Fionnchú: The White Hound

Arriving in Mitchelstown in the late afternoon the light was fading and a thin mizzle had set in but we thought we could manage a trip to two wells dedicated to the town saint, St Fanahan, or, as he is known as Gaeilge, St Fionnchú: the white hound.

St Fanahans’s Well, Tobar Naomh Fionnchú

St Fanahan’s Well is found off a small housing estate on the edge of Mitchelstown and is clearly signed from the road. There is a helpful information board and an attractive plaque that informs that the old pilgrimage route is now part of the Siúlbhealaigh Stairiúil, or Historic Walking Trail. The instantly impressive pathway leading down to the well is 500m long, a raised causeway through fields, planted with now mature beeches on each side. We met a local man who told us that the causeway was raised during Famine times on the instruction of the local priest but other information suggests that the path could be at least 1000 years old.

Whatever, it is an imposing and rather wonderful avenue, an original Mass path, recently fitted with electric lights which are only illuminated for nine days before and nine days after St Fanahan’s Feast Day on the 25th November. I was saddened to see what I thought was a dead pheasant at the edge of the trees – it gave us a shock as it took to the wing with a squawk and flew off! The causeway ends in an attractive little footbridge going across the Sruth na nÉigse,  Stream of the Sages or the River of the Wisemen. A small plaque explained:

This bridge was built in 1870 by the County Grand Jury. Half its cost was paid by Edmund Murray, Jeremiah Casey (father of ‘the Galtee Boy’) and Michael Cusack of 19 Lower Cork Street. Casey and Cusack did so in thanksgiving respectively, for the safe return of his son from Australia, and Cusack of his brother, William Cusack, a Union Officer who fought in the American Civil War.

Look out for the carved head on the right hand side. St Fanahan himself ? The Archaeological Inventory reckons it came from the Catholic church in St Thomas’ Street, Mitchelstown.

The bridge leads onto a small island, surrounded by three different streams – viewed as a special sign, reminiscent of the Holy Trinity. The area is enclosed by earthen banks, mature trees giving it an ancient feel as a path winds around the perimeter, here and there interspersed with Stations of the Cross. Occasional breaks in the bank allow a Mass path from across the fields to enter the site, stepping stones across the stream preventing wet feet. A tranquil spot apart from hum of the M8 not so far across the fields, and the occasional gunfire from the nearby Army shooting ranges!

It is the well that is the focal point though. A photograph of the original well can be found in an entry in the Schools’ Folklore Collection – a much simpler affair with kneeling stones arranged around the well basin. Interesting to see the shrines and statues hanging in the trees.

And this is how the well looked in 1967, a delightful photo taken from  the Duchás Photographic Collection (F025.20.00017)

The current well was restored in 1989 and is apse-shaped with cut stone blocks around it, surrounded by low level seating. The water is abundant and clear with a sprinkling of beech leaves. It is considered good for curing flesh wounds, lameness, blindness and warts. Walking sticks and crutches once adorned the original well, evidence of the power of the cure.

Watching over it is a large stone cross carved with the figure of St Fanahan and an eel on the facing side, and on the other side a sickle and a bell. It’s beautifully done, the work of well known Cork sculptor Ken Thompson. St Fanahan looks a benign figure, holding one hand in blessing, his crozier in the other, his dainty slippered feet peeping out from under his robe. Only the large sword at his belts hints at other things. For St Fanahan was not your usual saint – he was a warrior saint admired for: ‘… the greatness of his nature and the nobility of his race, and the greatness of his fury and his virtue. (Book of Lismore)

