Lughnasa in Tipperary

Devil's Bit Mountain

The last Sunday in July is known as Reek Sunday and is associated with the pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick. Other names include Garland Sunday, Garlic Sunday and Billberry Sunday.

This Christian pilgrimage is often thought to have replaced the pre-Christian festival of Lughnasa.
Interestingly enough in "The Festival of Lughnasa" by Máire MacNeill a number of places in Tipperary are associated with similar pilgrimages or walks on the last Sunday in July / Lughnasa. (The date of which varies)
Mothers Mountain near Kilcommon / Rearcross (North Tipp)
Keeper Hill near Kiloscully (North Tipp)
Knockshegowna near Ballingarry (North Tipp)
Devil's Bit near Gortagarry (North Tipp)

The exact date for Lughnasa festivals varies a bit.

For example - Rock Sunday at the Rock of Barnane or Devil's Bit is said to be the closest Sunday to the St. James's Day which is the 25th of July. (See the festival of Lughnasa - pg 218) That would make it today but this year a Mass is being held on the last Sunday of July which is next week.

That ties in with probably the most famous Lughnasa pilgrimage - Reek Sunday at Croagh Patrick which is scheduled for next Sunday also. 

The book also mentions one holy well
St Peakaun's Well in the Glen of Aherlow (South Tipp)

The church of Moycarkey outside Thurles also is recorded as being visited at Lughasa in The Festival of Lughnasa - pg 643

"In 1840 O'Donovan and his colleague, Antony Curry. learned that a patron had been annually held at this church on Domhnach Cruim Duibh or Garland Sunday. From this O'Donovan inferred that it was one of the church of St. Patrick : he made this inference because he had found so many Garland Sunday celebrations with Patrician associations that he regarded the day as a feast of St. Patrick." 

Rock Art in North Tipperary

This is a draft version of the article

Rock Art in North Tipperary

By Derek Ryan Bawn

When you review a map of the distribution of prehistoric rock-art in Ireland there has always been a large area, according to the Schedule of Monuments Record (SMR), where none occurs in the counties of Tipperary, Limerick, the northern sections of Cork & Kerry, most of Clare and most of Offaly & Laois (Fig.1). 

Fig. 1 Geographical distribution of Rock-art in Ireland (Lisheentyrone is highlighted in red) (courtesy of the National Monuments Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and the Gaeltacht).

Broadly speaking there are large concentrations in the south& west of Cork & Kerry, another concentration around Kilkenny, Carlow and Wicklow, there is some of the most famous rock-art in Meath (Bru Na Boinne& Loughcrew) and another concentration in Donegal / Derry. There are also some panels in Mayo, Sligo, Cavan, Louth and Westmeath.

Recently a new panel of cup-markings have been discovered in North Tipperary in the townland of Lisheentyrone near the village of Portroe (Fig. 2, Fig. 3 & Fig. 4). It is likely to be the oldest recorded artwork in all of Tipperary.

Fig. 2 Cup-marked stone at Lisheentyrone.

Fig. 3 Cup-marked stone at Lisheentyrone looking West.

Fig. 4 Cup-marked stone at Lisheentyrone looking East.

To date there has been evidence pointing towards the potential of rock-art in North Tipperary. Cup-marks were noted during the excavation of Baurnadoomeeny wedge-tomb near Rearcross and possible cup-marks have been noted on a kerb-stone of a barrow at Borrisnoe.

Excavations during the construction of the M8 motorway near Cashel in South Tipperary also revealed a pick-marked stone covering a cist at Windmill Hill.

