Three Gentlemen, a Yeti & a Medicinal Draught

One of the really nice things about well hunting has been the meeting of so many different people, often in unexpected circumstances, They have unfailingly been kind, interested and helpful. My favourite phrases have to be : I’ll take you – or Hang on, I’ll just get my wellies. Which brings me to three gentleman recently encountered in the field.

 Surfeit Well, Tobereenedenaght, Tobairin a’Dinigh

A day out in the Ballinadee area with Robert and Finola of Roaringwater Journal fame, with two wells on the agenda: first on the list the Surfeit Well or Tobereenedenaght, Little Well of the Medicinal Draught. Confusion had already arisen about this well for whilst doing early research I found it was marked in a different place on the Archaeological Survey as to where it was  shown on the historic maps – significantly so, actually in different townlands. It didn’t sound that promising either:

In tillage on N-facing slope. ‘Tobereenedenaght – Tobairin a Dinigh (little well of the medicinal draught) and locally , Surfeit Well’. (O’Donoghue 1986, 116). No visible surface trace.

However I had come across an article by Conan Kennedy called Ley Lines and Holy Wells in Ballinspittle which referred to the well and the Irish Tourist Association Survey of 1945 contained a photograph, so I felt hopeful that something remained.

After a quick detour to Cloghane townland where the Archaeological Survey reckoned the well was and an encounter with a nice young man who assured us that it wasn’t, we tried the reference from the historic maps and carried on to the neighbouring townland of Rathdrought. This proved to be accurate and we arrived in the farm of George Teape. What a kind and helpful man. He immediately dropped what he was doing and offered to take us to the well. We all piled into Robert’s Yeti, bouncing across two lush fields of pasture. I was relieved we weren’t in my Micra! The well site was instantly recognizable by the lone tree – an ash, standing sentinel over the well.

The stone remains of various structures lay scattered hither and thither, including the toppled column which had once marked the well and was still standing in the ITA photo. This is the story:

The Surfeit well is situated in Rathtrout which is about two miles from Ballinadee. Many cures are got from the waters of the well. Farmers from far away come for the water if they have sick animals. If three drops of this water are taken by a person or by an animal, a cure takes place in a very short time. Not very long ago the owner of the land in which the well is situated closed the passage that was leading to the well and broke up the well. But that year every one of his cattle died. Then he learned that he had done wrong; so he reopened the well and the passage leading to it. He also built a stone pillar near it to show the travellers where the well was. Around the well are lots of beads, buttons, metals, rosary beads and numbers of other articles which were left there by the people who came for the water…

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The bench where visitors to the well could take a moment’s ease was still there as demonstrated by George.

But where was the well? George had a quick root around with the heel of his boot and the actual well was uncovered, just in front of the bench.

A jumble of stones was just discernible and a damp hollow.

The well was dry but George reckoned it would fill up again over the winter. The water was renowned for its reviving qualities especially if you had eaten too much as several entries in the Schools’ Folklore Collection testify:

…. the water is said to cure surfeit after Christmas and Easter … people visited the well in numbers, especially after Easter, when eating a dozen eggs was no great feat! (0313: 308A)

The well was described in the ITA as one of the most famous spas in the south of Ireland and was considered beneficial for man and beast:

The Surfeit well is situated in Rathtrout which is about two miles from Ballinadee. Many cures are got from the waters of the well. Farmers from far away come for the water if they have sick animals. If three drops of this water are taken by a person or by an animal, a cure takes place in a very short time. .., Around the well are lots of beads, buttons, metals, rosary beads and numbers of other articles which were left there by the people who came for the water. The owner of this well is Mr Taupe.

