This year, 2024, marks the 1500th anniversary of the death of St Brigid, one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with St Patrick and St Colmcille. Brigid is believed to have to have been born around 450AD in Faughart, County Louth but she is mainly associated with Kildare where she founded a religious […]
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A holy stone & a crooked half crown: meandering in South Kerry
A quick field trip to County Kerry recently produced a couple of interesting finds. The first was a bullaun stone, recognised as a holy well, now enclosed in its own ivy-covered stone enclosure at the side of the Cloonalassan road out for Castlemaine. Closer inspection revealed the bullaun to be large, flush with the ground […]
St Gobnait: she’s a fine woman
We left St Gobnait, weary but content having spotted her nine white deer in Ballyvourney, the predicted place of her Resurrection. Here she founded a nunnery, renowned for the caring of the poor and sick. But this is the thing, St Gobnait may have lived in the 7C but she remains very much alive and […]
On Wells 4: Pilgrimage, Partying & Paying the Rounds
You can of course visit a holy well any day of the week but there are certain times when a visit is considered to be especially potent. The main day for visiting a well is the pattern day or pátrún day, usually celebrated on the patron saint’s feast day. St John’s wells are visited on […]
Explorations around Killeagh
East Cork was on the agenda for a couple of days, an area of much interest historically including a few wells still unvisited. Fuelled by a delicious lunch at the Bitesize Café in Midleton we made our way down to Bailic Park to see the incredibly evocative sculpture, Kindred Spirits. This beautiful and striking piece […]
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly …
… a quick whizz through some of the most memorable holy wells visited in 2017. Most privileged encounter: St Patrick’s Well, Castletownroche The year started with a wonderful encounter where we were not only privileged to visit St Patrick’s Well, Castletownroche, right on the Blackwater River, but we were also given an extensive and personal tour […]