With time to think, research and mentally meander, St Gobnait has been in my thoughts. I thought it might be interesting to look in detail at her remarkable journey when she too (physically) meandered around Munster, as she searched for the site of her resurrection. It’s a long and complicated wandering and will be covered […]
pilgrimage
Cork City Wells Revisited
Cork city originally had six wells in its vicinity: Lady’s Well, Leitrim Street; St Francis Well, Franciscan Well Pub; Sunday’s Well, Sunday’s Well Road; Toibar Bhrionach, Wise’s Hill; St Finbarr’s Well, Kilbarry and St Bartholomew’s Well, Doughcloyne. The first four were investigated on an atrocious day way back in February 2016 and are due for […]
North Kerry Escapade Part 2
The second part of our day trip around the tip of North Kerry and refreshed with a bowl of soup in a supermarket somewhere rural, we paid a quick visit to Lislaughtin Abbey. It has seen better days but even in a derelict state it was apparent how fine it must once have been. The […]
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 […]
The Good, the Mad and the Strange: a round up of 2019
A quick round up of some of the more intriguing wells visited in 2019. It’s been a busy year for I officially completed my research on the holy wells in County Cork: 310 wells visited and recorded, and then ventured forth into County Kerry. A long visit to New Zealand followed by a horrible bout […]
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 […]