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Holy Wells of Cork & Kerry

not all who wander are lost

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sile na gig

Brigid 1500: the Keeper of the Flame

29th January 2024 10 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: East Cork Limerick North Cork North Kerry West Cork Tagged With: Biddy Tree Britway bullaun Castlemagner; Cattle Clonakilty Doireann Ní Ghríofa fish Glastonbury gold trout Gormu Imbolc Infertility Knoppoge Lough Hyne Mental health Mountbridget National Folklore Photographic Collection National Library of Ireland Pallaskenry pattern day pilgrimage rag tree relic Rheumatism ringfort Shangarry sile na gig Solas Bhríde sore eyes Squince Harbour St Brigid Stonehall Youghal

A holy stone & a crooked half crown: meandering in South Kerry

21st July 2022 10 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: South Kerry Tagged With: Barbara Freitag bullaun BVM Castlemaine Celeste Ray Kilsarkan Kiltallagh offerings Patricia O Hare pilgrimage rag tree rounds Schools' Folklore Project sile na gig sore eyes St Carthage St Mochuda

St Gobnait: she’s a fine woman

14th March 2021 16 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: West Cork Tagged With: Ballyvourney beachair bees bulla bulley deer Gadai dubh Harry Clarke Herlihys pilgrimage plague rounds Schools' Folklore Project sile na gig St Abbán St Macadaw

On Wells 4: Pilgrimage, Partying & Paying the Rounds

7th January 2019 9 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Act to Prevent Further Growth of Popery Ballyvourney Bantry Carrigaline Castletownbere Cullen Decree of Excommunication faction fighting Gougane Barra John Barrow Kealkil Lough Hyne Millstreet Mitchelstown pattern day PJ Hartnett sile na gig Southern Reporter St Bartholomew St Bridget St Colman St Fanahan St Finbarre St Gobnait St John St Olan Stations of Cross Synod of Tuam Thomas Crofton Croker Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry William Carleton William Wilde

Explorations around Killeagh

12th February 2018 7 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: East Cork Other Tagged With: Aghadoe House Alex Pentek ballaun Ballyrobert Blessed Virgin Mary Choctaw Memorial Coillte Cornaveigh de Cappells dovecot fulachta fia Glenbower Woods Ightermurray castle Killeagh Kindred Spirits Mass Rock Midelton sile na gig St Bridget Storm Ophelia Warts

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly …

31st December 2017 Leave a Comment

… 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 […]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Allihies ballaun stone Ballygarvan Blackwater Castle Blarney Castletownbere Castletownroche cilleen Donoughmore Doonpeter Dripsey fulacht fiadh Glanworth Kanturk Lough Ine Mitchelstown piseog Rathmore Rockspring Rooves Beg Sherkin Island sile na gig Skibbereen Storm Ophelia

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Recent posts

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