This page is an odd mix of everday items in our landscape, some items are so commonplace that they become

invisible - almost.

Paddy Geoghegan

What our readers think.

Within the ancient parish of Lismore Mocollop there are several "Holy Wells", indeed all along the Blackwater valley they are fairly numerous. The river Blackwater was itself anciently known as "Nemh" or Holy river. So how did these wells gain the high status that they once had, and why have they declined in popularity.

The Ancient Celts had a simple and profound belief in "Mother Earth" all human and animal life depended on the earth to sustain life, as we do today of course, the natural springs were seen as the earth suckling its inhabitants, a gift from earth to man. It is no great leap of imagination to understand the immense importance of such places in their daily lives. The Religous leaders, the Druids naturally congregated around Spring wells, in a sense to protect them from harm, whether by act or deed. The people expected the Druids to intercede on their behalf with Mother Earth.

People or Animals that were ill or injured and could not themselves attend a Spring Well, had water from the well brought to them, sometimes they got better and sometimes they didn't, the Druids bestowed a mystique or a belief on the cuartive properties of the water and if the well water didn't perform as expected, the Druids were almost obliged to perform some ceremony to appease Mother Earth and restore it's healing powers. Earth - Wind - Water - Fire were vital elements in sustaining life. Ireland was heavily wooded at the time, the trees that grew naturally around a spring well, were assumed to be earthly guardians of the well, therefore had a special significance, the Oak tree [Ie: Cill Daire & Doire] and the Whitethorn particularly, but also the Miselltoe which lived as a parasite on the Oak. To say that the people had a simple belief is perhaps wrong, consider the world we live in today - natural springs are polluted to the point where it is unsafe to drink. Our forests have been decimated and the air we breathe, laden with poisons. The Druids were on the right track, we could learn something valuable by adopting some of their attitudes and beliefs towards the natural world around us.

So, along came the Romans - A conquering Military and Religous force sweeping past beliefs and customs out of existence. Our Celtic Druids replaced by Roman Bishops, local command and control handed to Rome and the introduction of a Religous Tax. To the Roman faith, the Wells were no more than a hole in the ground with water, to consolidate their position they adopted the practice of assigning the wells to Roman Saints. No longer was Mother Earth the life giver, instead, the Roman Saint was responsible for the water. Over time, the wells lost their mystique and their exclusive properties, now the people had to have water blessed by a priest before it was considered suitable for whatever use they needed it for. The wells continued in a limited form, "a pattern day" when large crowds of people gathered to hear Mass at the site, even then, the old customs died hard, as at Tubbernahulla, we know that there was a "Crude Stone Altar" (Power) and the ceremonies carried out at this Altar offended the Catholic Church to the point where Catholics were barred from visiting it and the Pattern diminished or ceased.

But is that the end of the story - not really, my Father and his generation held those places in reverence, he would take three sups of water and ALWAYS throw the last drop on the ground, why, well, the three sups were for him, and the last for Mother Earth. An inbuilt acceptance of a tradition that he couldn't possibly know of, other than through the actions of those before him and oral tradition. A curious mix of Catholic faith in the three sups = Father - Son and Holy spirit and the Ancient beliefs of his Celtic Ancestors - Mac Eocagain = The (young)Son of the Horseman or Guardian (A Soldier ?).

Holy Wells in the parish includes:- Tobernahulla (St Michaels) Tobar-na-Gloire (Waterpark and Ballineaspog) Tobar Naomhtha (Ballyheafy) Tobar Mochuda (Lismore) Tobar Carthaig (Carrignagower) Tobar Mocholmoig and Cillin (Cappoquin Demense) and Tobar na Turais (Camphire: Well of the pilgrim) Tobar na Ceardtan (Lismore, New Way and the Gate Lodge. now a car park.)

Ancient Church Sites (location or extant):- Relig Deglain (Dromroe); Lismore Cathedral; Okyle (Camphire); Aglish (Upper) Mocollop. Cill Breac (Garrison); Cill Duigeain (Flowerhill); Ballyin; Cill Coluimcille (Cool); Rath (Ralph); Seemochuda; Okyle Religin (Okyle Upper) Cill Mhuire (Cappoquin Demense) Killbree (Cappoquin).

Saint Fanahans Holy well in Mitchelstown, County Cork, The well is very popular for visitors. The location is typical, The well of course, small stream, woodland [Beech], but no petition bush. Much work was done here in 1850, a raised causeway lined with Beech leads to a Bridge which was built by the County grand jury and local donations, Edmond Murray, Jeramiah Casey and Michael Cusack. Two contributors, Casey, Father of The Galtee Boy for the safe return of his son from Australia and Cusack for the safe return of his brother, Captain William Cusack [Union Army] from the American Civil War. The pattern day is the 25th November but it extends 9 days either side, a total of 19 days.

Saint Mochua, a companion or follower of Saint Declan, built a dwelling place at Clashmore. The site is neatly presented in a circular enclosure of a high stone wall, fragments of a substantial building are placed against the wall. Slightly off centre is a covered well. On my last visit, a lady had her dog paddling in the well, we can only ponder that the animal was ill otherwise it could have cooled off in the adjacent stream. A Plaque on the entrance gate tells us that the Saint and his followers were mudered by Pirates in the year 631 AD.