Caimin O’Brien of the National Monuments Service has inspected the open air panel at Lisheentyrone and it has now been added to the Schedule of Recorded Monuments. The panel itself is part of a rock out-crop that is approximately 3.4m x 2.8m. It is adjacent to a standing stone pair and a large bowl barrow (Fig. 5 & Fig. 6). On a previous visit to the stone pair in 2005, the rock out-crop was covered with grass. However on a visit in March of this year the grass covering had been eroded away and it was immediately clear that the stone was cup-marked. It was also noted that there were similar cup-marks on the eastern stone of the nearby stone pair. There are expansive views to the west (where Lough Derg is located) and also to the south-west, south and south-east.  To the north the view is limited by rising ground. The hill of Laghtea to the south-west seems to dominate the landscape from the cup marked panel and this hill was identified as the location of a hill-fort by Tom Condit in 1995 (Fig. 7). Unusually there are no views of Lough Derg from the panel.

Fig. 5 Illustrating the relationship between the rock-art panel and the stone pair.

Fig. 6 Illustrating the relationship between the rock-art panel and the bowl-barrow.

Fig. 7 Showing the relationship between the rock art panel and the hill-fort of Laghtea (centre of photo).

A revaluation of possible rock-art in the North Tipperary is now needed. It is very probable that the cup-marks on the kerb of the barrow at Borrisnoe are authentic (Fig. 8). They have been noted as being possible cup-marks as part of the description of the associated mound-barrow in the Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary but have not been given an individual SMR number.  They are described in the SMR as “According to an OPW field report (30.12.77) there are cupmarks on the external faces of some of the kerbstones in the SE quad; these are now covered with lichen. A possible cupmark was noted on the internal face of a stone in the NNW quadrant and on the external face of a stone at ESE.” 

Figure 8 shows the kerbstone in the SE quadrant. There is approximately 15-20 cup-marks on this stone. Unusually there are also cup-marks on the horizontal edge of this stone.

Fig. 8 Cup-marks on kerb-stone at Borrisnoe.

Another possible location of rock-art in Tipperary is on a standing stone in the townland of Blackstairs in South Tipperary (Fig. 9). To date the markings on the standing stone have been described in the SMR “as traces of natural hollows on both surfaces which may be the result of natural erosion”.  However it is possible that these are in fact cup-marks rather than natural marking. Unusually there are cup-markings on both sides of the standing stone. The standing stone is located within a ditch and is 2.1m high with a thickness of 0.13m and a width of 1.25m. It has expansive views in all the directions.  It may be that this stone once formed part of another monument and was deposited in the ditch.

Fig. 9 Possible cup-marks on a standing stone at Blackstairs.

What is also worth noting is that each of the panels of rock-art is in close proximity of a barrow. Lisheentyrone is 30 metres from a bowl barrow, Borrisnoe is part of the kerb of a mound barrow and Blackstairs is within 600 metres of a ring-barrow.

The newly discovered panel of cup-marks at Lisheentyrone opens up the exciting possibility that there is more rock art waiting to be rediscovered in the mid-west region. We often see that once one instance of rock-art is discovered in a region, there are more in the locality. As each of the panels has been found in the vicinity of existing prehistoric monuments, it seems that the search for more should begin there. 

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Chris Corlett for his advice and guidance with this article.  I would also like to thank Ken Williams and Ian Thompson whose photography and field walking have inspired me in my own. I would of course like to thank my wife and parents who supported me in writing this article. The photograph provided by National Monuments Service is much appreciated.

Tipperary & Chinese Seals

From Notices of Chinese Seals Found in Ireland by Edmund Getty (1850)

Just how did this 17th / 18th century Chinese seal end up being ploughed up in a field in Borrisokane in 1832/33?

It is not just a single stray find as over 60 stamps inscribed with Chinese characters have been found in Ireland (between 1780 & 1868) with 3 reported to have been found in Tipperary.

For a better idea of what one of these seals look like click here. Basically they are like ink stamps about 28mm square with an animal such as a monkey or a lion carved as the handle. They are completely made from porcelain.

Taken from "The story of the Chinese seals found in Ireland" by Imre Galambos

I only recently came across this historical mystery while reading skeptical blogger Jason Colavito here.
I had never heard of these artifacts before but seemingly paranormal researcher Charles Fort had discussed them in his book "The Book of the Damned" in 1919. Fort's explanation was that they had fallen from an airship!

