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. […]
Ogham
St Abban’s Well, Tobar Abán, Baile Mhúirne
I visited this little well on the 11th February, the feast day of St Gobnait, but was so entranced that I felt it deserved its own page. Appropriately enough St Abán is meant to have been the brother, or possibly the mentor, of St Gobnait and it may have been he who founded the religious […]
Tobairín na Teampaill, Little Well of the Church, Durrus
You need sharp eyes to spot this tiny little well. It is literally cut out of the side of a bank, the area heavily overgrown with ferns. When I first visited in 2016, I cleared away a little of the undergrowth to reveal asmall, rectangular, stone basin; the water fresh and clear Traditionally this well […]