Saint John The Baptist’s Well, Johnswell, County KIlkenny.

The statue of Saint John the Baptist inside the well

Johnswell is a little village in County Kilkenny, composed of a main street with a general goods store, a pub, a few houses and a chapel. In this tiny village is a sizable holy well dedicated to Saint John. It is almost directly opposite the general goods store, on the other side of the street from the chapel, housed in a miniature castle, complete with heavy wooden doors and guarded by two stone lions! A sign proclaims that these ‘improvements’ were finished in 1897.

The well housing

The village itself is quiet and there has been some attempt to make the area around the well a quiet garden of reflection (finished in 2005), but I think the days are long gone when this area was cared for or the well looked at. Someone has painted the walls in living memory, but I don’t think the well gets as much attention as it used to. It is housed in a peculiar structure with heavy wooden doors that you need to kneel down to open, and on opening the doors you are greeted by a broken statue of John the Baptist in gleaming white. He wears his distinctive animal skin clothes and presumably held a staff, but his arms are now broken and he looks like he would be more at home in a pagan Roman temple than anywhere else. The water in the well is deep, cool and clear, but a couple of pipes seem to be siphoning off some of its waters - a practice that is sadly becoming all too common throughout Ireland today. Some of the ancient and original well housing appears to have survived, but in front of the well a concrete drive leads down to a lower portion where the well water enters an enormous rectangular basin (full of water weed) which was presumably for baptism and for bathing the sick.

The large baptismal and bathing basin, full of water weed

The holy well here in Johnswell was once regarded with great significance and attracted many thousands of pilgrims on the feasts of Saint John the Baptist. A wonderful description is given of a group of pilgrims who travelled to the holy well to mark the beheading of John the Baptist. It is a fragment of a memoir, sadly by an anonymous writer, in the early Victorian era. He describes how he travels with a large party of pilgrims who set out from Kilkenny to Johnswell on a journey of approximately twenty-five miles. They didn’t reach their destination until after sunset by which time many beggars, crippled and sick people had already assembled. At this assembly a woman of the area announced that on this particular feast no healings were ever heard of and that there would be no healings that night and instead they would have to return on the feast day of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist and then be healed by the waters of the well. It is this event that is said to have inspired John Keegan’s (a poet from County Laois) story ‘Dark Girl’ (meaning blind) of a blind girl who comes to the holy well on the same feast and who does not get healed and returns home downcast and disappointed only later to die from her heartache.

 Saint John the Baptist's holy well

The large pool at the end of the holy well was once used for baptisms. On the eve of the Nativity of John the Baptist people would gather at the far end of the village parallel to the holy well. Here they would begin their preparations for the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist; one of the oldest festivals of the Christian church, celebrated on 24^th June. On this night a huge bonfire would normally be lit for two reasons. Firstly, coinciding with the solstice, the fire is an image of the heat of the ever increasing sun and ties in with John’s own words about himself in relation to Jesus; “I must decrease, that he may increase”. The fire was also thought to be a cleansing event and people would jump over the bonfire to cleanse themselves from sin and then they would make their way to the pool at the holy well and immerse themselves in the water as a cleansing from sin and as a reminder of what John the Baptist asked his own followers to do to get ready to meet with Jesus. Patterns at this well were many, various and always very well attended. In living memory people can recall large crowds at events here, but in recent times it has almost completely disappeared.

One of the lions guarding the well

Curiously the local parish didn’t seem to feature greatly in any of these events -  although presumably the clergy did play their part in the baptisms that took place at the well. The church was built in 1817 and is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was refurbished in 2009 and has a large crucifix on the side of the building giving it a somewhat austere appearance. The interior of the chapel is plain and undecorated.

The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist

Despite the fact that it would probably be a very unpleasant experience to bathe in the waters of the well in the rectangular basin, there is still access to the waters here. It is in pleasant enough, if not slightly neglected surroundings and the vision of Saint John is quite something to behold. Legend has it that this well is attended by angels, and in the night when all is quiet, the faithful who gather at this well in prayer might be lucky enough to hear the wings of the guardians of this sacred spot, and if they do their prayers will surely be answered.