The Book of Lismore, written in the fifteenth century (translated in 1890 by Whitely Stokes), is invaluable in describing St Fanahan’s life in all its colourful and fascinating detail. Finola from Roaringwaterjournal has written an excellent entry about him so I shall just keep it brief. He seems to have been remarkable even before he was born and could speak through his mother’s womb! Aged seven, he was sent to be educated at the Abbey of Bangor. His fiery temper proved too much and he was expelled, taking with him a bell which would ring when he arrived at his destiny. The bell rang as he neared Mitchelstown and here he built a monastery. Many extraordinary tales are associated with him including one where the king of Déisi came to see him and asked if he could guarantee him a place in Heaven by swapping his good soul for his bad one. Fanahan agreed and offered the king his own place, already guaranteed. To re-earn his place in Heaven, he commissioned seven smiths to make seven sickles. He then spent the next seven years hanging from them in penance. He rewarded the smiths by calling the place Brigown – Bri Goghann, the Smiths’ Hill. He did descend once though for he was called upon to help the children of Niall of the Nine Hostages against foreign attackers. Later, once released from the sickles, he seems to have been often called upon to lend his weight in battles. He led from the front, literally breathing fire – sparks bursting from his teeth which caused the shafts of his enemies’ spears to burn! His weapon of choice was his crozier, Cennachathach – head battler, reputedly later kept as a relic in the round tower until this fell down in the 18th century! Eventually he went on a pilgrimage to Rome to do penance, dying around 660AD. The meaning of the sickle, the bell and the eel now becomes clear.

The eel incidentally is meant to be visible in the water of the well and is considered to be the embodiment of the saint himself. Whoever sees it will have great fortune. The well is also said to contain a trout, the embodiment of the BVM – a great honour to see this blessed fish.

There is another sculpture of St Fanahan outside the Garda Station in town and this seems to capture his strength and charisma. Sculpted by Cliodna Cussen in 1981, this saint is a suitably beefy and muscular figure sitting solidly upon a rock, head battler in his hand, a rather enigmatic expression on his face. On one side is an eel and on the other a curled up hound, referring to his name.

St Fanahan’s Feast Day is the 25th November and an annual pilgrimage is still made to the well. These photos were taken in 2018, courtesy of John Mullins.

The pattern lasts for nine days preceding the 25th when pilgrims are expected to visit the well, say private prayers to the saint walking three time clockwise around the pathway behind the well, and recite a Decade of the Rosary. The Eve of the feast day was once considered to be a day of abstinence – no meat was eaten and no work permitted; even baking and knitting were considered inappropriate. There’s a rather strange story in the Schools’ Folklore Collection relating to the Eve:

A man from Mitchelstown was arrested and imprisoned in Clonmel. The poor man was innocent of the crime of which he was accused. The Feast of St. Fanahan was at hand and he was very sorry because he would not be able to go the well on the day of the Feast (November 25). During his time in prison he got no meat. It happened, however, that he was given meat on the Eve of the Feast of St. Fanahan but he refused it as that day was always kept as a Fast Day in the parish of Mitchelstown. He had never before missed attending at the well on the Feast-Day. That night while praying in this cold cell he heard someone calling his name and saying:-

“Get up and go to St. Fanahan’s well” He was so delighted that he arose at once forgetting that his ankle was chained to a large stone in the corner of the cell. He walked on all through the night and it was just breaking day as he crossed the little stream which runs from the well.

He heard a great splash and, lookin down, he saw the stone and chain that he had dragged, unknowingly all the way from Clonmel. The stone is still to be seen and part of the chain was there up to a few years ago.

SFC: 113/114:0569

 Sadly I missed the stone but I believe it is still there. There’s a nice account of the Feast Day here.

Once a stall provided glasses of water from the well, for sale to the pilgrims for a small gift, now you just help yourself. Donations are still appreciated though.

This extract from the School’s Folklore Collection sums everything up rather well and adds a few more interesting details:

A short distance outside the town of Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, there stands in the centre of a graveyard the ruins of an old church. They are all that now remain of the once extensive abbey founded by St. Fanahan, the Patron of the Parish of Brigown and the town of Mitchelstown.The ruins are plain and rough, but the church was earlier than the churches of Cashel and Holycross — in fact it was one of the earliest churches built in Ireland. In the east of the town and reached by Mulberry Lane, so called because of the mulberry trees planted there for the silk industry many years ago, and then through a shaded path four hundred yards long is St Fanahan’s Blessed Well. The well is very neatly kept, and some years ago a statue of St. Fanahan was erected there. It is said that the well was situated just outside Brigown graveyard, in a field known as Abbey Field, which belonged to the monastery, and for some reason removed to its present location. No reason is given for the change. In the Abbey Field, and a short distance west of the graveyard, there is today a pond or pool which appears to be fed by a small spring. Tradition has it that the Holy Well was first situated in this spot.The water from the well is supposed to possess great healing power for any bodily complaint either internal or external, and on the feast of the saint — 25th November — the people come in thousands to this Blessed Well. They come from every town and village from twenty miles around, to make their rounds and offer up their petitions. To the Well are taken the sick and infirm and wonderful are the cures credited to the Saint and numerous and striking are the favours granted through his intercession.The Well is situated in a little grove, through which runs a path and people tread this path when making their “rounds”. The “rounds” consist of three circuits of the Well with a pause during each circuit of the Well. A decade of the Rosary is said during each round and a Pater, an Ave, and a Gloria are said kneeling during each pause. When the three rounds are made each person finishes the Rosary at the third pause. Then he blesses himself with the water of the Well and takes a drink of the water. It is customary with many clients of the Saint to pay a visit to the Blessed Well each day for nine days preceding his Feast Day or the nine days after the Feast of the Saint. Each person takes some of the Well water with him. In the case of external complaints or injuries, the injured limb or part is bathed in the stream which flows from the Holy Well and sometimes a cloth dipped in waters put on as a bandage. The water is drunk for internal ailments. People leave mementos of their visit at the Well. These take the form of medals, rosary beads, scapulars, and are left on a bush near the Well. Others who were cured left a striking memento in the form of crutches and all forms of limb and body supports… (405-407:0357)

As we left a local man stopped for a chat and told us about the Mass path and the eel, and the annual Mass. He also explained that St Fanahan was patron saint of blow-ins which made us smile. It seems there is truth in this too for when the saint arrived in Mitchelstown, the locals were not immediately friendly. He vowed to curse the locals and support strangers. Not a very saintly attitude but I think the locals have forgiven him by now.

Edit: I visited St Fanahan’s Well on the Eve of the feast day, 24th November, 2024. A small, dedicated group of pilgrims and a dog said the rosary on a crisp cold day. A steady flow of pilgrims made their way down the long avenue to the well throughout the day and evening, when the avenue was especially illuminated. No sign of the eel today but I spoke to woman who had seen it, and a small fish – maybe the trout said to represent the BVM. I was interested to note that everyone dipped their rosaries into the water after completing a round, and then pressed the rosaries to their cheeks. Many people came everyday and it was remarked how the current parish priest was encouraging the tradition to carry on. There is obviously great pride in St Fanahans Well here in Mitchelstown.

St Fionnchú’s Church, Brigown

We thought we had time to visit Brigown, site of the St Fanahan’s monastery, 880 metres to the south west. It sounded a fascinating place:

Saint Fanahan, we are told, came to Brigown about fourteen hundred years ago, after having been removed from the office of Abbot of Bangor, and making a pilgrimage to Rome. He was granted a tract of land in Brigown, by the King of Cashel, and there he founded a monastery and built his church. The monastery flourished and tradition says it was sacked by the Danes early in the ninth century. St Fanahan’s Church was called “Cill na Marbhán” — the “Church of the Dead” — and he was the Saint of the Holy Souls. It was the custom of the Saint, when a corpse was taken to the church prior to interment, to spend the night in prayer beside the body. Of the round tower which stood near the church no trace now remains. It was said that the stones were used in the erection of the Rectory, which in all probabilities built on what was once Abbey land. We are told that when St. Celsus – The Archbishop of Armagh – was on a visitation the Ardpatrick in 1129 he fell sick, and prior to his death expressed the wish to be “waked” in Cill na Marbhán and buried in Lismore. (405-407:0375)

There is little remaining of the monastery or the round tower that was later built there in the 10th Century. There are some fine examples of early graves though and in the remains of the old church building (CO019-030004), the base of a Medieval cross has been inserted over the doorway.

St Fionnchú’s Well, Brigown

It seems that the original well dedicated to St Fanahan was much closer to the monastery. The story goes that a woman washed her clothes in the well, causing much disrespect. The next morning the monks found the well had dried up and reappeared in its current position! I asked at the farmhouse if they had a holy well on their land and they didn’t think so, but looking over the wall from the graveyard I suspect the original well was somewhere near that little hollow or possibly in the trees.

A very special place and a remarkable saint.

St Fanahan’s well is easily accessible. Locations of both wells are given in the Gazetteer.

Many thanks to John Mullins for his photographs and additional information.