Two remote wells NE of Macroom

Two rather obscure wells on the agenda today, slightly north east of Macroom.

Kill Holy Well & Bullaun

The first stop was in a remote area, all green pasture, tiny roads and quite a lot of flooding after some seriously wet days.

I was looking for a well and a bullaun in the townland of Kill, meaning church. The well seemed to be in a field but how to get to it posed a few problems as there were fences, walls and streams abounding. I asked at the house but there was no one at home, then I found a gate. I scrambled over, GPS on, and followed it across the field to a dense brambly hedge and steep damp ditch.

An undignified scramble through and a pleasing sight met my eye on the other side- a small circular area in a field, fenced off with now fallen wires – always an encouraging sign.

On coming closer it was plain to see that the fencing hadn’t stopped the cattle from causing significant damage to what was indeed the well. The core remained intact,  a rough wellhouse of stones built into the low banks of the field. A jumble of other stones, some large, made it difficult to work out what had been what but the substantial stone to the left is considered to be the original capstone or lintel, now fallen.

The area was very damp and water trickled out from within, seeping off into the pasture. I could find no sign of the bullaun stone which was only meant to be about 60 metres from the well. I did wonder if it was the large stone in the ditch, photographed above though I saw no sign of a basin. The well, and bullaun, are only marked on the Cassini 6 inch map (1940s), and it is given no name. 

An entry in the National Folklore Collection, Main Manuscript has a little more information including a drawing of the well.

It describes how nine visits were required on consecutive mornings, the pilgrim fasting. The water held a cure for rheumatism and swellings. The entry also has some information about the illusive bullaun and another sketch. The water here never ran dry and held cures for an impressive medley of illnesses: rheumatism, warts, cysts and swellings.

St James Well & the Cloch Beannach

Another drive along another small and remote road to the townland of Oughtihery. Here was the once much visited well dedicated to St James. When the entry in Archaeological Inventory was last revised in 2009 it was described as follows: Wet area overgrown with trees and bushes; some moss-covered stones visible through overgrowth. The situation remains much the same today. There is a small copse, the area extremely wet and uneven underfoot and the whole site obscured by the rampant undergrowth. I too found a heap of mossy stones but I suspect they were more likely to be field clearance than holy well.

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The GPS however led me into the field just beyond the copse, straight up to a standing stone, which oddly is not marked on any maps. The stone seemed to be in a small hollow, the area around it very wet.

On consulting the map on the archaeology.ie  website, the well is also placed where the stone now is and not in the copse. A thought occurred – could this stone been put here fairly recently to mark the well? The National Monuments Record also mentions that the: Farm trackway once connected well with road to E and that seems still to be the case. 

RR Brash writing in 1879, described the well as having an: insignificant appearance, and that it was dedicated to no saint. He also noted also that: certain rounds and washings at the well, were deemed as specific for rheumatic pains and other ailments.

A Fulacht fiadh is recorded further north in the field and even further north are the remains of a possible ecclesiastical enclosure including ogham stones, souterrain and burial ground which we didn’t have time to visit. The well was once considered to hold a cure for rheumatic pains and rounds were paid here, presumably on St James’ Feast Day, July 25th.

There is one other artefact connected with the well which I was more fortunate in finding. It had once stood next to the well and had been moved sometime before the 1850s and placed in a wall in the nearby road. It had fallen out of the wall by 1871 and now lies rather despondent and neglected at the edge of the road.

It is the  Cloch Beannach, the Stone of Blessing or Benediction (CO060-038) and a remarkable thing it is too. A bit of moss and ivy clearing was required before I could see the four bullauns, or hollows, that this large stone contains. There are two large hollows on edge to the east, and two smaller hollows at the opposite edge. The biggest hollow has been broken at some point and now contains a large smooth pebble reminiscent of cursing or blessing stones.

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The stone was visited as part of the rounds paid at St James Well. Pilgrims were expected to knees in the two smaller hollows and place a small offering in one of the large hollows. Quite difficult to achieve, I suspect. The water that collected within the hollows was also considered good for rheumatic pains. Here’s Brash again:

Cloch-Beannachadh i.e. the Stone of Blessing or Benediction….lay formerly near a holy well … the devotee placed his or her knees in the smaller hollows, and repeating a certain number of prayers, dropped an offering of some minute article into the larger; this operation, and certain rounds and washings at the well, were deemed a specific for rheumatic pains and other ailments

A little further on along the lane a small 5 stone circle (CO060-042) sits sedately in a field. In fact the whole area boasts all sorts of interesting archaeology, most of which retains their secrets.

We completed our day with a visit to nearby St Olan’s Well, one of my favourites.

The location of these wells can be found in the Gazetteer.