By Stone, Whitethorn and Well.

It may have been that sacred springs and wells were understood by our ancestors to originate in the Otherworld, flowing from the earth into this world at special places, bringing healing, inspiration, wisdom and connection to deities.

Gold boat from the Brighter Hoard Co. Derry, thought to be a votive offering to Manannán Mac Lír.

Numerous deposits of votive offerings were made during the Bronze and Iron Ages in the lakes, rivers and bogs of Ireland indicating that water was an important part of ancient peoples’ lives and beliefs.

In Ireland there remain wells that are pre-Christian in origin

St. Mobhi’s Well, also known as Fionn MacCumhail’s Well. 

Photograph courtesy of Gary Branigan - Gary's book is available HERE

The construction has lead archaeologist Geraldine Stout to suggest that it may have been built around the same time as the great mound at Newgrange. 

and famous wells of mythology whose over flowing created the rivers of the island.

 Trinity Well, the source of the Boyne.

One such well was Tobar Segais, said to be surrounded by nine hazel trees.

When the hazelnuts, containing wisdom, fell into the water they were eaten by the Salmon, a creature who appears throughout Irish tradition associated with great knowledge. 

An Bradán Feasa, The Salmon of Wisdom courtesy of Séighean Ó Draoi.

More work by Séighean HERE

The legend of Tobar Segais explains that the only visitors allowed to approach the Well of Knowledge was Nechtan and his three cup bearers.

However, Boann, Nechtan’s wife, defies this taboo and visits the well where she walks around it three times, tuathal, anti-clockwise, against the course of the sun.

Unfortunately Tobar Segais, like most wells, should only be circled in a sun-wise direction and her offence causes the waters to rise up, drowning and dismembering Boann and creating the River Boyne, which bears her name.

Boann - the goddess whose essence forms the river.
More about Boann HERE

We cannot know the ancient rituals or beliefs associated with sacred springs and wells but the spiritual traditions which have grown around them may offer a glimpse into the past. 

Tobar Lugna, Co. Offaly.

With the arrival of Christianity many wells were consecrated by the early saints of Ireland and folk traditions were incorporated into the Christian rituals.

These older folk beliefs are thought to contain traces of much earlier practices of pilgrimage and veneration at well sites. 

Irish Roman Catholicism today includes devotions which take place on the feast day of the patron saint of the parish, these are known as ‘patterns’ and many are linked to rituals at wells. 

Sign explaining the pattern at ‘The City’ and holy well, Co. Kerry. 

Part of these prescribed rituals involved pilgrims ‘paying the rounds’, reciting a rosary whilst circling around the well site a number of times, always revolving deiseal, in the sun wise direction.  

Crutches and circling ritual at Doon Well, Co. Donegal. ©info@ihpc.ie

Often this circling is carried out three times, at others nine, with water from the holy well sipped at the end of the rounds. 

Occasionally holy water was taken away in bottles to be used at graves, in healing or sprinkled at the four corners of the home for protection.  

In the past patterns often ended with drinking, dancing and fighting and were so popular in rural areas that the church began to forbid these gatherings, describing the folk belief in the powers of the wells as pagan.

Bullaun stone at St. Manchan’s Holy well, Co. Offaly where sunlight and shadow creates the ‘mystical fish’.

Some healing wells were understood to contain a mystical fish, often a salmon or a trout, which appeared at certain times when the water was especially potent. 

As a sacred symbol the fish is known in both Irish mythology and Christianity. 

At St Kieran’s Holy Well, Castlekieran, Co. Meath, three trout are said to appear just before 

midnight on the first Sunday of August.

For those seeking to be cured the presence of the fish is taken as a sign that the healing

will be effective. 

Offerings continue to be made to wells, usually after drinking the water, with coins, holy medals, pieces of cloth and flowers left by pilgrims. 

Occasionally a pin or coin is put into the well water itself.

