Named after St Colmcille's mother. Ethne who has associations with the area. This holy well had stations performed on her son St. Colmcille's feast day--9 June for nine nights.
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
Located at the terminus of a thoroughly kept trail (of grass and stone) through a field called Crag Murray (or Flat Swamp) is the ancient St Colomcille's Well. The site immediately surrounding the well includes superstructure that reflects how the well would have looked long ago (thanks to the 2011 efforts of the Kells Archaeological Society). A three-walled structure with a flat rock covers the surface-point of the water, from which a stone-lined waterway extends in the direction of the return path (Dempsey, 2013).
4 Cure
Well said to heal pain in the head, legs, and teeth (French, 2012:22). Rites unknown for 'achieving' curative effects.
5 Pattern day
Pattern day is held annually on the day of St Colmcille's death, June 9th. A Patronal ceremony also takes place here on the eve of the Pattern day (Dempsey, 2013).
7 Prayer rounds and stations
In the early twentieth century throngs of people would celebrate on the eve of the Pattern day. They would recite the Holy Rosary to honor Saint Colmcille and musicians would perform from Kells and sometimes Dublin (French, 2012:21-2).
9 Publications
Dempsey, Jim. Megalithic Ireland. "St Colmcille's Well." http://www.megalithicireland.com/St%20Colmcille's%20Well,%20Kells.html; Thunder, John M. 1886. The Holy Wells of Meath. The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, 7:68, pp. 656; French, Noel. 2012. Meath Holy Wells. pp. 18-24; http://irelandssacredwater.com/holy-wells-in-ireland-map.html.
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
On a slope of Carnaween in the Bluestack Mountains, the well is near an ecclesiastical enclosure and a graveyard which was used as a cillín (for buying unbaptised infants) into the 1930s. The beautiful situation of the well makes it easy to understand why it was chosen by those wishing to seek a religious life apart from the world (a dísert, named for the desert abodes sought by early Christian hermits). The site also has an altar called a Mass Rock.
4 Cure
The well water is thought to have had many cures, but more notably, the soil of the vicinity was thought to rid rodents and other pests from one's home and fields if sprinkled there.
5 Pattern day
St Colmcille's day, the ninth of June, was the main visitation day on which pilgrims also climbed Carnaween (also associated with the saint). By the later twentieth century, visitation shifted to the first Sunday in June.
10 More
This site is actively being researched by Dr. Fiona Beglane of the Sligo Institute of Technology.
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
The well is enclosed in a dry stone square structure beneath a cliff. During the twentieth century, hazel bushes grew around the well site and were recipients of votive offerings until recently. In a 2010 renovation, ten metres on either side of the well were cleared and additions were made to the site. The well and turas grounds are now separated from the road by a low stone wall. Another stone structure to the left of the well enshrines two tablets, one explaining who St Colmcille is and the other noting the rounds to be performed in the wellside turas with St. Colmcille's prayer. A small statue of the saint (under 12 inches in height) is behind glass in the same structure. The well structure now has a large cairn of stones behind and on top of it as it appeared in photos from 1900 (see Nic Chearáin, 2012:25).
4 Cure
The well is known as a cure-all. Cures particularly mentioned in the locality include toothache and aching limbs. Brídiín Nic Chearáin notes that if a petitioner slept beside the well, a cure was assured (2012:28).
5 Pattern day
The Pattern Day is June 9th (St Colmcille's Day), but the turas continues from June 9 through the 17th (a novena). Most people asked reported visiting during one of the nine days if they visited at all, but some came to the well on each of the nine days in 2017.
6 Offerings
Votives are now deposited on top of the well structure. These include candles, rosary beads, small religious statutes, empty medication bottles, sports trophies, limpet shells, hair ornaments, children's toys, and a water bottle brought from Lourdes.
7 Prayer rounds and stations
The turas was punctuated by three cross-inscribed stones. At the first one says 5 Our Father's, 5 Hail Mary's and 5 Gloria's. This is repeated at the second station stone. At the 3rd station, the numbers of prayers are seven of each. When stations are completed, one says the Rosary at the well walking around the well cairn three times and leaving a stone on the cairn with each circumambulation. After the completion of prayers, one may access the well water to bless oneself
8 Stories
St Colmcille was to have mislaid some books on one of his journeys. He prayed to find them and then spotted a deer with his books on its back. The deer managed to slide the books down into an orderly pile beside the well
9 Publications
The digitized Schools Folklore Scheme has accounts of the well.
Nic Chearáin, Brídiín. 2012. The Holy Wells of Fanad. Gaeltacht Bheo Fhánada: Fanad, Co. Donegal.
Lacey, Brian, Eamon Cody and Claire Cotter 2013. Archaeological Survey of County Donegal : A Description of the Field Antiquities from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th Century A.D. Donegal Heritage Office.
In his Life of Colmcille, Manus O'Donnell (d. 1564) wrote about the book-returning deer (see Lacey, Brian. 1998. Manus O’Donnell’s life of Colum Cille. Dublin: The Four Courts Press.).