They also appeared in a book related to Arthur C. Clarke's 1980's series Mysterious World.

The first Chinese seal is thought to have been found in Mountrath in Co. Laois in 1780. Other were found all over the country, many in what were out of the way places even in those days.

The initial theories about them were influenced by British Imperialism and that the Irish were not truly of European origin and could not have produced anything like this themselves. It was said that the Chinese characters dated from the time of Confucius (500BC) and that it could only have been the Phoenicians that brought them to Ireland. Conversely Irish nationalists used the seals to argue that the Irish were distinct from the British.

In the 1850's Edmund Getty presented a paper before the Belfast Literary Society on the seals. This presentation was later made into a book and helped popularise the mystery of the Chinese seals in Ireland. It even looked at translation of the individual seals. He had sent copies of the characters to China to be translated and had friends in Hong Kong investigate the possible origins of the seals there. Getty even wondered whether medieval Irish pilgrims to the Holy Island and Egypt might have brought them back with them.

In 1868 William Frazer presented a paper on them to the Royal Irish Society. One of Getty's translator confirmed that the characters found on the seals found in Ireland were still in use on seals in China to that day. Frazer argued they could not be as old as speculated as none of the seals had ever been found in an ancient context.  He said "They have never yet, in a single instance, been discovered associated with other objects of antiquarianinterest, in burrows or mounds, with bronze or stone weapons, celtic remains, or works of art – never with Danish or Anglo-Norman coins, nor even with modern articles of manufacture." He said that similar seals could be obtained in China at that time.

In the 1870's a medical missionary stationed in China, William Lockhart, had a different explanation for the seals. He told it to Edward Chittam of the Royal Irish Society about a woman from whom Lockhard had bought some similar seals.

"Her reply was that an ancestor of hers, an Irishman, was in the China trade about a century ago, and he was in the habit of bringing home a quantity of China-ware for friends, to whom he said that the shopkeepers from whom he had made his purchases gave him many of the seals, to which he had taken a fancy, and that he used constantly to give them away to friends in Ireland, and that they were carried about in all directions, being curious and interesting little things. The woman said that what she had been paid for were the remains of the large quantities formerly brought by her ancestor. Mr. Clittarn [sic] said that this was the true account of the diffusion of the seals through many parts of Ireland. I also was told that the accounts given of the finding of the seals in many places of undisturbed sepulture of great antiquity are simply untrue, and will not bear investigation. Such I believe to be the story of the seals"

Even with this "solution" speculation continued about their origin. It had began to die away until 1919 when Charles Fort wrote about them in his book (as mentioned above) the mystery began anew.

Researcher Imre Galambos writes about the seals here in much closer detail.

He concludes

"Looking at the seals today, based on their design we can fairly accurately identify them as Dehua ware from Fujian province, also known in the West as "blanc de chine". They appear to date to the eighteenth century but definitely not earlier than the seventeenth and, as Chapman has asserted, were most likely brought to Ireland after the early eighteenth century when the Dehua kilns began exporting to Europe. The inscriptions on the seals are consistent with those on late Ming and early Qing leisure seals, in contrast with other seals from earlier times. As for the seemingly random distribution of the seals throughout Ireland and the baffling conditions under which they were found, we can observe a couple of interesting circumstances. First, all of the seals undeniably came from a single collection : this is confirmed by the nearly identical physical form ,otherwise completely unattested in Europe. No matter how scattered the finds were, all of the seals were found in Ireland, which clearly shows a common point from which the original collection was dispersed. Secondly, there is the revealing fact that the fifty odd seals were all discovered between 1780 and 1853, with virtually no findings outside this period. This, together with the diverse conditions under which they came to light, precludes the possibility that they could have found their way into the country much earlier than their earliest finding. Otherwise a few seals would have certainly been found earlier. In addition, the fact that no more seals were found after 1853 implies that the discoveries of the seals were not completely accidental or mutually unrelated, as claimed at the time. Here we are reminded of the story that Lockhart recorded about the woman who admitted that the seals were brought to Ireland by an ancestor of hers who liked giving them away to friends in Ireland, and that the stories of finding them “in many places of undisturbed sepulture of great antiquity” were not true.

