The most significant thing about a holy well is of course the water. Not all wells are wells though, they can be springs, lakes, scoops in rock, ponds, hollows in trees or part of a stream. And not all wells now contain water – 37 holy wells visited were dry. Hopefully a few of those […]
Warts
Three Gentlemen, a Yeti & a Medicinal Draught
One of the really nice things about well hunting has been the meeting of so many different people, often in unexpected circumstances, They have unfailingly been kind, interested and helpful. My favourite phrases have to be : I’ll take you – or Hang on, I’ll just get my wellies. Which brings me to three gentleman recently encountered […]
St Moling: wading against the flow
St Moling was an interesting chap and fortunately for us, his life is well documented in the Book of Tighe Mulling, or Book of Moling, written sometime during the late eighth century and the subject of several translations since. Moling was born in 614 AD in the Sliabh Luachra area of Kerry but his birth […]
Old Friends Revisited
A final trip into the Gaeltacht Mhúscraí was required to find three unvisited wells. We intended to stay in the area for three days, Himself walking the Slí Muscrai Gaeltacht. I also had a motley quartet in my sights around Newtownshandrum. But we were slightly thwarted by the weather: no, not torrential rain or floods or […]
Putting things off ’til later
Continuing from the last blog, still in the Gaeltacht and back to Baile Bhúirne (Ballyvourney). I had almost visited the next three wells once before, on the Trail of St Lachteen. They all looked in remote and challenging locations, and the descriptions for each were rather curt and unexciting. I had resolved to put them […]
In the footsteps of O Sullivan Bere
Summer arrived for a few magnificent days – an excellent opportunity to head to the hills and explore the Gaeltacht Mhúscraí around Baile Mhúirne (Ballyvourney) and Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh (Ballingeary). I had six wells left in this area, all of them in seemingly remote and difficult areas, all of them with apparently little to […]