St Abban’s Well, Tobar Abán, Baile Mhúirne

I visited this little well on the 11th February, the feast day of St Gobnait, but was so entranced that I felt it deserved its own page. Appropriately enough St Abán is meant to have been the brother, or possibly the mentor, of St Gobnait and  it may have been he who founded the religious institution at Ballyvourney and then bequeathed it to her. Very little actually seems to be known about him. He was possibly the son of a king of Leinster, Cormac mac Diarmata, who left his high born heritage to become a holy man and hermit. Several places in Ireland seem to have connections with him: Killabban in County Laois, Adamstown in County Wexford and even Abingdon in England. He is also said to have lived for 300 years, dying around 650 AD! He seems to have two feast days: 16th March and 27th October.

This little well is as mysterious as the saint and I’m almost reluctant to give information about it for it is such a special site, full of quiet presence with a truly ancient feel. But I will. The first time I visited was this time last year. I came with friends and we inquired at the post office how to find it. Park by the bridge, stride across the fields and make for the tallest tree. We followed directions which were spot on. This time I remembered how to get there and strode forth. The river had swollen and first I had to cross a ford, clinging to the muddy banks. Then I walked across waterlogged fields towards the woods until a path appeared. Most magical of all, you know you are getting closer as faded red ribbons appear in the trees, showing you the path: very Ariadne or maybe Hansel and Gretel. The woods are dense, mossy and silent and at first I couldn’t find anything. I don’t think anyone had visited since we last came. Then I spotted what I was looking for. What an extraordinary site. The well itself is tiny and easily overlooked, I had to scrabble about amongst the leaves.

It has been covered by a tea tray which in turn had been covered with a stone slab with the words Tobar Abán helpfully carved into it. The leaves were so thick they were turning into a mulch, but lifting the lids and the small, triangular well was revealed, the water clear and cold.

A plastic basket nearby, also very leafy, held an array of mugs and I looked around for the painted sign I’d seen last time. It too was covered in leaves which I removed and placed upright. A few ribbons hung in the trees above. So much peace.

But this is not all, a little way away is the burial place of the saint himself. Another extraordinary site – a stone cairn over a cist (burial chamber), many of the stones white quartz. Three tall ogham stones surround the cairn and on top is a large bullaun stone. The ogham (early Irish alphabet) is hard to see as the stones are so mossy but the whole thing feels very ancient and important.

A cross, placed here in the Marian year of 1954, reminds you that this is a Christian place, so easy to forget. The cross was adorned with rosaries and ribbons and other little offerings were tucked into the quartz.

An entry from the Schools’ Folklore Collection describes how the rounds were paid:

The usual form of praying there is the performing of “rounds”. The “round” is gone through in the following manner: Seven “Our Fathers seven “Hail Mary’s” and seven “Glorias” are recited four times at each of the three standing stones. After every seven the person walks around the mound saying the “Apostles Creed” so that the mound is encircled twelve times. Then where bones are kept a rosary is recited. People than bless themselves with the bones and go down to the well and say seven prayers. They also take a drink of the water …. There is a very rocky path going to the “Cill”. It is said the pilgrim must go and come by this path, when performing a “round”. There is now a specified day in honour of the Saint. At one time the sixteenth of March and the sixteenth of October were observed in his honour. Nowadays when people come on the eleventh of February, St Gobnait’s day, or Whit Sunday some of them perform “rounds” at both places.

SFC: 164-167:0342

The water held a general cure, but the earth from the grave was also sometimes taken and rubbed on an ailing part of the body.

There is an interesting postscript describing St Abban’s his death:

Tradition says that St. Abban died at Ballyvourney, and that, at the moment of his death one of the nuns of St. Gobnait happened to be so ill that the holy abbess was afraid the “keen” or death-wail raised at his funeral might disturb the poor invalid. As usual, in any difficulty, she had recourse to prayer, so that, wonderful to relate, not one sound of all the crying and wailing outside penetrated the sick-room.The stone St. Gobnait knelt on as she prayed is still pointed out by the good folk of Ballyvourney who stoutly maintain that anyone standing upon it would not hear even the loudest clap of thunder were it ever so near.

SFC:119:0342

I have yet to discover that stone!

A few more photos after a visit in May 2019 when the site was looking very fine

 

And 2022

And 2023, St Gobnait’s Day, several trees have fallen down making access to the well difficult. The well is fine though.

And 2023, when a large tree had fallen almost directly over the well.

The location of this well can be found in the Gazetteer.