Needless to say, there is no way that we can ascertain that none of the seals were found under the conditions reported. It is more likely that the first few indeed were, and only later ones were assigned false provenance under pressure from an emerging market. In addition, many of the seals lacked information about their origin, beside the general claim that they came from Ireland. In other words, it was enough merely to misrepresent the source of a few seals in order to make the narrative develop in a certain direction. The misrepresentation, however, was not necessarily intended as a farce or forgery, at least not by the collectors and scholars involved. It is equally possible, that when a collector, such as the Duke of Northumberland, offered to pay for each new seal brought to him, people tried to meet the demand by supplying both the object and the story necessary to sell it."

As this far remove without testing of the seals it seems unlikely that we will know for certain their date or origin story. 

The three seals from Tipperary (from Getty, 1850)

Seal No. 16-— Piltown Museum, found near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Translation

"A man amidst blue clouds"

26.— Royal Irish Academy, found in a ploughed field near Borrisokane, in
1833.

Translation

"Protecting what has been sealed"

50.— Lady Glengal—was found in 1840 or 1841, immediately outside Cahir
Castle, at the west side, when removing some earth. With the Seal
were found some human bones, which mouldered into dust on exposure.
Tipperary

Translation

"To obtain one's wish"

St Conlan's Well, Youghalvillage

St Conlan's Well & Rag Tree

I've been visiting this well since I was a boy. Reading through the Schools Manuscripts this seems to have been one of a trio of very important wells around the Nenagh area. St. John's Well at Brookwatson, St. Odhrans well in Latteragh and St. Conlan's Well here at Youghalvillage.

The traditional pattern day of the well is the 24th of July and in recent years the pattern has enjoyed a revival. This year the pattern is at 7.30pm on Sunday 24th of July.

It is described in archaeology.ie as follows

"Situated on a hillocky area on a SE-facing slope. This holy well is a natural spring which flows into an open pool. Though not marked on the 6-inch OS map a lane leads from the main track right up to the well. Maintained and still visited, the well is enclosed by a hexagonal drystone wall (diam. C. 1.3m; H c.1m) and is covered by a flat slab of slate which has been partially cut to allow easy access to the water. Opening to SE, it is flanked on either side by walling terminating with boulders, with flagstones flooring this entrance area. This walling continues to enclose the hillock for a further 2-3.5m on either side of the entrance. Several small wooden crosses, painted Marian blue, have been inserted on top of this wall and on the hillock surrounding the well, including one fixed to an adjacent ash tree with a small crucifix placed in the centre. There is a rag bush in front of the well and a wooden altar to the rear containing a statue of the Virgin and Child. In the OS Name Books (c. 1840) the holy well was described as a place 'at which diseases are said to be cured and superstitious ceremonies performed'. According to the OS Letters St Conlan's festival 'fell on the 25th or 29th July. Some say it took place eleven days before the 1st August' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 3, 17)"

Siobhan Geraghty - former Heritage Office for North Tipperary in the early 2000's had this to say about the well

"The well is stone lined and capped, and there is a stone slab on the ground in front, slightly hollowed by years of people kneeling to take the water from it. It still has an abundant supply of clean water. In the past, trees growing around the well had crosses carved and painted on them, and served as pilgrimage ‘stations’; they have been superceded, as the trees succumbed to age and disease, by small wooden crosses. Some special traditions attached to this place; water from the holy well was used for sprinkling and blessing the land, and water from the little ‘eye well’ beside it was believed to have curative properties, particularly for diseases of the eyes. It was also said by some people that the water from the eye well would never boil. Beside the holy well there is a may tree where people leave rags, rosary beads, medals, and even hair grips, as offerings when they visited the well. The impulse to do this arises from the sense that you have to give something to get something - a sign of the prayers. Everyone who has prayed here has left something behind; not necessarily any material thing, but an atmosphere that can be sensed."

