St Bartholomew’s Well, Tobar Partalam, near Bantry

This little well proved very elusive. I had tried on two previous occasions to locate it and had driven down small lanes, asked two women on horseback and generally found nothing. Armed with the GPS and a navigator, things proved a little easier the third time. We pulled into the corner and looked hopefully into a very boggy field. I saw nothing but donned my wellies. A shout went up, my husband had seen something – a small grassy hillock, surrounded by furze. Yes, that looked the right shape.

The field was exceptionally wet, full of bracken and bog grass and furze but the well was wonderful! It did look just a like a small hillock from the back, furze bushes surrounding it but as I went round to the front and cleared away some of the brambles and bracken, I saw it was far more exciting and more or less intact.

The well is a rectangular stone-lined trough situated within a beautifully built stone chamber. Above it is a remarkable bee-hive shaped wellhouse, now with a luxuriant topknot of grasses, brambles and furze, a sturdy stone lintel over the entrance. Even more interesting is the long stone line passageway coming out of the well, a good metre and a half tall and two metres long, now colonised by wall pennywort. You look down into it from above. I was tempted to climb down into the well but feared I wouldn’t get out again.

The well is dedicated to Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles, and is also known as Tobar Partalam. Once it was the site of pilgrimage and devotion and rounds were made here on the Eve of St Bartholomew’s Feast day, 23rd August:

… St Bartholomew’s Well is situated in the townland of Gortroe and there is a story connected with it, The well was not always there but, one morning, when the people of the house went out, they saw the well which was built during the night, Anybody in this world never made it.  The well is especially recommended for the cure of toothaches, sore eyes and deformed legs. People drank the water and also applied it to the affected parts and prayed at the same time. Rounds were made there on the 23rd August and crowds of people gathered there each year , and performed these rounds. The well is situated in the centre of the field and is drained by a narrow little brook, from which they (the pilgrims) received tiny pebbles, which they used as beads, twelve in number. Ten Hail Marys , one Our Father and one Glory when making the rounds. Long ago there was a man killed in this field and since then the owners of the field have deserted it. St Bartholomew is mentioned in connection with it as his feast occurs somewhat  around that time .

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I imagine that pilgrims approached the well along the narrow stone passage and made their devotions inside. The reference to gathering pebbles is interesting and a not uncommon way of marking the rounds. A trout was meant to live within the well and anyone who saw it would have everlasting happiness!  It seems that pattern days frequently got out of hand and there is a story about two young men fighting, one man eventually dying of his injuries, as described in the extract. The parish priest then banned further pattern day and the well fell into disuse.

Although it felt like no-one had been here for some time there were a few offerings to be seen: a scallop shell, a piece of blue glass and a jam jar lay on a ledge within .

A remarkable little place, now forgotten and forlorn, but still essentially intact.

Edit: on revisiting the well in January 2019 I was delighted to see the site has been cleared, the well tied up and some information attached and a welcoming not on the gate.

As we approached It was looking especially good, illuminated by a rainbow.

A sign near the well gave a little information including measurements of the well, how the wellhouse appeared miraculously overnight, how the water never runs dry and will never boil.

With the undergrowth now cleared it’s easier to see the shape of the well and the intriguing long and tapering channel running up to it. In the foreground is another smaller basin which may once have had its own wellhouse. I was able to get a better shot of the interior, the rectangular basin clearly seen and the water fresh and plentiful.  The water is an orangey colour, rich in minerals. A little shelf still holds an array of offerings.

The unfortunate person killed during the faction fighting is said to be buried under the lone whitethorn in the  west corner of the field, 

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