The village sign

Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Saviour by the preaching of repentance: lead us to repent according to his preaching and, after his example, constantly to speak the truth, boldly to rebuke vice, and patiently to suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Collect for the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Almighty God, who called your servant John the Baptist to be the forerunner of your Son in birth and death: strengthen us by your grace that, as he suffered for the truth, so we may boldly resist corruption and vice and receive with him the unfading crown of glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 

Amen.

Collect for the Beheading of John the Baptist.

How to find it:

On entering the village travel towards the green which has a large stone sign and a bar/general goods store on one side and the holy well on the other. The well housing faces away from the road and as yet, no keys are required to open the well.

Our Lady’s Well, Gowran, County Kilkenny

A carved head in Saint Mary's Church

Gowran is a little picturesque village in County Kilkenny with a race course nearby. It was at one time the royal residency of the Kings of Ossory before the Norman invasions. The town has the remains of a fourteenth century castle that was built by James Butler, the third Earl of Ormonde and Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church dating from the fourteenth century and now a National Monument of Ireland.

Saint Mary's Collegiate Church

Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church was served by a collection of clerics who lived in a house beside the church (the house is no longer there).  The church had a long, wide aisled nave and a long chancel and contains many important tombs of various dignitaries and knights with elaborate carvings. Many of the upper portions of the church, including the nave battlements and tower, were added much later. The nave used to be a Church of Ireland parish, but has now been converted into a visitors centre.

Saint Peter on a tomb in Saint Mary's Church

The holy well is on the far side of the village near the race course. Nobody knows the dedication of this well, even though it is mentioned in a number of books and marked on various old maps of the village and area. At one time it was labeled ‘Bastionfort Well’ and at other times it simply had the label ‘Spring’; however, older records mark it simply as ‘Holy Well’. In most cases were the dedication has been forgotten holy wells are simply called ‘Holy Well’ or ‘Trinity Well’. It is possible that if there had been an association with St Mary’s that this well would have carried the dedication of the Blessed Virgin, but there is no supporting evidence for this. Despite a lack of evidence I have labeled this well as ‘Our Lady’s Well’ in honour of the Virgin. It could be that I am trumping some poor forgotten saint, but hopefully they won’t mind too much!

The holy well

The well is surrounded by a waist-high concrete wall and is in-filled with many rocks. It sits in the middle of a field and has a small gate to the front of the well housing. It’s waters are cold and clear and run into a channel out the back of the well housing, over a stone slab and into an underground culvert of ancient structure that drains into a nearby stream. Quite why this well is drained into an underground culvert is something of a mystery as the lay of the land would mean the well would naturally drain into the nearby stream. Whatever the case may be, this well is holding its secrets and likely will for a very long time. It is nevertheless a beautiful well in a beautiful spot.

The holy well

It is entirely right to call you blessed, you who gave birth to God, ever blessed and most innocent the Mother of our God. We praise and extol you, true Mother of God more worthy of honour than the cherubim, greater in glory than the seraphim – the bearer of the eternal Word.

Antiphon from the Byzantine Book of Hours.

The overflow into the underground culvert

How to find it:

As you approach the village of Gowran from the side with Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church and enter the village, on the main road out to the right is a field surrounded by whitewashed posts. In the centre of this field is the whitewashed structure of the well house.

The Mandilion or Veronica's Veil on a tomb in Saint Mary's Church

Saint Fintan’s Well, Sutton, County Dublin

The view across Dublin Bay from Sutton, to Begnet's Island

Now and again it is possible to come across places where the well has not only been allowed to go dry through bad planning and much ground disturbance, but also from what amounts to criminal destruction of archaeological sites. This is one such instance, where a well having run dry, dropped out of the consciousness of the local community, who were then so unaware of its presence that they permitted developers to order its complete destruction. On the face of it this might seem like a natural evolution of sorts. In a land of over 3000 holy wells, there is always going to be the strong possibility that a clash of worlds between those interested in preserving religious and archaeological heritage and those interested in development for an ever-increasing population end up clashing with the destruction of a well site. However much can be lost in this process. In the past silver and gold communion vessels, pilgrims crosses, travelling shrines and rings and late medieval pater nosters have all been found at holy well sites on the very few that have had archaeological exploration. In many cases the well itself can be housed in early Irish Christian architecture or have early medieval housing. In the boom years of the Celtic Tiger a number of wells were deliberately destroyed and covered over with concrete and metal manholes. In some instances early medieval structures were completely destroyed and all of it was overseen by government appointed archaeologists! Here the old adage rings true, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”