The well of course is less than 200m from Youghal church which has folklore linking the site to a pre Patrician church being located there. See previous blog post for more details here.

There is a lot of information about the well in the School Manuscripts, I will include a few of the more interesting ones.

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162110/5155111/5168415
       

"St. Conlan's Well is situated about four miles outside Nenagh. A saint named Conlan lived out there one time and that is how it got it's name.
One time a horse was foaled on the very brink of the well and the people looked upon it as a miracle because it did not fall in and drown."

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162110/5155109/5168413

"St. Conlon's Well is situated about four miles from Nenagh. It is in the townland and parish of Youghalarra. It is called after Saint Conlan who was living on the banks of the Shannon, near Garry-kennedy. People go to it on the 22nd July which is his feast day and they bring home holy water with them. St. Conlan's road is called after him, that is the Nenagh - Portroe road."

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922150/4856529/5012164

"Saint Conlan is the patron saint of Youghal Ara and Burgess parish. His festival as well as can be ascertained falls on the 24th July. Some say it tool place eleven days before the 1st of August. His crozier was left in the possession of a family named Hogan who were tailors in 1840 and lived in the townland of Creggane about one mile south east of Youghal village in Youghal parish. It is said that Denis Hogan was in possession of the relic at that time. It is described as being made of some kind of wood with a brass image on it.

Holy Wells
The well of Saint Conlan
Pilgrimages are hele there on the 24th July and patters are held on a small scale still there.
Tobar Padraig is situated in a district called Patrickswell about three miles from Nenagh and about a mile north of Burgess School.
People visit this well on the 17th of March. Recently the place has been renovated and a cross has been erected by some of the local people."

And lastly this interesting bit of information which suggests that St. Cona & St. Conlan where different people.

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922150/4856528/5012162

"The antiqiuties of this parish comprise the ancient church ruins in Youghal Ara of St. Cona, the well of St. Conlan and Tobar Brigde in Kilcoleman about two miles south west of Nenagh."

Knocksheegowna

The Cross on top of Knocksheegowna

Knocksheegowna Hill

Knocksheegowna near Ballingarry is a Sídh in North Tipperary. In Irish Mythology a Sídh is a fairy mound or hill in which the fairies are thought to reside. As part of the mythological invasion cycles, when the Milesians invaded Ireland from Iberia, the early Gods or residents of Ireland, the Tuatha De Danann, agreed to retreat into the hills, mounds and under lakes. Knocksheegowna is one of these, translating as the Fairy Hill of the Una, a fairy Goddess.

It is now home to Bike Park Ireland and it is surprising that no ancient remains have been found up here because it certainly looks like it should.

Prof Ronald Hicks (who has carried out extensive research on the Sídhs or Fairy Mounds of Ireland) has this to say on it "Another hill. This one is Síd Ebhna (Knockshigowna) near Ballingarry, County Tipperary, ruled over by Queen Eabhna (or Una), the banshee guardian of the O'Carrolls. The only antiquity known on the hill is a small castle built as a summer house in the late 18th or early 19th century."

Castle built as summer house in the 18th / 19th Century

In the Festival of Lughnasa (pg 216) it is mentioned that on 2nd Sunday of July, known as Garland or Fraughan Sunday, it was custom to go to the top of the hill picking fraughans or bilberries.
It also disputes any link to the translation as being linked to a "fairy cow" or Cnoc Sídhe Gamhna (the Calf's Fairy-hill). It goes on to mention some of the folklore mentioned in the Schools Manuscripts - "stories are told of fairy revels seen there at night, of the disappearance of men who tried to watch the revels, and a disaster following an attempt to plough a field by the hill".