Saint Declan's well Geoish is a well preserved and presented place of worship. The Fitzgerald Family of Dungarvan have contributed greatly to the upkeep of this site. The site is remote enough from the main road, although it has a surfaced road leading up to a car park at the entrance. There is a steady stream of visitors throughout the year.

The most numerous pieces of Quasi Archaeology found in every parish are the remains of Lime Kilns. I use the term Quasi because strictly speaking they date only from the relatively recent past. However, the practice of burning lime goes back to earliest times when lime was used as a building material, as Lime mortar. In the 16th Century Lime became a valuable commodity for Agriculture and the erection of Lime Kilns was promoted to help provide better crops. The drawing is courtsey of the Department of Archaeology UCC. Interestingly, the reduction of limestone is arguably the earliest chemical work of man, in Latin it is Calx in Gaelic it is Calc [ Chawk ] almost every civilisation has a word for it, it's discovery has played a vital role in sustaining mankind.

It could burn for a few days and another few days to cool down an average burn would produce maybe 20 tons of Lime. On most field walks we regularly come across poorly burned Limstone, this could be limestone that was on the sides of the Kiln or insufficient fuel to reduce it to powder. The Kiln in the drawing, which is the most common type, is an early "Shaft Kiln"  there were other types in use but they haven't survived to the same extent.

Apart from Agriculture, Lime was used extensively to decorate houses, both inside and out. The properties of Limewash were suited to the purpose, once dry it shed water quickly, so it didn't simply run off the wall in the rain. Another more important view was that the Limewash cleansed and killed bacteria, which it probably did considering it was now Calcium Hydroxide. Later on, people added colour to the Limewash and it was not unknown for people to ask for Pink whitewash. Indoors the lime would rub off easily onto dark clothes.

Next time you pass that tumble down limekiln, have a think, where did they get the Limestone, what fuel did they use, how many acres were treated and what benefits did it bring to those hardworking Men and Women. If we need Lime today we just call the supplier and hey presto a big truck load arrives, a tractor and spreader and the job is done. Spare a thought for the pioneers in land improvement.

They cooked on large open fires, and their rubbish was discarded outside when safe to do so or dropped through the "Garderobe", (Garderobe is an unfortunate word because in German it means a Wardrobe or dressing room) In the tower house it was the En-suite, the loo, built outwards from the main wall, it had a stone seat with a hole in it. Sometimes of course attackers gained entry to the house through the Gardrobe. Castles had to have a Patent or planning permission from the Monarch to be built - their building described as - Throwing up and their destruction described as - Throwing down.

Those tower houses offered only Phsychological protection, an opponent could lay "Siege" surround the house at a safe distance and starve the occupants into submission. At the same time using whatever weapons they had to harrass the occupants and search for "Soft" spots on the building itself.  A tower house isolated from a friendly neighbour was in real trouble. The most obvious "Soft" spot in any building would have been the foundations. Miners were drafted to dig tunnels under foundations (this gives us the expression's Sapper, to sap the strenght & Undermine Etc..) once the miners had dug under the wall, the tunnel could be filled with Gunpowder and Kaboom the wall was gone or badly weakened at that point. To avoid being undermined, Castles were usually built on rock. In the illustration (Courtsey Dep't Arch UCC) We can see that the Trebuchet had a high angle of tragectory, it could be used to lob dead animals or humans over any outer defences. The Cannon, we see firing horizontal, it's range would decrease as its angle to the horizontal changed. Firing horizontal would have been attacking the stoutest part of the building at it's base, which we see is angled to deflect the shot, equally, stones dropped onto the angle shattered and flew out from the base. Therefore the Cannon would ideally have to be on a raised piece of ground to hit high up on the building or to have the cannon ball fall inside the defences.

Paddy Fives, gave me a good account of it, Fionn McCool threw it from the top of Knockmealdown. These stones are found all over the place, their purpose, either long forgotten or new ones invented. M.J.O'Kelly - Early Ireland, page 228, "Of the excavated examples some had Cist graves at their base". A tentative date based on those finds is Neolithic / Early Bronze Age -

4,000 ~ 1,800 BC - or - 3,800 ~ 6,000 BP (Before Present)

Up front - this is not my one, it belongs to the Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University. NC.

it was in my shed for years before I discovered what it was.. Did it come by ship direct from Germany or did it travel to the plains of the USA before making it's way back to Cappoquin.

Like everything else around us, there is a story to tell about each item. The USA in the mid 1800's was a boom time for the Railroads. The work gangs, made up of Irish and Chinese mainly but every other Nation represented to a degree. Feeding this army of workers miles from any town or source of supply, the Railroad Companies employed Buffallo hunters to supply the camps. The Mid-West States were awash with Buffallo, millions of them. The Indians relied heavily on the Buffallo for food and hides, they hunted by various methods, the bow and arrow and the lance being two, they also stampeded parts of a herd over a cliff or they took them crossing a river. When they had enough for food and clothes they stopped hunting. The white hunters would gallop along with the herd killing as many as they could, while another group came behind skinning and taking out the tongues. They did this every day. As the railway progressed, it divided the land and brought European settlers with it. The native Indians were pursued relentlessly by the settlers as they took more and more land. The story is not without an Irish angle, during the Famine here, the Choctaw Indians raised cash $ 710 US to buy corn to send to Ireland. Read about the Choctaws and their Trail of tears in 1831.

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