The view from Saint Fintan's graveyard

Quite apart from the archaeological aspects, there is an important religious aspect. The vast majority of holy wells are connected to a particular saint who very often has had a strong association with the area and sometimes there are monastic sites very nearby. Most of the holy wells in Ireland come from the period of early Irish Christianity up until the early medieval period. This is a very significant period of history for Ireland and for the rest of Europe. While Europe went into a kind of cultural decay, it was Ireland through its industrious saints and religious who went about the work of preserving literacy and culture. The significance of this effect upon the rest of Europe is becoming more and more clear and the importance of it for European history is is beginning to be understood in a more significant way. The writings that these saints have left behind and even later accounts of their lives give us a totally unique insight into how early Christian Ireland understood and read the scriptures, what was important to them theologically and how they adapted Christianity to the local culture and to the inclusion of lore and legend. Holy well sites contain much information locked in a local consciousness. Ireland was an oral culture for a very long time and remnants of this culture still survive. There is still a tendency to rely on the oral transmission of information regarding the saints associated with holy well sites, on lore about the area, on accounts of healing or miraculous events and on legends and folk tales. In the past people like W B Yeats, Lady Gregory and even Harry Clarke have known only too well what Ireland stood to loose in a generation or two. Their work at collecting religious history and entangled lore and their unabashed enjoyment of the spurious, recorded in books and scribbles have left us in their debt - a debt we may not have fully realised yet. When a well runs dry or is destroyed or covered over, it is not only the well that ceases to exist. If a patern or procession was observed in the area on a saints day then this too is often neglected and forgotten - and it is amazing just how quickly it is forgotten. The local tales of the saint fall out of memory. Poems and songs are no longer sung or recited. Prayers of the saint and to the saint are no longer uttered - even though in some cases they may have been uttered by the faithful for over a thousand years.  The whole history of the area begins to disintegrate and the texts of the saints life become the sole concern of the academic celticist who dusts off that early Latin or Irish copy in a dark, atmospherically controlled library.

Into this frame steps the idiotic, like myself. Those who are considered as strange well hunters and superstitious by others who think that society should really move on from all this dross. Maybe I am the product of an age that has now gone and I’m trying to hold onto something that cannot be grasped any longer, but something in me thinks it might be worth it yet. Maybe one day people will begin to realise they have much to loose in the criminal neglect of what they once considered to be a superstitious old puddle that was considered a health and safety issue rather than a heritage site. Maybe part of the reason why this apathy regarding sites like this exists is because we simply have so many of them. In this instance, despite the fact that the well is dry and absolutely nothing of its original structure remains, this is a significant site because the presence of a graveyard has preserved the burial site of the saint and some remains of a monastic settlement.

Saint Fintan's Shrine Church (the 'bell tower' is a later addition)

Saint Fintan was born in Leinster of ‘good lineage’. Many Irish saints appear to have important lineage, but it is generally regarded that these dynastic lines are of later invention. It’s hard to say for sure, but generally speaking most of them are attempts later on to justify diocesan boundaries and other issues relating to ground and property. This Saint Fintan is not to be confused with the Saint Fintan of Wexford (sometimes called Munnu) who had hoped to be the successor of Saint Columba on Iona. This Saint Fintan is more closely associated with the monastic site at Clonenagh. A number of accounts of his life survive in the Codex-Kilkenniensis, in a Bollandist collection (under the heading ‘Saint Fintan’s Prophecy and Life’) and the later transcriptions of his life by various Bishops of the church. The lineage of Saint Fintan hints that there may have been a family connection to Saint Lugedius and Saint Brigid, so religious life was already a significant aspect of the family history. The tale is told that his mother, Findath, while pregnant, is visited by an angel and told to refrain from sexual intercourse. The parallel with the annunciation is clear. This is a very common literary tool in early Irish saintly hagiography. Although to our modern religious mindset it might appear crude and maybe even verging on the heretical to place oneself in the role of a great religious person, for the early Irish Christians this was the norm. The desire to see yourself in the text you read and to mirror the lives of the great religious and the saints in your own life was seen as the very goal of Christian living. It is a very mystical understanding of the text and they reference it in such an unembarrassed way. The very same literary device can be seen at work in many other lives of the saints. To have the life of Jesus mirrored closely in your own life was part of the very tenet of Christian living.

