A Forgotten Quartet off the R586

The road between Drimoleague and Bandon offers the opportunity for many holy well diversions – all of them obscure and quite tricky to find, but all worth pursuing. Today there were four wells on the agenda, each clearly marked on the OS map (Discovery Series 86 covers this area).

Well of the Baptisms, Tobar a’Bhaiste, Tobernabastia, Nedinagh East

This proved to be a delightful spot located just off the R586 near Manch. A wander down a leafy road, then a walk through a field opened up into hilly pasture. A shady grove at the far end looked significant and enticing, hawthorn, holly and ash making a little circle around some stones and covered pipes.

The little well lay in the centre amongst the jumble of mossy stones, some large slabs supported on smaller stones formed a rectangular basin, though much disturbed. The water was clear and a modern pipe within it showed that it was still being used.

As we retraced our steps I noticed a small path, much overgrown, amongst the woodland – surely the original pilgrimage path leading to the well?

The well is called Tobar a’Bhaiste, or Well of the Baptisms and across the road, hidden by old farm buildings, are the remains of Fanlobbus church (CO108-027003) and its graveyard. Actually there have probably been many churches on this site, the original dating from the seventh century. Fanlobbus translates rather romantically as fan leaba ois, slope of the fawns’ bed. It is a beautiful spot. Four men were strimming amongst the higgledy piggeldy gravestones.

They stopped for a chat and although they knew of the well had little extra information but confirmed that the church site was ancient. The well, with its significant name, must surely have had connections with the church. It’s very easy to imagine a procession walking from here through the fields to an open air baptism.

The Schools’ Folklore Collection has a little more information:

Nedineagh Well, which is situated in the townland of Nedineagh is known as the “Master’s Well”. The field in which the well is situated is called “Páirc na Dtor”. People visited this well on Saturdays and Sunday mornings and especially on St. John’s Night. Rounds were performed and prayers said. The prayers usually said were five Our Fathers, and five Hail Mary’s. About sixty years ago there was a woman who had a son that was blind. She took him to the well, and after performing the rounds and saying the necessary prayers for the cure of her son, his sight was restored to him. Since this event, the well is specially recommended for curing sore eyes.

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Well of the Church, Tobar na Cille, Tobernakilla, Dromidiclogh

This well is to be found in remote countryside above Ballineen and the GPS proved essential. Just off a small road, a clamber across a gate and you arrive on a plateau with sweeping views out across the rolling countryside. The Archaeological Inventory for County Cork described the well as:

Square depression roughly cut in rock through which bubbles a natural spring. Water now piped to cattle trough nearby. No indication of holy use.

Several places looked promising. A heap of stones with a hawthorn tree growing out of it looked possible but the actual well was just below this, now revealed as a hollow; circled by a rough jumble of stones, festooned with ragwort.

An old pipe lay within randomly aimed at an even older stone trough. The area was damp and much disturbed.

Known as Tobarnakilla or Tobar na Cille, Well of the Churches, the name gives clues as to other former monuments in the area. It was possible to make out a circular enclosure and many interesting jumbles of stones. This was an old burial ground (CO108-019001). Had there once been an ancient church or two in the vicinity as well?

A wild and windswept spot with long views down into a valley and in the distance the intriguing shape of something just marked as mound on the map. It looked remarkably like a chambered tomb, very similar to Dowth, one of the three impressive monuments at Brú na Bóinne in Meath. Surely not! A Norman motte is another possibility, the castle on top long since disappeared.

Lady’s Well & St Brigid’s Well, Kilbrogan

I have put these two together as they are only seven metres apart and remarkably similar in structure – and neglect! I had searched for these two wells before and knew they were situated somewhere near the stream in Bandon Town Park.  An initial exploration had proved nothing and I was perplexed as they sounded as though they were both quite substantial stone structures. I had asked a local man if he had any idea where they might be. He could remember them being there and knew that one was good for eye complaints but he thought they might have been covered over. This time we were armed with the GPS and it brought us to exactly the spot I had been searching before – near the stream. Although the park itself was beautifully kept, the area by the stream was thick with brambles, nettle and bindweed. We had sticks! We had loppers!

We carefully investigated the nettles and lo and behold some stone appeared!  Astonishingly, after more careful excavation, a large and well made semicircular construction with stone flanks was revealed

The stone sides looked modernish but the stones at the very back looked older. The well was in excellent condition behind all the undergrowth. A rectangular shaped basin still held water, though crushed beer cans were more in evidence than holy water bottles.

This well was dedicated to St Brigid and its water was once considered effective in the curing of sore eyes. This entry from the Schools’ Folklore Collection refers to it as the Sore Eye Well:

There is a well in the Town Park and it is called the Sore Eye Well. It is said that people have been cured there from time to time and hence its name. Long ago when many visits were made to the well there was a passage from the road across the park to the well and through this passage the people went. At the side of the road there was a wicket which led to the passage. At that time the well was kept in perfect condition and at either side of the well there were two birch trees. In front of the well there were steps and on those steps the people prayed. When a person came to the will to be cured he should come on nine mornings in succession and on each morning make one round. Each morning the person should recite the necessary prayers. Bathe the eyes in the holy water, and then leave something at the well such as a coin or a button as was the custom. The person should be fasting each morning when visiting the holy well. I learned from a neighbour that many people have been cured at the well from time to time. Now the well is more or less destroyed and is covered with briars, grass, weeds, brushwood and brambles. This is because the people do not visit it only very very rarely. But still some few people visit it and I’ve often heard that they have been cured.
Not long ago I saw a woman at the well but I don’t know whether she was cured or not. During the trouble in 1916 the two birch trees were destroyed and the passage broken up and since then the people have not visited it so often as before.

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Railway sleepers had been used to revet the bank – was the other well, dedicated to Our Lady, still lurking in the greenery? It was – seven metres away, even more strongly entwined in nature but a bit of careful clearing and this too was revealed to be almost identical to the other well but harder to access.

It was semi-circular, made of stone with stone wings on each side. Again, it contained water and a lot of other rubbish. Once this well too must have been considered a place of pilgrimage and reverence though the ITA records is as being covered over by the 1940s.

We were delighted but quite shocked to discover these two wells and wondered what had become of the underground passage. It is astonishing that these historical monuments have been allowed to just disappear – hidden in plain sight. What an asset they could be to the Park for surely others would find them interesting – either as historical monuments and reminders of the past, or still as places of pilgrimage and meditation. An example of why it’s essential really to record these wells before they do disappear forever.

Edit: Delighted to say that the wells have now been cleared, thanks to Margaret O Driscoll who read this blog and immediately contacted an archaeologist and Tús (Community Work Placement Initiative). Great to see. (2017)

Edit: November 2022. The story of these two wells continue. Having fallen once again into disrepair they have recently been tidied to reveal the impressive stonework.

Both wells also quickly filled with water and a frog was also spied. Creative Bandon has some interesting and sympathetic ideas how the wells site could be used to benefit the community and I will report on developments.

The revival of these two wells in Kilbrogan continues. On Bridget’s Eve, 2023 a party of transition years students from Kilbrogan College and Bandon Grammar School gathered at the wells to learn a little about the wells and pay their respects. It may have been the first time for nearly 100 years that a pattern of sorts was held here! With thanks to Wise Water and Creative Bandon for their hard work in keeping these wells alive.

Locations of these wells can be found in the Gazetteer.