Dublin Core
Title
Archangel Michael's well
Description of Well Item Type Metadata
1 Name of well and saint
St Michael’s Well, Bere island
2 Townland, County, GPS
Ballynakilla, Cork Co.
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
The well is on a hillside. A yellow cross and a silver statue on a plinth depicting St Michael wrestling with Satan mark the site.
4 Cure
sore eyes
5 Pattern day
September 29
6 Offerings
buttons and coins
7 Prayer rounds and stations
At an outer circle of stones, petitioners say The Creed and Five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and five Glorias. Then they go up to the circle of stones nearest the well and they say the Rosary and at every Gloria they pick up a stone and drop it down again with their right hand. When they are coming home they always leave something after them. Some people leave a button after them. They throw up the button and if it comes down with the right side turned up, the person will have good luck, but if it comes down with the wrong side, the person will have bad luck. (Clarke)
8 Stories
Amanda Clarke notes that long ago on Michaelmas Day everyone turned towards the holy well for festival gathering with stalls selling oranges and apples and wine, whiskey and porter and there used to be wrestling. They used to have dances and concerts and plays near the well. They also visited a nearby stone known as the “holy stone” or “Godstone.” (Clarke).
9 Publications
Clarke, Amanda. "Gazetteer." Holy Wells of Cork. Accessed November 31, 2018. https://holywellsofcork.com/gazeteer/.
Ronan, S., Egan, U., Byrne, E., Farrelly, J., Manning, C., Moore, F., . . . Walsh, P. (n.d.). Archaeological Inventory of County Cork (Vol. 5). Dublin: The Stationary Office.
Ronan, S., Egan, U., Byrne, E., Farrelly, J., Manning, C., Moore, F., . . . Walsh, P. (n.d.). Archaeological Inventory of County Cork (Vol. 5). Dublin: The Stationary Office.