It is the season for frisky and curious cattle and they were in abundance near the first two wells encountered in today’s exploration in North Kerry.
St Lúireach’s Well, Tobar Luráigh, Toberlury
Tobar Luráigh looked remote and difficult to find on the map, and it was. The footpath shown on the early OS maps had more or less disappeared and access was through a field full of very interested cattle. I nipped through the corner of their field and hugged the field boundary, safe behind the electric fence. It was a long soggy trek through the fields and the well was a disappointing boggy area when found. It had been respectfully fenced off though. Caoimhín Ó Danachair in his article The Holy Wells of North Kerry refers to it as a good spring well with rounds being paid there 60 years ago. The paper was published in 1958 so that takes us back to the 1900s. He suggests the well was dedicated to St Lúireach, also known as Lurach, Luráigh or Lury, who may have been the son of St Patrick’s sister Dairearca, who has a well dedicated to her on Valentia Island. St Lúireach’s feast day is the 17th February.
On my return the cattle were waiting for me and, to my horror, I saw behind them an enormous black bull, already snorting. They all came rushing towards me!
There was no way could I consider going back through the field so plan B: escape through what I hoped was a derelict farmyard. There was not a soul around but my hopes were dashed by the walls being too high to climb and the large metal gates firmly padlocked. Thwarted. I was just pondering my fate when a man emerged from the nearby bungalow. I think he was Dutch. We had an interesting discussion as I tried to explain I was looking for a holy well – a hurling match he inquired kindly? He fetched the key and released me!
St Lócán’s Well, St Lackan’s Well, Well of the Hillside,Tobar Leacan, Toberlackan
Tobar Leacan, possibly named after another obscure saint, St Lackan, or Lóchán is situated high above the hills overlooking Ballyheigue. Reaching for the invaluable A Dictionary of Irish Saints, Pádraig Ó Riain offers some interesting observations. He writes that Lócán is a diminutive of lóch, meaning bright or radiant, and is:
… possibly cognate with the divinity named Lugh and … born by a number of holy men, six of whom are included in the list of homonymous saints. Perhaps because of their regular association of their likely pre-Christian predecessor with high places, five of the six are linked to names containing the element druim, ridge.
This well is in the townland of Knockane – knock coming from cnoc or hill and is dramatically placed on a steeply sloping hillside so fits the bill. Another suggestions for its name is simply Well of the Hillside. Whatever it’s origins, the field where it was situated was again full of cattle.
I was not inclined to venture in. A man and his dog passed by and stopped for a chat. I quizzed him. No he didn’t think there was a well in the field. I was still pondering and peering when he returned a few minutes later having reconsidered. He could remember a stone that cured warts. Did it have a scoop in the stone to collect water, I inquired? It did. We peered into the field and thought we could see the stone – surrounded by cattle. He advised me to go no further. I listened.
This bullaun is described in the Archaeological Inventory:
This irregularly shaped stone is situated to the NW of Toberlacken holy well (KE014-020001-). It is a sandstone block, 1.1m x .9m x .6m, with a circular hole in its centre, .17m in diameter and .12m deep. According to the Kerry Field Notes (1939, 25-33), this stone was just dug out of the earth. In the Kerry Field Notes of 1940 it is referred to as a siege stone.
What a siege stone is I don’t know and Google isn’t much help unless you are a fantasy fan in which case it’s: a sympathetic device used to break down doors (Kingkiller Chronicler). That makes sense. The well itself, described by Ó Danachair as being in poor condition in 1916, originally lay further down the field and was accompanied by another bullaun. The Inventory also mentions a series of underground passages under the well, possibly ancient burial places. There was no sign of any of these monuments, just great views down towards the golf club and the ruins of Ballyheigue Castle,
After a frustrating start it was exciting to see a sign for the next well, dedicated to St Batt or St Bartholomew.
St Batt’s Holy Well
We walked through the gate, enticingly open, with more signage in an attractive homespun Gothic script.
A long leafy avenue lead towards the well.
It’s a large enclosed site, bosky, secluded and welcoming.
The well lies in the middle of all the greenery.
The water is below ground level, surrounded by a square wellhouse of rough stone. A large slab sits on top of the walls, statues and a cup left on top. A makeshift metallic door bars the well but this is easily removed. The well is approached down a couple of steps.