Offerings at St. Fachtnan’s Well on the Burren.

Offerings of daisies and rose petals at Ladywell, Co. Galway.

Another element of many well sites is the presence of a special bush or tree, usually a whitethorn, ash or oak.

Rags are often secured to the branches of these trees as an offering to the well or in the case of healing wells, in the belief that as the cloth rots away so does the illness.

Whitethorn & offerings at one of The Seven Blessed Wells of Killeigh, Co. Offaly.

The well dates to pre Christian times.

Holy wells are not only accompanied by trees.

There are numerous locations recorded as having some sort of stone nearby and this combination of water, tree and stone was incorporated into Christian ritual.

Stone, whitethorn and well at Tobereenatemple, Co. Clare.

Stones found near wells may consist of standing stones, enclosures or natural outcrops. 

The City, Co. Kerry.

The City, Co. Kerry 

The stones may be used as altars or utilised in ‘patterns’ with marks being scratched on the surface to indicate points within the rounds.

It is common to find a boulder with one or more depressions near to holy wells, known as a bullaun stone, although the formation and original function of bullauns is unknown.

Bullaun stone at Saint John’s Well, St John’s Point, County Down.

The presence of a well, a tree and a special stone marks these locations as sacred.

Unlike the great community gatherings at bonfire festivals of the past, perhaps our ancestors also visited these places alone, in silence, or circled sacred wells chanting or murmuring prayers as many do today?

The atmospheric Ráithin Well, Co. Clare.

Sitting by stone, whitethorn and well the modern world drops away and we are left with nature, 

deep peace and the spirits of the place.

St Fachtnan's Well, a place of solitude and silence.

This is the second of three posts about Sacred Water, you can read the first HERE

Sacred water and three thousand Holy Wells.

Well at Cahercrovdarrig, Cathair Crobh Dearg, near the Paps of Anu.

3,000 sacred wells have been recorded in Ireland, although this is believed to be a conservative number. There are numerous others which are undocumented, whose locations cannot be found or have been forgotten over time.

Frequently marked Tobar Naofa on maps, they are the blessed wells, springs and water sources found in every part of the island.

Sign by the Sacred Well on the Hill of Tara.

In countless instances the original Irish names are also lost to us.

Many were re-dedicated to saints of the church by the clergy, others were known by the names of early saints or well known figures, still venerated by local people.

The entrance to the site of St. Brigid’s Well, Liscannor, Co. Clare.

The approach to the well is through a cave-like tunnel with offerings piled on walls and shelves.

Well of St. Inghean Bhaoith, Co. Clare, who has a widespread devotion locally.

There are wells named for their healing properties with cures including those for sore eyes, toothache, arthritis, mental ailments and in the past cholera.

St Cooy’s Well known for it’s eye cure.

Whilst others take their titles from figures and animals of myth or folklore. 

Well of the Fair Women above Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry. 

Each well has it’s own personality.

There are wells housed in stone and maintained by the faithful.

St Anastasia's Well, Co. Clare.

Many lie open to the elements or are marked by a lone tree.

Well near the remains of the church of St. Manman, Co. Laois.

Sacred wells emerge in verdant hollows 

Tobar Mac Duagh, Co. Galway.

and from inhospitable landscapes.

St. Fachtnan’s Well on the Burren.

Water pooled in bullaun stones and in the trunks of trees also offer cures.

City wells, now forced underground, still flow as the modern world flourishes above.

St. Patrick’s Well beneath Nassau St. Dublin.

The liminal places, shores, caves, heights and islands also have their wells.

St. Augustine’s tidal well on the shore of Lough Atalia, Galway.

Chink Well in a sea cave at Portraine, Co. Dublin.
Courtesy of Treasa Kerrigan http://www.sacredsites.ie

The sanctity of these wells comes from the water itself which emerges from the earth as a gift from the gods of the Otherworld. These sources were venerated by the ancient people who built their megaliths close by or incorporated them into the structure. 

