The Tipperary Antiquarian

  A few people have been asking me, how do I know if my local holy well is recorded or not?  Well firstly I guess it doesn't matter as we would like to hear about the folklore and practices at the well even if it is a very well known holy well.  We do hope that some previously unrecorded holy wells are discovered and are added to the records and to aid in this I have created two resources below.  The first one is a list of all the recorded holy wells in the County and their recorded names on the older Ordnance Survey maps.  For this see here . I've also created a webmap showing each holy well in the County in its location. This is only a very roughly put together map and I hope to have something better and more user friendly in the next few weeks.  For this map click here. (Double click on the red dots to get the townland name of the well).  Then after that if you have located your local holy well and wish to add some information about it.  The s...

  I’m delighted to say that the survey form for the Holy Well Survey of Tipperary is available now online. If anyone has any information to share about a holy well close to them or one they know about, we would be grateful if you would reply to it. We hope to have information on every holy well in the County and to make this available online for everyone to access. In phase I, we will create a searchable database and interactive website of Holy Wells in the County and record: (i) folklore and cultural traditions associated with holy wells; (ii) identify the location of any 'missing' holy wells in County Tipperary; We hope this survey will raise awareness of Holy Wells in County Tipperary and their archaeological heritage & cultural significance. With this baseline set, we aim to investigate a number of Holy Wells around the County with a field study. We are asking you, the public, for any information you may have about your local Holy Well or a Holy Well that you have knowl...

I recently got to visit this large enclosure near Dromineer in Co. Tipperary.  It is described on archaeology.ie as follows  "Situated on relatively high ground overlooking Lough Derg to the NE, in undulating pastureland. A large, roughly circular area (dims. 132m N-S; 163m E-W) enclosing undulating terrain which rises to a gentle summit in the NW quadrant. There is a subrectangular hollow (dims. 7.5m x c. 7.3m) at the top of the summit. The enclosure is defined by a much-denuded internal bank (Wth 3.5m; int. H 0.43m; ext. H 1.2m), an intervening fosse (Wth 4.8m; D 0.43m) and a low outer bank (Wth 4.4m) surviving in the SE quadrant only. Drystone walling built up against the external face of the inner bank in the NW quadrant, much of which has collapsed, appears to be a later feature." It was named on the 1840s OS map as "Meadow". At approximately 4 acres in size it is massive, much bigger than any ring-fort.  The current townland name is Shannonvale but its old nam...

I wrote previously about links between Egypt and Ireland showing that many of the claims are tenuous at best here . One piece of evidence often used is the folklore surrounding Scotia's Grave outside Tralee in Co. Kerry. There is no doubt that folklore exists purporting that this is the site of an Egyptian princess named Scotia. I visited the site early this year and in my opinion it doesn't look archaeological. How the whole thing came about I'm not sure really. There are similar sized stones just about 50m along the riverbank and it looks to me as if what is now described as Scotia's Grave has maybe been put together much more recently than when she would have been in Ireland anyway! Many of the stones appear to just lie on the surface rather than go down to any real depth. There is a large earthfast stone nearby with a lot of graffiti carved into it. Scota's Grave Scota's Grave Stone with modern graffiti Modern stones located along the riverside near the ...

  I had wondered about a potential summer solstice sunset from this site at Shyane to the Devils Bit or Barane Eile / Gap of Ely. The Church and Graveyard at Shyane is known as Teampall an tSideáin, Church of the Fairy Hill. "Shyane was bounded by Moyne, Rahealty, Thurles & Loughmore. Name is Teampall an tSideáin, Church of the Fairy Hill. The ruins are still on the hill from which it receives its name." http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922209/4860869/5015955 You can clearly see that it is built on some kind of low mound and mythology and folklore may back this up.   Professor Ronald Hicks was writing a book on Sídhs or Fairy Mounds in Ireland and he said the following about a potential one near Thurles which I helped identify as this site. "From the Paps, according to "Two Tales about Fionn," Fionn went to Ely, centered on the barony of Eliogarty, County Tipperary, chasing Cul Dub, who jumps back and forth across the River Suir before going into a sí...

  The Capstone of the King of Leinster or Knockaunrilaghin (pictured) is relatively well known locally and a part of mythology around the Graves of the Leinstermen. However as anyone ever heard of these that I just came across recorded by Maurice Lenihan in 1869? "In this district also are pointed out Leachtnagrass, about a mile from Killaloe, near Boher, where Leachtna, another son of the king of Leinster was slain ; Keillan, near Bushfield, and Quilla, towards Shallee, where two others, sons of the Lagenian king were also killed. Tipperary Vindicator June 8, 1868. Was Lenihan spun some tall tales or was there folklore relating to this in the locality in the early 1800s? 

Anyone in the Ballina area of Tipperary ever hear of "Brian Boru's Fingerstone"? It is mentioned by historian Maurice Lenihan in his notes from the 1860s. "A large stone opposite Craggs Mountain at the Tipperary side of the river, is shown as "Brian Boru's fingerstone", which the legend attests he threw from one side of the shannon to the other". Copyright Limerick City Council The hand writing is hard to read, I'm not sure what the last two words in it say? Craggs Mountain is clearly shown on the map (I've highlighted it blue) so I wonder would the fingerstone be somewhere in the area I highlighted on the Tipp side of the Shannon. Copyright OSI  I've included a sketch of St. Patricks Fingers from approximately 12km away at Patrickswell. It may have been a stone with some kind of markings on it. St Patricks Fingers - Copyright Duchas.ie Edit  Local info suggests that there is a large rock near the shore in and around this area. 

Monsea church outside Nenagh. Dermot Gleeson in NMAJ mentions some features of note; "Outside the south door is a stone that came up with cleaning. It has embossed a panel about 1in. square bearing rosette, four quatre foils and the initials "T.B" and "S.B". The Tudor Rose and initials apparently refer to the Butler family." He earlier mentions in the same paper that the lands here were part of the manor of Ballyartela owned by the Earl and Countess of Ormond up to the 18th Century. There is a small stone immediately outside the south door but I'm not sure if it is the one referred to. Another interesting feature is a possible "Sean na Gig" or maybe some kind of folk art. "There is another stone (broken) of a rudely calved nude man. This is apparently of comparatively modern date (perhaps 18 cent) and may be a sportive effort of a local mason". I've included a sketch of a "sean na gig" from another location...