 Ancient grave markers interspersed with sparse remains of the monastic settlement.

After his birth Fintan was taken to Clonkeen in Clonenagh to be baptised by a holy man who resided there. We are told that he remained there throughout his childhood to take instruction under this same holy man. Later in life Fintan made his way to a famous school that was established by Saint Columba on the upper portion of the river Shannon near Lough Derg. Here Fintan was greatly influenced by the severe practice of penitence, which was to become a significant mark of belief for him and his future religious establishments. At this school, Fintan banded together with two or three other disciples and set out to Clonenagh to create a religious settlement consisting of seven churches (today only the ruins of one remain). In this area it is said that the saint and his companions found no peace from the local people and eventually had to retire to the slopes of Slieve Bloom where they encountered the cowherd Sedna. Sedna becomes a convert to Christianity through the miraculous regaining of his speech when he is blessed by Saint Columba (who is passing through the area), and he too becomes a local saint. It is at this point that Fintan is essentially scolded by Saint Columba for a neglect of his duty to the area of Clonenagh. He tells the young saint that he can see angels processing through Clonenagh with downcast faces because the one who was to bring the good news to the people has abandoned his duty. After this solemn scolding, Fintan resolves to return to Clonenagh.

At Clonenagh Fintan set to work at gathering a large collection of monks around him under a very strict rule which demanded very long hours in prayer and an absolute minimum, vegan diet. As word of the foundation spread other saints and abbots in the area became concerned that the rule was too severe and that Fintan and his followers were veering dangerously close to a religious fanaticism and therefore making the Christian faith a subject of scorn to the local people. At the request of Saint Canice and a number of other visitors, Fintan relaxed the rule and turned away from the dangers of his increasing religious fundamentalism. This delegation didn’t simply take Fintan’s word, they remained at the site until he changed the rule, watching to see if the brothers would eat meat and if they would spend less time in intense prayer and more time in compassion for their neighbours in the community. From this point on Fintan is described as being more passionately concerned for the welfare of all people. He is said to have been given a prophetic gift and there are tales of him weeping over those who will die in Irish wars and of the fate of those who do not show concern for their neighbours. His acts of charity and compassion are recorded in great detail. One tale tells of how a war broke out in a nearby area and how the fighting was truly brutal and vicious. The local army brought back the heads of the defeated and left them in a field near the monastery. Fintan, having compassion for those who had died, collected all the heads and gave them a Christian burial and continued to pray for those who had died such a violent death. When asked by a local why he was praying for former enemies, Fintan is said to have responded, “Because the Lord is full of mercy and so those who have been buried here among the other saints of God might know the mercy in the hereafter that they were not afforded here”. Such tales are told as a demonstration of how great a conversion Fintan had from his early days of religious extremism.

 A blocked up window on the Shrine Church

By the twelfth century all seven churches at Clonenagh had essentially ceased to function. It is not clear exactly what happened, but the area was subject to much warfare and raiding, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the churches were sacked, destroyed and the monks all slaughtered. Local lore in the area of Clonenagh tells of an important religious school thriving under the auspices of Fintan in later life and shortly after his death it produced a series of very fine scholars. The lost book of Cluain Eidhneach is said to have been a product of this religious school (only later copied fragments survive). A number of relics, books and the crosier of Saint Fintan is said to have resided at Ballyfin house until it burnt down during the reign of Elizabeth I and its contents were lost.