The well house is circular inside, the water low and disappointedly scummy. The orange red colour is also evident on the step of the runoff channel, the water presumably containing minerals of some kind.
Many entries in the Schools’ Folklore Collection describe how the water contains a cure for a variety of ailments including sore eyes, sore throats, sore backs and rheumatism:
When the people visit the well they usually bring a bottle of the water with them to drink, for it is said that it cures sore throats and rheumatism. The water is not used for any other purpose, but the people drink it some times. A few years ago the Coolard people were short of water, and they began to use the well water. They put the water down on the fire to boil, and they could not get it to boil.
Another entry explains that the water could be mixed with moss and applied to the afflicted area. Some pilgrims must still avail for there is an interesting device for collecting water in evidence.
A blessed trout is said to live in the well, if seen a cure is assured.
It is said also there is a fish in the well and one day a woman took a gallon of water out the well to make tea. She took out the fish in the gallon and put the fish into the kettle with the water unknown to herself. She put it over a big fire to boil it and it was over the fire for hours and it did not boil. At last she looked into the kettle and she saw the fish. She took out the fish and took him to the well again and put him into it and so the kettle boiled … ( 084, 0407)
Rounds were made on Saturdays, specifically those before May Day, Midsummer and Michaelmas:
There is a Holy Well in Coolard called ‘St. Batt’s Well’. It is visited on the last Saturday in April, the Saturday before the twenty-fourth of June and the Saturday before the twenty-ninth of September. You walk around the Well three times and say the rosary while doing do. This is considered as one round but the people usually pay three rounds. (Schools’ Folklore Collection:086:0406)
I assume the well was also visited on St Bartholomew’s feast day, 24th August, but there was no specific mention of this.
This entry gives a few more details:
The blessed well is situated in a thick wood near Coolard. the well is shallow and a stream of fresh water flows from it. Many people in the district visit the well three times a year, to pay rounds. They go around the well nine times and they say three rosaries. If they have not the rosaries finished when going around, they kneel by the well and finish them. When they are going home they leave money or holy pictures or pieces of cloth on the tree beside the well. Anyone having sores washes them in the water. They also take three sips of the water and also some water with them. (314: 0401)
The rounds cover a considerable area, now marked by a gravel path and benches.
The importance of leaving offerings is mentioned in several entries:
The people walk slowly round the well and say the rosary. Many relics are left behind by the people and these are medals, ribbons and holy pictures. There are many trees near the well and these are covered with the relics. On the last Saturday in April offerings of money are left by the people who visit it. The people drink the water and they also rub it to the affected part. Many people have been cured at this well. A woman had a very bad pain in her back. She went to the well in Coolard and did one round. When she reached home the pain went away. (087:0406)
Offerings are still much in evidence, both on the slab above the well and in the nearby trees.
It seems this is not the original siting of the well – it was once on the boundary between the townlands of Bedford and Knockane. It moved having been disrespected – the old story of someone washing clothes or potatoes or, in this case, both:
St Bat’s (sic) well was one time in MacElligott’s land, in Coolard. One dry Summer some woman used the water to wash clothes. The well dried up and removed to Tom Dowlings land, where it is now. It is also said that another woman used it to boil potatoes and if they were down since, they would not boil. (202:0401)
It’s found a very attractive and tranquil spot now.
Well of the Lepers, Tobar na Lour
The final site visited today was in Rattoo, famous for its magnificent round tower. The holy well lay a few metres north of the Augustinian friary, the remains of which are near the round tower. According to Ó Danachair it was visited by those suffering from leprosy but was covered over by the landowner in the 1880s. There was no sign of the well but we did admire the the round tower, undergoing restoration by the OPW. It is an impressive 29.56m high: five storeys plus top knot. The original sixth century monastic settlement was founded by a Bishop Lughnach, according to The Corkman, surely our St Lúireach.
I hope the OPW restores access to the round tower, it’s a gem. St. Batt’s was a very peaceful place wasn’t it?
Yes, I’d love to get a closer look at the round tower. There’s a sile na gig too. St Batt’s was a very tranquil spot.
Ah the dreaded bull in the field – it finally actually happened. St Batt’s is a lovely spot – Our Lady of Knock is particularly fetching, and I loved the gravy boat.
I would say you were wise to steer clear of these bovines!(pun intended)
For once I was sensible!