Two wells & a whole lot more at Cill Mhaoilchéadair

The western tip of Corca Dhuibhne, the Dingle Peninsula, is remarkable for the sheer density of early Christian remains: ecclesiastical enclosures, early crosses and holy wells abound. Passing through these clusters is Cosán na Naomh, the Saint’s Path, which is surely no coincidence.This pilgrim path starts in Dingle, Ventry or Kilmalkedar and wends its way through beautiful countryside originally leading to the summit of Mount Brandon, a holy mountain and Ireland’s second highest, where there is an oratory and well dedicated to St Brendan on the very top. (I have not been up this route but hiked the alternative route from Cloghane a few weeks ago, as part of the Lughnasa festivities). Today the path ends at Ballybrack and the grotto, though many people still continue to the summit. Himself did this walk a few weeks ago and wrote this evocative account of his experiences.

Many of the ecclesiastical settlements are dedicated unsurprisingly to local man St Brendan. One of the most impressive monastic sites is Cill Mhaoilchéadair, KIlmalkedar, just above Ventry; a possible starting point for the Cosán which passes through it. Along with a multitude of interesting monuments it also contains two holy wells.

 Kilmalkedar, Cill Mhaoilchéadair

Kilmalkedar is a large and complex site spreading over 10 acres with a wealth of intriguing monuments.You could easily spend a whole day here and although I was primarily interested in recording the wells, they cannot be viewed in isolation. There is so much else to admire and investigate, each monument helping to put the others into context and perspective.

It was probably founded by St Maolcethair or Maol Ceadair, an Ulsterman, sometime around  the late 6th century, though he seems to have been later superseded in importance by his contemporary, St Brendan. At the centre is an fine example of a Romanesque church. The original foundation is earlier but the nave, chancel and sanctuary all date from the 12th century. Throughout the 13th to 15th centuries, this was the parish church and a remarkably wealthy one, no doubt benefiting enormously from the constant influx of pilgrims.

The church is notable for its fine architectural details including the wonderful arched doorway with its chevron-decorated tympanum.

In an article appearing in Ireland’s Own Magazine, Marking The Passage Of Time, Patrick O’Sullivan describes the potency and rituals surrounding  the East Window, known as the Cno na Snaithaide, the Eye of the Needle:

The original roof of the church has long since given way but the East Window, known locally as Cno na Snaithaide, the eye of the needle, still remains. It has long been the tradition for pilgrims to pass through the window nine times, especially at Eastertime, when it was believed that doing so would grant them the promise of eternal life. (Patrick O Sullivan, Marking the Passage of TIme.)

You’d have to be pretty skinny to get your promise of eternal life but this cheeky lad shows how it could be done. The photo probably dates from around 1939 and as far as I can discover, originally appeared in an agricultural magazine. A caption recommends climbing through the window, going around the church three times in order to cure rheumatic ailments.

It seems that anyone who had committed a sin was unlikely to get through the window and there was said to be the faces of a man (the saint) and a dog (an drabhal/dragon/devil? ) on each side of the window, checking for miscreants!

Tá ceann duine i bhfuirm cloiche ar thaobh amháin de’n bhfuinneóig agus ceann madra air an dtaobh eile. Deirtear gur naomh an duine agus gur bé an madra an drabhal a bhíonn ag faire ar na daoine na feadfadh dul tré chró ná snáithide. Schools’ Folklore Collection: (585-588:0420).

I wonder how the little lad got through! He looks like he might have caused the odd bit of mischief in his time.

Another monument of note within the church is the Alphabet Stone (KE042-026003) which dates from the 6th century. The primary inscription consists of the letters DNI  which are usually interpreted as referring to the Latin word domini, meaning Lord. The west face contains the Latin alphabet and it has been suggested that it was used for teaching purposes.

Surrounding the church are an abundance of early Christian crosses, including a tau cross and the impressive remains of a huge possibly unfinished high cross (KE042-026006).

The cross was once even bigger:

The large Latin cross which greets you as you walk through the graveyard towards the church may be as late as 12th century in date, possibly put in place at the same time as the church was built. It is quite simple in design, with short, stubby arms. When first erected, the cross may have appeared much higher, but the continuous burial within the graveyard over the centuries would have raised the ground level around it considerably. (www.dinglepeninsula.ie)

Nearby a tall, skinny stone complete with a hole at the top bears an Ogham inscription (KE042-026001).

The Dingle Peninsula website has more information:

 ẠṆM MẠỊLE-INBIR MACI BROCANN (the name of’ [or ‘the soul o’] ‘MAILE INBIR the son of BROCANN’). This person may well lie buried under the stone. The hole in the top of the stone is an unusual feature, not usually found in ogham stones. It may have been present in the stone before the carving was made on it. Tradition has it that it was used for swearing oaths, and it is associated with people marrying each other. (dinglepeninsula.ie)

When a couple wanted to get married they had could their ring finger in the hole and were considered bound without the benefit of a minister or priest:

Tá sgcéal eile mar gheall ar an bpoll seo. Deirtear nuair a teastuigheach ó lamhnain óg pósadh an uair úd ní deinidis ach méir an fháinne do chuir isteach sa pholl agus bhíodar pósda gansagart gan ministir. Schools Folklore Collection (585-588:0420)

The stone also had healing powers and those suffering from:

… rheumatism, falling sickness [epilepsy], or other ills might, by passing three times around it, with faith and prayers, be restored to health. (T O’Sullivan, Romantic Hidden Kerry. The: Kerryman, 1931. From: Voices from the Dawn website)

The riches continue. A striking and very beautiful sundial (KE042-026002) dating from the 12th century stills gives the time, thanks to an improvised stick acting as gnomon. The exquisite drawing by George du Noyer, an artist and antiquarian who was commissioned by the Ordnance Survey and Geological Survey of Ireland amongst others, shows the details.

