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 […]
Schools' Folklore Project
St Senan & Friends
Today we had an anticlockwise route planned from Listowel, up to Tarbert, through Longford, on to Carrig Island, west towards Ballybunion and then back to Listowel. It was an excellent day which will be dealt with in two blogs. Sunday’s Well, Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh First stop an explore of some very muddy fields and […]
Two wells on the Kerry/Limerick border
Finding ourselves tootling along the Kerry/Limerick border it seemed rude not to pop over and check out St Mary’s Well in Athea. Mary’s Well, Tobermurry, Athea The well is on the side of the road, instantly recognisable by the three statues looming over the wall. However this is not it’s original position – it moved […]
Brosna: birthplace of the sweet & shining Moling
Just back from a very fruitful few days in North Kerry, and the first holy well on the agenda was situated on the Kerry/Limerick border in Brosna. The sun shone, Brosna was pretty much closed but we managed to buy some cheese and biscuits in the Post Office and eat a makeshift lunch in 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 […]
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 […]