St Berrihert’s Well
This well is dedicated to St Berrihert but, according to Amanda Clark, the Blessed Virgin Mary may be the patron. (Clark, https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/11/18/roving-around-kilmichael/)
2 Townland, County, GPS
Sleveen East, County Cork
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
The well is set back from a busy road, a white metal gate with the blue letters BVM (for Blessed Virgin Mary) marks where to enter to find the path to the well. “The wellhouse is an unusual structure . An arched stone building protects the well, whilst above it a rectangular building made of stone and bricks sits on top, complete with niche and glass-protected statue of the BVM.” The well itself is a semicircle and has slabs of stone placed around it where offerings are left. Plaques are placed near the well with information for the visitor to read. (Clark, https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/11/18/roving-around-kilmichael/)
4 Cure
This well has no specific cure.
5 Pattern day
8th of September, the rosary is said here on that date
6 Offerings
Offerings such as candles and small statues are left at the well.
7 Prayer rounds and stations
“Rounds are traditionally made on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday” (Clark, https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/11/18/roving-around-kilmichael/)
9 Publications
Clarke, Amanda. "Gazetteer." Holy Wells of Cork. Accessed November 2, 2018. https://holywellsofcork.com/gazeteer/.
Clarke, Amanda. “No title” Holy Wells of Cork, 18 Nov, 2016. https://i2.wp.com/holywellsofcork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20161026-img_0410161026.jpg
Power, Denis. 1998. Archeological inventory of County Cork volume 3: Mid Cork; comprising the Baronies of East Muskerry, West Muskerry, and Barretts. Stationery Office. PP 328.
Lady's Well, Tobar Muire dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary
2 Townland, County, GPS
Ballymichael, Cork
1°50'46.2"N 8°51'55.8"W
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
The way to get to the well and the well itself are very overgrown as it is no longer revered and on private farm land. Along the path you will find a ballaun stone that has a couple of quartz stones around it, Amanda Clark suggests this may have been a part of the rounds and says that she has discovered it is a penitential station. Past this you this ballaun stone you must travel a bit farther, to find the well covered with "a circular drystone structure with a corbelled roof. White quartz pebbles had been stuffed into every section – presumably left by pilgrims doing the rounds. A wooden lintel within kept the building stable. Stone slabs led to the entrance." (https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/07/21/on-the-trail-of-st-finbarr/ by Amanda Clark) There is no water in the well anymore. There are two other stones near the well that Amanda Clark supposes are parts of the original rounds.
5 Pattern day
8th of September, the owner of the farm said that mass was held there a few years before Amanda Clark visited her, but that this was not at all a usual occurrence. (https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/07/21/on-the-trail-of-st-finbarr/ by Amanda Clark)
7 Prayer rounds and stations
There is a penitential station marked by a ballaun stone and there are two stones near the well itself that may have been part of the rounds. (https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/07/21/on-the-trail-of-st-finbarr/)
9 Publications
https://holywellsofcork.com/2016/07/21/on-the-trail-of-st-finbarr/ by Amanda Clark
Photograph by Amanda Clark
St. Mary's Well (AKA Tobar Mhuire/Tober-Murry/Lady Well)
2 Townland, County, GPS
Townland of Rosserk, Co. Mayo (54.168827, -9.144540)
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
The well is situated at the confluence of the Rosserk River and the River Moy (west bank), near Rosserk Abbey. The well is situated about 500m from a small carpark situated on the right hand side of the road, before Rosserk Abbey. It is accessed via a boreen, known as 'the Rosary Path'.
4 Cure
The waters from the well are credited with curative properties, particularity for eyes.
5 Pattern day
The Patron Day was 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but pilgrims visited from that day until 8 September.
6 Offerings
Mostly rosary beads, scapulars and religious statues, as well as rags or tissue paper. Mostly attached to a hawthorn tree, which grows from the roof of the stone structure over the well, but also on other hawthorn trees in the immediate vicinity and on nearby fencing.
7 Prayer rounds and stations
There are a several numbered spots at the site.
9 Publications
1. Monsignor O'Hara (1898) "Rosserk and Moyne, Co. Mayo". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Fifth Series, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 258-263.
2. John O'Donovan/Michael O'Flanagan (1927) 'Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the County of Mayo: collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838'.
10 More
According to tradition, the well is situated at the site of an apparition of the Virgin Mary that took place c. 1680.
In 1798, a local landowner named John Lynott built a little stone-vaulted building over the well; an inscription reads: 'This chapel was built in honour of the Blessed Virgin in the year of Our Lord 1798, by John Lynott, of Rosserk.' Beneath this inscription is a large figure of a dove with the words 'Pax' (peace) and 'Amor' (Love). Beneath this are two other slabs with inscriptions in Latin, bearing the years 1684 and 1810.
See also: http://www.sacredlandscapes.ie/tobar-mhuire.html