Mystery

It is of course St Gobnait's Day today!! In the interest of research and my blog, I had to go and join the others flocking to Ballyvourney. Ballyvourney is way up in the mountains in a Gaeltacht area, that means all English suddenly disappears and you are left to interpret the signage yourself. This is what Ballyvourney looks like in Gaelige: Baile Bhúirne.. Anyway, essentially Gobnait (Abigail in English), who was from the Aran Islands. had a vision and was told to travel until she found a place where there were 9 white deer and there she was to build a religious establishment for women. She spotted the deer here, built the monastery and did lots of good deed (to cut a long story very short)! This is one of the few places where a pilgrimage is still made. Masses are held throughout the day in the new church, and rounds are made to the old church, where Gobnait is buried. The rounds include visiting not one but two holy wells, which contained the clearest coldest water ever.There was a very devout atmosphere but also a holiday feel and everyone smiled and seems to be enjoying themselves. The real highlight is the appearance of a small wooden statue, meant to date from the 13C, which is only brought out on this day. You buy ribbons that have been cut to the length of the statue, then queue up to wrap your ribbons around the her, finally kissing her. The ribbons are taken home and will offer healing protection for the year. I've come how with 6 of them, all brightly coloured.


I then went on to St Abbán's well.  He's meant to have been Gobnait's brother.This is the most incredible place. Hardly ever visited, the path was about a foot deep in mud, hidden in a forest and as you get closer red ribbons appear rather spookily in the trees. The well is tiny. Can you spot it in the photo? It's actually hidden under that little slab, bottom right. A stone had been placed on top of a tea tray and a good mulch was developing from fallen leaves. But when you lift the tray, the tiny well is full of crystal clear water. A little further away is the burial cairn of St Abban himself which included 3 Ogham stones and a ballaun stone.


And yes - I managed to fit in one more well! This was also astonishing - in a tiny enclosure in the middle of nowhere. Another ballaun stone with milky blue water, lots of quartz stones and a single statue of the Infant of Prague!  What does it all mean? Mystery!


And now we're off to the cinema to see Spotlight , chips first. I will catch up at some point!