From A Village by the Shannon
"Close to a well in the area of Cragg, now in the parish of Newport, lived a Celtic Druid named Ernach and his wife Cominta. They had a son and daughter whose names were Senan and Comminate. In that age people had just one name.... This druid family embraced the new religion and were converted to Christainity.Imbued with the zeal and fervour of missionaries they began to spread the new message of fatih. The daughter Comminate preached the gospel with her brother Senan and baptised people in the stream beside the well and also erected a stone altar where sacrifice was offered."
This "altar" is the bullaun stone described further down. It goes on to say that Senan went to Castleconnell to a pagan community located there and converted them. On the Clare side of the River Shannon is his holy well which is reputed to hold cures.
The 18th of March is the pattern day of St. Commaneth at the Holy Well at Cragg in the townland of Ballyard near Newport in North Tipp. It is associated with a the nearby Church and graveyard and also a bullaun stone. It is also known as Kilcomenty or the "Church of Commenth".
The area is of historical interest in itself but what really got thinking about it was the publication of the theory by Shane Lehane that St. Patrick had a "wife" named Sheelah and that her "Saints day" was celebrated on the 18th of March also. (Same day as St. Commaneth).
He says “Pre-Famine, pre-1845, if you go back to the newspapers in Ireland they talk not just about Patrick’s Day but also Sheelah’s Day. You have Paddy’s Day on March 17th, and it continues on to Sheelah’s Day. I came across numerous references that Sheelah was thought to be Patrick’s wife. The fact that we have Patrick and Sheelah together should be no surprise. Because that duality, that union of the male and female together, is one of the strongest images that we have in our mythology.”
Coincidently St. Commaneth was also a female Saint and I wonder could the pattern day here at Cragg be related to the memory of pattern days to Sheelah that are supposed to have occurred around the country?
There is a bullaun stone about 200m away from the well and it is also closely associated with St. Commaneth. On duchas.ie there is folklore about the stone and the well. It says "the impression of a saints body is to be seen marked out" on the stone. These are of course the two bowls of the bullaun.
"There is a holy well in Cragg, Newport Co. Tipp. Many people go there to make rounds. There is a trout in the well and it is said that if you see the trout when you were making the rounds your request will be granted to you. There is a white thorn bush growing near the well. In former times there was a Church there. It is said that a Saint lived there once and the impression of a saints body is to be seen there marked out on a fest? stone. The trout could only be seen before Sun-rise, and anyone who was to see it should be there before that time. It is said that a Protestant caught the trout once and tried to cook it but he was not able. There is a tradition that the well was further up in the glen, but cattle used to be walking in around it so it moved and sprung further down the glen."
More on the well here
"There is a holy well in Cragg. Cragg is situated about 2 miles to the N.W. of Newport. A stream which rises in Ballinahinch about 2 miles distant, disappeared about 200 yards above the wall, and re-appears, forming the well, about 30 yards N.E. of the old graveyard. The river continues on though Shower Bog and thence to the Mulcair. Over the well stands an enormous ash tree, whose protecting branches, with those of adjacent whitethorn trees practically overshadow the well, affording shelter to the numerous pilgrims who make their "rounds" of the well and pray for the intercession of the Saints in order to be relieved of their bodily or mental ailments. The "rounds" are 7 in number. The pilgrim first takes 7 pebbles from the running stream, recites the Pater Noster, Hail Mary Creed and Gloria, throws of the pebbles into the well, and walks round the well, passing through the churchyard to the front of the well where the pilgrims kneel and pray. The well is decorated with offerings of beads, sacred pictures etc left there by pilgrims on completion of their rounds. According to legend the well was in ancient times situated close to St. Cominet's bed, but cattle being allowed into it the well removed."
The article in the Irish Times also mentions Sile-na-Gigs and how this name could potentially refer to Sheelah - St. Patrick's wife. It says:
“Sheela-na-gig is a basic medieval carving of a woman exposing her genitalia. These images are often considered to be quite grotesque. They are quite shocking when you see them first. Now we look at them very much as examples of old women showing young women how to give birth. They are vernacular folk deities associated with pregnancy and birth.”
There are no Sile-na-gigs in the vicinity of Cragg graveyard but there were a number of architectural fragments from the nearby church in the graveyard that all seem to have been removed.
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| (From JRSAI 1904 by Berry) |
There was a Sile-na-gig found at Burgesbeg church which is approximately 15km away, which is in storage (in the National Museum).
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| (From JRSAI 1939 by Dermot Gleeson) |
It is interesting to see how many other female saints days the 18th of March is associated with. According to this list - St. Commaneth is the only female saints day on this date. (It is also Saint Caemhán's day, a male saint). However, you would think if the pattern at Cragg was a vestue of a celebration to do with Sheelah then it would be more widespread in Ireland with other patterns taking place on this day. However I am amazed that it has taken until the last few years (to my knowledge) that the story of Sheelah has been rediscovered.
Edit: I have also noted "blademarks" on the bullaun stone and have now written about them in an article in The Lamp 2020 - The Lorrha Dorrha Historical Journal.
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