In 603 on 17^th February, Saint Fintan collapsed while pronouncing the blessing at the end of communion. The brothers rushed to his aid and with his last breath he had the presence of mind to announce his successor and then he died. For some time after his death an office of Nine Leesons of Saint Fintan, Bishop and Confessor, was observed in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. This practice was again revived by Bishop de Burgo, who decreed that all clergy, monks and nuns, should observe the office of Nine Lessons in honour of Saint Fintan on 17^th February each year.

Interior of the Shrine Church

Sutton in County Dublin comprises of one side of Dublin Bay leading up to Howth Head. It is an area of beautiful views, a privately owned Martello Tower (previous residence of the Jameson Whiskey family) and burial place of Charles Haughey and Phil Lynott. Approaching Sutton on the coast road from the city of Dublin is the relatively newly built parish of Saint Fintan, completed in 1973 to a design by Andy Devane. The exterior is clad in concrete with a curious effect intended to look like fishing ropes - an idea that doubtless looked great on paper, but is perfectly dreadful in execution. The interior of the building, accessed through a somewhat dull and shadowy atrium, is somewhat impressive with its wooden fan shaped knave and open sanctuary. It is a kind of 70’s modernism, reflective of an open-planned living space, but it does convey a sense of peace in what is an otherwise busy area.

The concrete atrium at the entrance of St Fintan's parish church

Travelling up the hill on the Carrickbrack Road on the right you will find Saint Fintan’s cemetery. Here various ‘important’ people have been buried and an impressive memorial to Whitley Stokes - one of Ireland’s greatest Celtic scholars – stands with its inscription and impressive stone cross that reads, ‘The Truth lies with God; for us remains Research’. Up from the cemetery is a waste ground area that has had much infill with a very stony topsoil and gavel. It is now badly overgrown with much building rubble and high grass with tangled briar's. The spot where the holy well used to be has been much disturbed and covered with stony rubble and poor topsoil. Nothing of the well remains.

 Interior of Saint Fintan's parish church

Below the well, towards the top end of the graveyard is the ninth century shrine church of Saint Fintain. It isn’t certain whether this is the burial site of Saint Fintan, but local custom insists that it is and the building is certainly small enough to be an Irish shrine church. Little is known of any association of Saint Fintan with this area and so it leaves us with a curious mystery. We know that by the end of the twelfth century the establishment at Clonenagh had ceased to exist, but this church seems a little too old to be a site for the relocation of his remains from a resultant collapse of the religious foundation there. However, even the name of the area gives us enticing glimpses into a lost past. The name ‘Sutton’ is derived from the Irish, ‘Suí Fhiontáin’ which means the seat of Saint Fintan and there are records that this name was used as far back as the ninth century, which indicates that the saint was commemorated in some way in the area at around that time and possibly even slightly before.  Today there is a local parish church named after the saint, an ancient graveyard that bears his name and a number of schools also dedicated to his honour. Only up the road is Howth with its beautiful coastline walks and Ireland’s Eye resting just off the coast, which is home to a bird sanctuary and the remains of Saint Nessan’s eighth century church.

The land where the holy well used to be

Father, whose mind is beyond our comprehending, whose merciful goodness towards humankind is limitless, grant that the humble mind of Christ may be in all his followers; show us that religious controversy is the offspring of our arrogance and folly; that true piety is most laudably expressed in silent understanding and in the activity of showing mercy; that human beings, ignorant of their own nature, should not presume to scrutinize the mind God; and that it is sufficient for us to know that power and benevolence are the perfect attributes of the Deity; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Adapted from Procopius of Caesarea

Ireland's Eye off Howth Head

How to find it:

From the city of Dublin travel out the Howth Road, connecting to the Dublin Road and follow the signs for Sutton up the Greenfield Road into Carrickbrack Road. On the right is a graveyard in which the shrine church of Saint Fintan sits, and up from this an area of waste ground, where the holy well used to be.

