Beara Peninsula – Bunaw/Kilmackilloge, just off the R574 from Kenmare to Lauragh. The […]
Enchantment & Petrification: St Feaghna’s Well, Bonane
This has to be one of the most extraordinary and unusual sites yet visited. Extraordinary in so many ways: from the setting, to the monuments to the folklore. Apologies for the length of this post but I was immersed and enchanted! Veering off the N71 from Glengarriff to Kenmare, you encounter a myriad of tiny […]
Some Favourite Wells of 2018
It’s been a good year for well hunting, worthy of a quick round up of some of my favourite sites. I reckon I have visited around 150 or so holy wells in the last twelve months, all unique and all in different states of preservation, activity and care. Although most wells are to be found […]
A trip across the Kerry Border 1: Kenmare
Himself is walking the Kerry Way and required a lift to Kenmare – a great opportunity to nip across to County Kerry, enjoy the sights and possibly seek out a few holy wells. The drive is a fabulous one – everything just gets bigger and more spectacular and more rugged almost the minute you are […]