There is a very picturesque area near Baile an Sceilg, Ballinskelligs, on the Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry known as the Glen. It stretches from Duchalla Head to Puffin Island, encompassing the enigmatic Skellig Rocks nine miles off the coast. The most famous rock, Sceilg Mhíchíl, Skellig Michael, was an early Christian settlement, where the monks […]
Rosary
Tobar Manacháin agus an Madra
I’m back in the Gaeltacht having finished an intense but rewarding week on an Irish language immersion course in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Corca Dhuibhne; Ballyferriter, Dingle Peninsula. (There’ll be a lot of Irish in this blog, hopefully mainly spelled correctly, but it seems only right to give names in Irish first). The course was very […]
Tobairín Dónail, Rathcormack Mountain
This well was discovered at the end of a long and hard day’s exploration – see last week’s blog. It’s one of those wells that I have looked at on the map and sighed for it looked very remote and difficult to get too- also the name of the townland Rathcormack Mountain was a bit off putting. […]
Island Wells 4: Oileán Baoi; Dursey Island
A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Dursey with a friend, her friend, a husband and a dog, two wells on the agenda. Although we had a wonderful day, the well hunt was not entirely successful as the field in which the first well was supposedly located contained a lot of very large cattle, […]
Well hunting off the N22
A trip to the airport always offers an opportunity for a bit of exploration. This time as slight detour was taken to visit a few wells off the N22. Sunday’s Well, Tobar Riogh an Domhnaigh, Rooves Beg This little well is signed and can found right on the roadside: incidentally this quiet, scenic, road was […]
Fionnchú: The White Hound
Arriving in Mitchelstown in the late afternoon the light was fading and a thin mizzle had set in but we thought we could manage a trip to two wells dedicated to the town saint, St Fanahan, or, as he is known as Gaeilge, St Fionnchú: the white hound. St Fanahans’s Well, Tobar Naomh Fionnchú St […]