Part of the Walk around Howth coast

Saint Manchán’s Well, County Offaly

Saint Manchán with his cow

The little town land of Lemanaghan hides number of wonderful treasures, a little well with a curious smell and a dilapidated shrine church that nestles in the middle of a farmer’s field. Saint Manchán is the patron saint of this area, and he, his family and their descendants have occupied this land for generations. Saint Manchán’s feast day is celebrated on the twenty-fourth of January and of the connection of the saint to the area and foundation of Lemanaghan there is little written evidence, but a strong tradition of his association with this area can be plotted back very far into early Christian Ireland. The town land name “Lemanaghan’ is derived from ‘Leth-Mancháin’, meaning ‘Manchán’s grey lands’.

Saint Manchán's Shrine

Saint Manchán in some accounts has a royal lineage with an ancestor three generations before him as one of the High King’s of Ireland with a family line thought to come from Ulster (a title that sounds a lot more grand than what the reality was). His mother Mella gave birth to him and two girls; Grealla and Greillseach. Rumours abounded shortly after the saint’s death that he was connected in some way to Saint Patrick, although even in terms of his dates this seems highly unlikely. In the Book of Fenagh, Manchán is associated with Saint Caillin as the executor of his will and as his successor in the abbacy of Fenagh.

 The Church at the Monastic Foundation

Manchán was said to be a very learned man, generous to a fault, well versed in scripture, a loyal monk and somewhat irritated by the local warrior chieftains who would use his patronage and prayers as a good luck charm for victory in warfare. Whereas in other places - such as Clonmacnoise – both saints and abbots appeared quite happy to offer patronage in exchange for wealth to help spread the Gospel and develop the religious foundation, Saint Manchán seems to have more moral quandaries about this type of activity even though it is believed that he may have come from Clonmacnoise. However, it is tales of the cow that produced an incredible amount of milk that prevailed. Like Kieran, Manchán is said to have had a beautiful cow that produced an endless supply of milk, and after feeding the members of the religious community the surplus was always given to the poor. Up until the 1950’s milk was given away free in this area. Thanksgiving for a saint with dairy products is quite common in Ireland, especially when the saint is directly associated with dairy produce in some way - a practice that today is very often seen as being ‘pagan’. On occasion you will see butter being thrown into wells, or milk being poured over the ground or a stone near a well and at many a pattern home-made cheeses will be shared.

 The Old Road to Saint Mella's Church

Manchán died suddenly in a time effected by a plague that was sweeping through parts of Ireland with great ferocity. He died either in 661 (according to the annals of Clonmacnoise) or 664AD (according to the annals of the Four Masters) on 24^th January. His body was left to decay and then his bones were taken and placed in a wooden shrine of slatted wood in the shape of a church and the repository was left in a local church. Shortly after this a number of carved parts are recorded as being added to the shrine and then a bronze cover made to protect it. In 1130 seven enameled crosses were added to the shrine and later in the twelfth century some believe that the entire shrine was remade and figures of various abbots, bishops, clergy and saints were fixed to its outer casing. The shrine containing the bones of the saint are still visible today in the parish church of Boher. In 1860 the Buchail family (the name means ‘cow herder of the saint’) brought the shrine and Saint Manchán’s crosier to the church (the crosier is now in the Dublin museum). The shrine is quite a remarkable thing to behold and is still used today during the pattern for the saint when it is paraded throughout the area and said to be one of the greatest masterpieces of Romanesque metalwork to have ever been made.

Saint Mella's Church (also known locally as 'The Kell')

The churches and holy well that are linked to the site of Saint Manchán’s foundation are a little difficult to find. They aren’t wonderfully signposted and the once well used rag tree on a little island in the middle of the road with a badly eroded ballaun stone beside it, often stands bare for long periods. The rag tree in the road and an old Victorian National School are the best indicators that you have reached the site of the foundation. From the road you can see the first church which dates from around the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It is badly ruined, but some Romanesque features still survive and ancient graves are dotted around underneath the overgrowth. Some of the graves date to the early ninth and tenth century and as such are therefore the oldest surviving parts of the monastic foundation. Peat works uncovered an extensive network of wooden planks laid down as paths to help pilgrims come to this area. The church flourished into the fifteenth century, but was embroiled in the family politics of the Mac Coghlin’s who took ownership of it and was finally sacked in the rebellion in 1641. To the north of this church is said to be the remains of what was Saint Manchán’s house, or cell. From here you can pass through a small gate in the wall and you come to a long straight road with ancient stones laid into the ground to create a causeway through what was once treacherous bog.

