Holy well, Coomanaspig, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Holy Sites & Wells

Holy well, Coomanaspig, Co. Kerry

On the north-facing slope of Kilkeaveragh mountain in County Kerry, a small roadside well carries at least three names, and possibly nine bishops' worth of reputation.

Known today as Coomanaspig Well, or in Irish Tobar Chúm an Easpaig, it is also called St John's Well, and the writer and folklorist known as An Seabhac recorded it in 1954 under a third name altogether: Tobar na Naoi nEaspag, the Well of the Nine Bishops. That multiplicity of names hints at a site where local memory has layered itself thickly over centuries.

The well itself is a modest but carefully made structure, defined by two stone side slabs and a covering lintel. On the upper surface of that lintel, a linear cross has been faintly incised into the stone. A short paved path leads to the well, and one of its slabs bears a more deeply cut cross, as does an upright slab positioned in front of the structure, measuring roughly 60 centimetres by 35 centimetres. These incised crosses are characteristic of early Christian sacred sites across Ireland, where the act of carving a cross into stone served both devotional and protective purposes. The well was a stop on a wider turas, the Irish word for a penitential pilgrimage circuit, which began at the pattern, or patron saint's feast-day gathering, held at St Michael's Well in Dungeagan. From there, participants also visited St Buonia's Well and St Finan's Well, both located in an area known as The Glen. Rounds were made at Coomanaspig on the 29th September, the feast of St Michael, linking the circuit to the Michaelmas calendar. This practice was documented by Delap as recently as 1911, suggesting it persisted well into living memory at that point.

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