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This extract from the Ley Lines and Holy Wells of Ballinspittle records a meeting with George, who confirmed that the information was accurate:

… The story in Bandon has it that this one, known as The Surfeit Well, is an ancient well closed up hundreds of years ago. It was rediscovered about two hundred years ago and the tale of its rediscovery goes thus … A local young man was in the British Army in India. Taken ill, he was more or less at death’s door when he dreamed of his home place, Rathrout. The dream told him that there was a particular well beside his house and, if he could just get back there and drink the waters he would recover. They got him back and, on his instructions, people dug at the spot and found the well. The soldier drank, and recovered! The well thus got its reputation, particularly for ailments of the stomach, since that had been the soldier’s problem. And, right up to twenty-five years ago people would come regularly, leaving behind pieces of rag and suchlike tied to the pillar by the well as was the custom. There were no rags or any-thing like that on our recent visit, but when the young woman came out of the rain to collect water for, as she told us, a sick cow…it was clear enough that little else had changed.changed. According to George Teape, owner of the land, three or four people still come every week to collect water from the well. He himself had had the stuff analysed out of curiosity and learned that it contained magnesium and cobalt and suchlike. (Interestingly enough magnesium is one of the minerals that activates enzymes necessary for digestion). 

The well was in magnificent position with big views out across the countryside. George told us that it was more or less over a quarry where white quartz was once mined. Pieces were still in evidence amongst the grass but the pillar, once topped with quartz, had vanished.

What a delightful encounter, it was almost a shame to pull ourselves away but we had another well to visit in the nearby townland of Rathroon East

Eye Well, Tobernasog

The next well also had a charming keeper, this time in the form of Pat Walsh. He too dropped what he was doing, leapt into his tractor and told us to follow him – we did, again in the Yeti. That’s the first time I’ve been in a tractor convoy to a well!

Pat leapt from his tractor and stood on the slope of the pasture. Nothing to be seen but a cluster of dock leaves yet he was exactly on the spot according to the GPS.

He confirmed that the well had been infilled decades ago but it was interesting that the site remained still known and instantly findable. As the name suggests the well had once held a cure for sore eyes. Another fabulous position with sweeping views out towards Ballinspittle and Kinsale.

Talking of sweeping views I’m adding another well to this blog which was visited a few weeks ago but it seems to fit in with these two and again lead to a very pleasant and unexpected encounter.

Wart Well, Foherlagh

We visited on the most glorious day, again in the company of Robert and Finola. We inquired at the farm and Dennis instantly offered to take us. We followed him across two fields (this time on foot, no Yeti!), the most spectacular views opening up out across Roaringwater Bay. First we paused to admire two enormous standing stones – perfectly positioned in the centre of a high plateau, now mainly appreciated by the sheep (CO141-004). Finola has the information about them here.

And what impressive stones, one slightly at an angle and pointed, the other shorter and flat-topped, both casting long shadows on this gorgeous day.

The well is meant to lie somewhere in the vicinity but is not recorded on the Archaeological survey, or on the historic OS maps,  I read about it in the excellent Find A Mass Rock website

This east facing Mass Rock is situated in the parish of Ballydehob. It is a large irregularly shaped stone boulder 2m in height with a base measuring 6.3m. There are two distinct natural ledges and a natural hollow in the lower shelf. This may have acted as some sort of container perhaps for Holy Water taken from the nearby well. Alternatively candles may have been placed in the hollow. The lower shelf measures 1m high and 1.1m deep with the subsequent shelf measuring 1.7m high and 0.5m deep. There are no obvious markings on the rock. It is situated within a complex ritual site containing a pair of standing stones, two large boulders and a Holy Well (known locally as the Wart Well for the healing of warts). The OS Map also shows two ringforts or enclosures nearby. Despite the presence of other rock features at this sacred site, this particular rock may have been chosen because of its shape. The boulder is pointed and resembles the gable end of a church.

The Mass Rock was easy to identify, a large and imposing rock with its triangular gable.

The natural hollow looked very bullaun-like.

The website suggested that the holy well was separate yet when I mentioned a well to Dennis he immediately described this scoop in the rock as being the well. He had no knowledge of any other well but we had an explore in the area just in case, but could find nothing.The closeness to the Mass rock, the shape of the cavity and Dennis’s reaction all suggest that this might be the most likely contender for the well. It did contain a little water in the base.

Other Mass Rocks I have encountered have similar scoops or bullauns which have been considered to be holy wells: see Some Thoughts on Ballauns for other examples. Inevitably they all hold cures for warts.

No amazing wells but three interesting sites and three very enjoyable encounters with three gentlemen.

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

Many thanks to George, Pat and Dennis for their time and information. Thanks also to Robert for negotiating all that bouncy pasture in the Yeti!