Skour Well

Skour Well

Skour Well, Tobar na Sceabhrach. Dedicated to St. Ina.

Garranecore, Cork County

According to Amanda Clarke, this well is just a short walk north from Tobarín na Súl and is tucked away on the side of the small road. The water comes out from the land at ground level and is fresh and clear. Behind the well is a u-shaped stone well house, with a small niche full of votive offering and statues. The water seeps out of the shallow basin onto the white stone-covered foreground. The well is renowned for its healing qualities. It is also said that the water will never boil. Many of the statutes are to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but the well is dedicated to St Ina who has given her name to Lough Hyne. Behind this is a rag tree which is adorned with ribbons of many colors. Tobarín na Súl suffered badly during Storm Ophelia when hundreds of trees were flattened in the woods. The well still survives but is currently covered. (January 2018)

The well is known for its general healing qualities.

May Eve (April, 30th)

Many different statues left here of the BVM and a rag tree is adorned with ribbons of many colors.

Originally the rounds were held on May Eve (30th April), the start of the ancient festival of Bealtine. It would have followed a set path, probably also taking in Tobarín nal Súl. The pattern day eventually stopped, but now an open-air Mass is held here every May Eve.

Amanda Clarke’s Blog provides a story form a local: “Terri Kearney, who interviewed many residents of Lough Hyne for her book Lough Hyne; from Prehistory to the Present, remembers one man telling her how amused locals were to see a family camped near the well and on taking water from the well being flummoxed as to why it wouldn’t boil! Terri’s father was a great believer in the powers of the well and he firmly asserted that water would not boil. Her mother was of a more skeptical nature and decided to play a trick! On Terri’s Confirmation Day the family went to Lough Hyne as was traditional. Her mother took some water from the well and took it back home where she boiled the water and made tea for her father. On asking how the tea was her father replied that it was a grand cup of tea altogether. Her mother revealed what she had done and he spat it across the kitchen! Living dangerously all round!”

Clarke, Amanda. "Gazetteer." Holy Wells of Cork. Accessed November 4th, 2018. https://holywellsofcork.com/gazeteer/.