 A Ballaun Stone at the entrance to the Holy Well

At the end of this pathway is Saint Mella’s Cell or church on a raised portion of land surrounded by trees. Although it is in bad repair, it was clearly at one time a beautiful church or oratory and from its elevated position was likely considered to be of great importance to the religious community. It seems likely that this is in fact a shrine church for Saint Mella or possibly for some other saint whose memory has long gone.

A statue of Jesus being assumed into the tree at the well

Half way down the same stony causeway is the well, surrounded by a stone wall with a number of ballaun stones nearby. It’s a very deep well and the water is pitch black because of the surrounding bog. The water also takes on some of the smell of the bog land and has a very curious whiff of creosote! The antiseptic qualities of this well are highly regarded and a visit to both the well and the shrine of Saint Manchán is said to grant healing to the prayerful pilgrim. The legend is that the well appeared when the praying monks left the church in great thirst on an unusually hot day only to discover that their water supplies had been allowed to run low. The saint responded by striking the rock nearby and fresh water gushed forth! Like other myths connected to Irish saints, this one also borrows from the Old Testament, in this instance Moses, while the monks are depicted as the children of Israel in a temporary Exodus before reaching the promised land. At the time such a myth would have undoubtedly have been of huge significance to the monks of this community and to the people who settled around it, as the entire area was an inhospitable bog that was also extremely dangerous - so the notion of being in a temporary wilderness while waiting for a promised land would have been somewhat poignant.

Saint Manchán's Well

Saint Manchán’s feast day is celebrated on 24^th January - the day of his death. However, the pattern that still continues to this day and which includes the parading of the relics and shrine tends to take place on the evening of the 23^rd January.

 Stone, Cross, Phone! Items left at the Holy Well

Comad

I wish, O Son of the living God, O ancient, eternal King,

For a hidden little hut in the wilderness that it may be my dwelling.

An all-grey lithe little lark to be by its side,


A clear pool to wash away sins through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Quite near, a beautiful wood around it on every side,


To nurse many-voiced birds, hiding it with its shelter.

A southern aspect for warmth, a little brook across its floor,


A choice land with many gracious gifts such as be good for every plant.

A few men of sense we will tell their number 


Humble and obedient. to pray to the King :

Four times three, three times four, fit for every need, 


Twice six in the church, both north and south :

Six pairs besides myself
 Praying for ever the King who makes the sun shine.

A pleasant church and with the linen altar-cloth, a dwelling for God from Heaven;
Then, shining candles above the pure white Scriptures.

One house for all to go to for the care of the body, 


Without ribaldry, without boasting, without thought of evil.

This is the husbandry I would take, I would choose, and will not hide it:


Fragrant leek, hens, salmon, trout, bees.

Raiment and food enough for me from the King of fair fame,


And I to be sitting for a while praying God in every place.

A seventh century poem attributed to Saint Manchán

A detail of the shrine

O merciful Father, you led the people of Israel to the promised land that flowed with milk and honey; hear the prayers of those who are in want and turn their dearth and scarcity into plenty. We give you our humble thanks for our bounty and ask that you continue your loving kindness unto us, that our land may continually bear the fruit of our labours and yield its increase to your glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Detail of one of the Harry Clarke windows in Boher Church

How to find it:

Boher church can be found on the main road our of Ballycumber towards Athlone. It's not a particularly old church, but flags and posters advertise the shrine. Saint Manchan's church and holy well is somewhat difficult to find. Travel to the village of Ferbane and from here travel east down small country roads (the Ballycumber Road) for about five miles. At a T-junction a small tree sits on an island in the middle of the road surrounded by a small stone wall and opposite is a Victorian National School. The church is on the other side of the road and the well is behind it over the wall and down the causeway. To reach St Mella's Church walk to the end of the causeway and cross into the farmers field to your left, but heading straight on. At the far end of the field you can see some trees surrounding the church.

The three sanctuary windows in Boher church