Patrick O Sullivan described some of the features in his article Marking the Passage of Time:

The beautiful sundial is marked with segments which correspond to the divisions of the monastic day … The northwest face meanwhile is decorated with a cross of arcs, the later now thought to be a symbol of pilgrimage, as it appears on many stones associated with early pilgrimage route … While the lines on the Kilmalkedar sundial end in half moons, or semi circles, other examples have lines that end in three pronged forks. There are two decorative fret motifs at the top of the shaft of the Kilmalkedar sundial, everything about it evocative of an age when the pilgrims made their way to the holy mountain. It is the easiest thing in the world to picture some of them stopping by the sundial, telling the time of day from the way in which its face was shadowed by the sun. (Patrick O’Sullivan Marking The Passage Of Time, Ireland’s Own; the Journal of Antiquities,com.)

Just across the road from the main site is a large and attractive stone building known variously as the Priest’s House, St Brendan’s House or Fothrach Bréanainn, which probably originally housed clergy (KE042-026009). It has recently been partly restored by the OPW but mystifyingly is out of bounds to the public.

However, as a firm believer that holy wells should not be denied access, I leapt over the gate, barbed wire and all.

St Brendan’s Well, Tobar Bréanainn

The well lies to the west of the house and is actually built up against it. A series of worn steps lead down to the water.

It’s a tranquil and shady spot, the walls full of ivy toadflax and sheltered by a fuchsia bower. A small rectangular basin collects the spring water, which is clean and sparkling clear, overflowing into the undergrowth. The well obviously still receives pilgrims as there was a statue of the BVM tucked into the walls

The day I visited was the 16th May, St Brendan’s Feast Day. There was no sign of any activity though we spoke to a woman in the graveyard who could remember when the pattern held on this day was well attended. St Maelochair’s feast day occurs two days earlier on14th May and the well was also visited by pilgrims trekking up to Mount Brandon on Domhnach Crom Dubh, on the last Sunday in July.

Holy Well, Kilmalkedar

Nipping back over the gate, there is another well on the other side of the road, this one with a stile plus a group of interested spectators.

The well is marked by a stone slab, a simple Latin cross inscribed on one side.

The lintel is still preserved but the rest of the well has more or less collapsed and it is now dry. On the historic maps it is simply marked as Holy Well and appears to have no specific dedication. Presumably it was once included in the rounds along with St Brendan’s Well and various sites around the church including the window and the holed stone. Frustratingly I can find out little about the rituals and patterns concerning these wells.

The Keelers, Na Beistí

Two other fascinating sites are close by and have to be mentioned.The first is a large earthbound stone in the field next to St Brendan’s Well. It is a bullaun stone complete with seven large basins (KE042-026007). This is known as the Keelers or na Beisti, the Milk Coolers.

There is a story attached! Mary Jane Fisher Leadbeater visited the site in 1845 and recorded the experience in her Letters from the KIngdom of Kerry written in 1845 :

…This place contained a colony of monks; and well they knew what they were about when they fixed on this retirement; for, besides its real advantages, it commands a most lovely view of Smerwick Harbour, The Sisters, and Sybil Head. They need not want for fish in the refectory in the days of abstinence. It is situated in a sheltered recess of the mountains, fine springs around, and, another popular legend bearing witness, in the centre of what was once good grazing and tillage ground. A cow is the subject of this legend—a cow of size and breed suited to provide milk for the giant race of those days. We saw the milk vessels, and if she filled them morning and evening, she was indeed a marvellous cow. In a huge flat rock were these milk pans; six large round holes, regular in their distances from each other, and nearly of equal size; they could each contain some gallons of liquid. This said cow gave sufficient milk for one whole parish; and was the property of a widow—her only wealth. Another parish and another clan desired to be possessed of this prize; so a marauder, endued with superior strength and courage, drove her off one moonlight night. The widow followed wailing, and he jeered her and cursed her as he proceeded. The cow suddenly stopped; in vain the thief strove to drive her on; she could neither go on, nor yet return; she stuck fast. At length, aroused by the widow’s cries, her neighbours arrived, and the delinquent endeavoured to escape. In vain—for he too stuck fast in the opposite rock; he was taken and killed. The cow then returned to her own home, and continued to contribute her share towards making the parish like Canaan, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

The legend of the cow that miraculously fills up a vessel with her own milk is an old one that crops up all over the place. She even has a name Glas Ghoibhneach: Goibhniu was blacksmith of the ancient and mythical race the Tuatha Dé Danann. In some versions of the story, the cow, who was white with green spots, is said to belong to St Brendan himself.  Voices from the Dawn has the whole story.

Was this bullan part of the original rounds? Was it considered to be a holy well in its own right and did the water it contain hold healing powers?

Two fields away from the Keelers and approached from the road, is the final monument – St Brendan’s Oratory,Teampaillin Bréanainn (KE042-020)n). It’s very similar to nearby Gallarus – boat shaped with its formerly saggy walls recently restored by the OPW. It’s still looking a little new with its pristine gravel and neat enclosing wall but remains a miraculous feat of engineering. Again, admire the drawing of it by Du Noyer, including a self portrait with his faithful dog.

An area rich with treasures.

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

Many thanks to Peter Clarke for the drawing of Kilmalkedar church. Thanks also to Finola Finlay for her help in translating entries from the Schools’ Folklore Collection.