The first holy well of the year

A new year, a new holy well and new beginnings! Lovely to have a quick explore this morning with Colum, a fount of knowledge about all things historical in Bantry and an expert on Medieval iconography. He lead us off down the Rope Walk - yes where rope was once made and laid out. Rummaging in the ditch we came across The Well - no fancy names here. The jury is out as to whether it is actually a holy well for it was once used for domestic purposes by the nearby houses yet there are hints of holiness. Colum remembers as a young lad visiting the well on May Eve. In those days a huge sycamore tree grew over it and the lads would pluck leaves and then lay them on the doorsteps - welcoming in Bealtine. Sounds pretty holy to me. There was a lucozade bottle and this odd contraption near it. On closer inspection the odd contraption turned out to be a pump so the water is still being used. The water was abundant and clear. And  ...  we are now into International Holy Well 2019 so please tag any wells you can find IHW19. Spots inTime is on it! Thanks to jensphotos for hosting  MonoMonday this month .

And we're off on a quick well jaunt tomorrow, the last remaining wells in East Cork to be bagged I hope. But first meeting a PhD student who is doing her thesis on holy wells. Catch up on Thursday.

And there's a new blog