Wells of County of Fermanagh
St Patrick's Well, County Fermanagh
St. Patrick’s Well, also known as Dabhach Phádraig, is in Cavancarragh, (near Belcoo), Cleenish Parish in County Fermanagh.
The well is a spring-fed oval-shaped pool approximately forty feet by twenty feet and about eight to ten inches deep located in a hollow about 8 feet below the surface of the road. The water runs off into two streams which flow in two different directions.
The well is said to cure nervous disorders.
People may make the stations at the well anytime they wish, but they are usually done between the last Sunday of July and August 15.
People leave clooties, photos, holy cards, medals, rosaries or personal items hung or tied to a pair of ash trees growing next to the well. The two trees probably sprang from the roots of an ancient tree which was cut down in 1835.
Pilgrims begin with an Act of Contrition, say the rosary while circling the well, and various prayers at the other stations. The stations include the well itself, the nearby ruins of a medieval church (possibly 12th century?) and several bullaun stones.
There is supposed to be a white trout or sea trout (Salmo trutta) in the well. Seeing it is a sign that your prayer will be answered. Several local people claim to have seen it and been cured of various maladies.
St. Patrick supposedly visited the site and blessed the well to Christian use. One of the bullaun stones is said to have the prints of St. Patrick's horse or donkey on it. The well is located at a place "where three streams meet" (considered a place of special sacred power) and on the border between two townlands, Cavancarragh and Rushin. The O'Dolan family who live in the nearby townland of Rushin, have been herenaghs, hereditary caretakers, of the well as long as anyone can remember.
St. Tiarnach's Well
The name of the well is Tobbertierney, or in Irish, Tobar Tiarnaigh, and is in the townland of Clontivren in the County of Fermanagh. It is associated with Saint Tiarnach of Clones. The well is small and near a river. It is quite foul now but in the past had crystal clear waters.
The cure of the well is pains in the head, headaches, sinus and hay fever.
The pattern was on April 4th, St. Tiarnach's Day. There are no offerings now as the crann was pulled away by a farmer.
Legend has it that St. Nooa was on his way home from a wedding and was supposed to go on to Armagh, but decided that he would stay at Clones because of the beauty of the place. St. Nooa was a man of great talent and thought himself to be better than St. Tiarnach and that he would replace him as abbot of the monastery if he came into Clones. St. Tiarnach came out to meet St. Nooa at a stone near Clontivren and St. Nooa and said he was so tired and couldnt go on, so they stopped at the river in Clontivren, St. Tiarnach bent down and washed St. Nooa's feet and they rested. St. Tiarnach put it to St. Nooa that he was talented, but he hadnt the cure for hayfever. St. Nooa took a sip of the water in the well and said, by the grace of St. Patrick, he had. St. Tiarnach put it to him again that he hadnt the cure for headaches, and St. Nooa took a sip of the water and said he had! St. Tiarnach put it to him again and said he hadnt the cure for pains in the head; St. Nooa reached down and couldnt grasp the water from the well and said, "I haven't." St. Tiarnach went and rang his bell over the water and said, "But I do have the cure for pains in the head." He stooped down and took the water from the well and drank it. St. Nooa, knowing now that St. Tiarnach had the virtue of humility, accepted St. Tiarnach as his abbot and swore never to walk into the gates of Clones, so he built a monastery there and lived a life of such humility that everyone who came to Clones was amazed by his virtue. In time, young men came and joined him, and from that day till the day the English came, pilgrims coming to Clones, or going to Lough Derg could stop and rest and be looked after at Clontivren monastery and the well. St. Tiarnachs well had the cure of headaches and sinus as all St. Tiarnach's wells and stones do.