A natural spring still rises from beneath one of the huge stones in the passage of Newgrange 

and would have flowed as a small stream across the floor. 

The water from the spring is now re-routed to an exterior sinkhole.

St. Patrick’s Well below the reconstructed Grianán of Aileach, Co. Donegal.

Water has its’ own active life force at sacred wells and to ensure it wasn’t sullied or used for domestic purposes, cautionary tales were passed down through generations about wells which, when offended by humans, protested by moving location.

Áirmid’s Well, now Lady Well, at Slane, Co. Meath. 

Folklore tells how it moved to its present position when attempts were made to seal it.  

Aggrieved wells travelled after midnight, some accompanied by the Good People, in order to punish those who washed clothes or disposed of refuse in their waters. 

Others had the power to curse their transgressors by affecting their health or poisoning the guilty 

and their cattle but in many cases water taken from a holy well to be used in cooking merely 

refused to boil.

Stone by well on the Hill of Tara. Pic © taratrees.org

Many of Ireland’s sacred wells have been a focus for ritual, veneration and healing for thousands of years, their waters connecting us to deities and spirits. 

Visiting these wells today we are offered a special stillness, a place apart, where quiet reflection surrounded by nature is therapeutic and inspiring.
Whether we find these wells in countryside or town, whether our belief is Pagan, Christian or nothing at all, they continue to fill a deep need in us all.

Michael Houlihan’s book “The Holy Wells of County Clare”  provides a deeper understanding of Irish sacred wells and can be ordered from the author at:   michaelhoulihan5@gmail.com.

For a fascinating investigation into the sacred wells of Co. Dublin, I thoroughly recommend Gary Braningan’s book “Ancient and Holy Wells of Dublin” available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Holy-Wells-Dublin-Branigan/dp/1845887530

Lughnasadh Blessings.

I recently took a break from writing to enjoy the great weather and to visit author, Dan Cronin in Kerry.

We have been writing to each other and talking on the 'phone a great deal after I visited The City last year - see ANU post August 2012.
His book about his homeplace in the foothills of the Paps of Anu was invaluable and Dan, who is 92, is truly an inspiration. 

Dan and Margaret, gave us a great welcome when we arrived and we could have stayed for hours talking about mythology, folklore and life.

Margaret and Dan

Back home we recently celebrated the first harvest, Lughnasadh or Brón Trogain, the older name for the festival at a local site in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom. 

 Tobar Lugna, Lugna's Well, Co. Offaly.

Photo by Colin Russell

The offerings included berries, herbs, flowers, barley and turf.

Photo by Colin Russell

Tomorrow I am back working on the book but wish you all 

Lughnasadh Blessings and a fruitful harvest.

LUGH

Lugh’s name may have its roots in early words such as leuk, 'light' or lug, oath. 

His titles include Lámfhada, 'Long Arm' and Samhildánach, 'Equally Skilled in Many Arts'.

The Milky Way, Sliabhbra Luigh, is known as Lugh's Chain. 

Places within the painting associated with Lugh are:

Carn Uí Néid, Mizen Head, Co. Cork, Tory Island, Co. Donegal, Cruachan Aigle, 

now Croagh Patrick, and Sliabh Bladhma, the Slieve Bloom where the Lughnasadh 

fire was lit on Arderin, An Earagail, 'The Oratory', Mount Errigal, Co. Donegal, 

Lugh's Seat, on Moytura Hill, the Hill of Tara and Newgrange.  

Lugh holds the Sleá Bua, ‘Spear of Victory” as his light shines upon Rath Lugh, 

Co. Meath. In one story Lugh finally kills Balor, his evil grandfather at Mizen Head

and he places Balor’s head in the crook of a hazel tree, where it splits the tree in two. 

Bronze spear head, described by William Wilde in 1861, now in the National Museum

of Ireland, Dublin.