I was born in India. At the end of the war, my father went out to Darjeeling to work in a tea plantation. We moved back to England when I was about two, so I grew up in Essex: a small place near Maldon, where the salt comes from.
We moved to Ahakista in west Cork in July 2002. We had been living in Warwickshire, which is as far away from the sea as you can be. I wanted to be by the sea again.
I’m a primary teacher, so I was able to carry on working. I didn’t have Irish, so I didn’t have a permanent job, but that suited me fine. I did mostly subbing and resource work on the peninsula. By 2016, though, I was retired and had a bit of time. I bought a book called Ancient and Holy Wells of Dublin at Bantry Market and I was just fascinated. I thought, ‘Well, I could do the same for Cork.’
St Bridget
I started on St Bridget’s Day 2016 with a well dedicated to St Bridget near Lough Hyne. It seemed an auspicious day to start! It was quite hard to get to; like a lot of the wells. You have to actually want to go there.
It was just two little scoops in the ground really, but apparently, St Bridget prayed there and the two little dents are her knees. There was still water in it and there were still coins, so somebody else had been there, not so long ago.
Since then, I’ve visited over 330 wells in Co Cork. I’ll usually start with the Archaeological Survey of Ireland. Most wells have been put on there, so you can get a grid reference. The Schools’ Folklore Collection is also a wonderful resource.
But the very special thing about Ireland is that people will literally drop what they’re doing and take me to find a well. In Carrignavarr, I think I had 12 people on their mobile phones trying to get me to a well: everybody from the shop to the post office to people who were having their lunch by a bridge. It was amazing.
Of the 330 I have visited, one third of the wells are gone, another third have been abandoned; but the last third are still in use.
Revered
St Gobnait’s well in Ballyvourney is an amazing well because it’s so revered. St Gobnait’s feast day is 11 February and hundreds of people go.
St Gobnait started off in Inisheer in the Aran Islands. She was visited by an angel, who told her to go and look for the site of her resurrection, and she’d know when she got there because she’d see nine white deer.
She eventually saw her nine deer in Ballyvourney and set up a nunnery, which was renowned for its healing.
Another interesting one is Lady’s Well in Rockspring. It’s one of the many wells in north Cork that have moved. If they get disrespected, they’ll either dry up or they’ll move.
This one had been disrespected – I think someone might have washed clothes in it. This is a very frequent occurrence; the spring will pop up very close by or a couple of kilometres away.
I do issue a warning that not all well water is drinkable unfortunately; but I would always drink from St Gobnait’s well. That is lovely water.
When you go to a well, there’s a set pattern how you behave. You always walk around the well clockwise, and then you might stop off at certain places, which are called stations.
They are often stations of the cross, but they can be a rock or a tree. Then you’ll leave an offering to say you’ve been; for instance, you can tie a rag on to a tree as a mark of respect.
Different cures
There are over 30 different cures associated with the wells. Eyes seem to be the most popular; maybe because people in the past were living in really smoky conditions. But I think also when you went to an eye well, you went with a question and you hoped that the well or the patron saint might give you an answer.
Warts are very popular as well! There’s a nice wart well in Castlefreke Woods. The interesting thing about wart wells is they are in what’s called a bullaun stone. This is a stone, but it has got a man-made scoop in it. You usually walk around three times and each time you go around, you dip in your warty finger, say a prayer and then hopefully it will go! I had been writing about the wells on my blog holywellscorkandkerry.com/ but people started saying, ‘When are you going to put this into a book?’ It’s taken me a while to complete Holy Wells of County Cork, but I am very grateful for the support of Cork County Council and the Heritage Council, who gave a grant as part of the County Heritage Plan for 2023. I also have to thank my husband, Peter. He wasn’t that interested in holy wells to start with! But he’s now duty driver, navigator and he did all the design and layout for the book.
As well as the wells in Cork, I’ve been to about 100 wells in Kerry and I’ve been lured to Limerick as well. When I started, I think I was an observer. I was just fascinated with what people did and just watched and made notes; but now I’ve found I’m a participator.
They have something for everyone; if you open yourself to it. You might go because it’s tradition: your parents went, your grandparents went.
You might go because you have a special prayer to say or a request to make. You might go for a cure. You might go to find the deity that was there before the Christian god. You might go because you’re curious. And you might just go because you want somewhere peaceful and quiet just to have a think.
I think they are amazing places that can offer so much to so many people.
Holy Wells of County Cork is available from