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St. John’s Holy Well: east Cork [photos]

St. John’s Holy Well: east Cork [photos]

Last updated on: September 12, 2013 at 3:23 pm by Traci

St. John’s Holy Well: east Cork [photos] 2013-09-12T15:23:27+00:00 Traci

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Down my lane is a Well. It’s an Old Well, long venerated and hallowed; a place of quiet contemplation and healing. This Well, now dedicated to St. John, is an eye Well; it’s known for its eye cures. The rounds are held in August, they say to commemorate the beheading of St. John, but we know it was a Lughnasadh Well, don’t we. Think about it:

Turas (Patron or Rounds) traditionally done at the end of August (remember, that is the date for Old Lughnasadh – before the calendar change)
Associated with beheading (harvest death, anyone?)
Healing for the Eyes – um, well, two out of three ain’t bad!

I suspect this was an inauguration site because of the presence of SO many of the required items (ok, this may be fanciful imagining, but I buy my argument!). At the Crossroads is the site of an old church, following northwesterly up the ridge (and the lane) you find the Well where once a clootie tree stood, down the ridge near the stream, and almost directly across from the Well, is a Fulacht Fia (which I believe were used for ceremonial bathing). Continuing northwesterly up the ridge (and the lane) you bump into three large Lios, in quick succession, with the last one being set apart by a standing stone. If you continue following the ridge (and the lane) you run into two more LARGE, flat-topped Bull Stones before you reach the burial mound. Oh, and stones were found in the excavation of the Well that contained both hand and feet prints–another curious inaugural element.

To read more of what I have to say on Bull Stones and the date of Old Lughnasadh, see my personal blog.

Now, may I introduce you to St. John’s well, Templebodan, east Cork!

and we’re off…

This afternoon there is a blessing for the well. It recently underwent renovation, with archeologist out to have a peek and a lovely new stone wall built to protect it.

All the neighbors parked in the field.

We gather for the blessing.

The beautiful new sign–all built with funds from the The Gathering incentive.

The gorgeous, living, clear water gently seeps up from the ground and is stored in that center cauldron, with the excess running under the stone drain into the nearby stream.

Just some of the gorgeous stone images and effigies found when the well was cleaned up. Neighbors, young and old, have fond memories of these stones.

More images of the ancestors (stones).

A beautiful font found during clearing work. Did it come from the, long gone, nearby church?

One of the many carved figures found during clearing. This one clearly shows the ‘hand print’ stone.

Another of the carved images.

This is one of my favorite images. It reminds me of the Crom Dubh stone in Dingle (to see the face of Crom; http://bit.ly/17QRG9U )

The foot print stone. The hells are to the top, with the toes pointing down.

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Memories of place, held on the tongue

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