View from the hill to the North

Some folklore from duchas.ie

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922124/4854512/4951515
"There is a field near Knockshegowna, and many years ago the people who owned it would not plough it because he said it was a place for the fairies to dance at night. The people of the village said that it as only supersition, and one man said that he would plough it and see what would happen. The he had the field ploughed.
The next morning when he went all his animals and all that he had were dead and the crop that he had sown never grew."

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922124/4854515/4951519

"About four miles from Riverstown is a very ancient hill. It is called Knockshegowna. The people living near called it "Fairy Hill" no one living near the place would not go up the hill late at night. One time a man lost some sheep and he could not find them anywhere. He was going home after giving up the search, when he thought he heard one of them bleating. He plucked up courage and decided to go up. When he got to the top where there are the ruins of an old castle, he heard music being played. He crept over to see what was going on. He was surprised and frightened when he saw a lot of small people dancing.
He stole away from the place and made for home as quickly as he could. He told his neighbour what had happened. The next night five or six men went up very bravely and were never heard of afterwards."

"Another time a man was going to a fair to sell some pigs and it very late when he was coming home. Just when he was nearing Knockshegowna he heard a terrible noise and he became very frightened. Then a big black cat jumped up on the car. The man hit it with his stick the jumped up again and said tell ? that ? is dead. The man made the horse run home and he told his wife what had happened and his cat heard him and said it is time you thought of telling me and the cat ran off and was never seen again."

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922132/4854912/5009778

"There are some forts about four miles from the school in a place called Knockshegowna. Some of these forts are circular in shape and long ago it is said that the fairies used to dance on moonlight nights around the forts. These raths are also surrounded by trees.
There is a story told about the fairies of these forts and a man who lived in the neighbourhood and this is it:
On moonlight nights when the fairies used to come out to dance they used to frighten all the animals in death and the owner of the cattle was too much afraid to mind them.
One evening as the farmer was coming home from the hill a man name Larry Houlihan met him and asked him "Why do you look so gloomy" and the farmer answered, "I cannot mind my cattle because the fairies are hunting them off the hill".
"Never mind that" said Larry. If I mind your cattle will you pay me well, and the farmer answered "If you mind my cattle for a week I will give you good pay and you will be my friend for ever" So he went home that night very happy.
Next evening Larry went up on the hill and took his pipes with him. About eleven o'clock the fairies came out and began to dance and Larry played his pipes.
When the fairies saw him they went and told the king. The king came to Larry in the form of a cat and tried to frighten him but still he kept on playing. Then the king turned into a white calf but still Larry had no fear and he jumped on the calf's back.
With one bound they were across the Shannon. When they had crossed, the calf turned into his true shape and said to Larry. "You are a brave man, will you come back the way you came" and Larry answered "I will if you let me".
Then the fairy turned into a calf again and once more they were (turned) back on the hill. All the fairies greeted him and they told him as long as he lived he could keep cattle on the hill and they never would interfere with them.
Some years after, this man died and he was buried in a green valley some distance away from the hill."

Gortavoher, Bullaun Stone

This is a very beautiful and impressive bullaun stone in the Glen of Aherlow in the townland of Gortavoher.

Like most bullaun stones it is near a religious site with an ecclesiastical enclosure about 150m to the north.  

From archaeology.ie

"On the E bank of a small stream on the S side of the main road through the Glen of Aherlow, in pasture. A roughly circular boulder (dims. 1m x 1.1m; H 0.33m) of red sandstone with quartz inclusions, with three water-filled circular depressions (dims. 0.27m x 0.34m; D 0.19m; 0.26m x 0.26m; D 0.18m; 0.24m x 0.31m; D 0.2m) and three other depressions at the edge of the boulder (0.24m x 0.26m; D 0.16m; 0.26m x 0.27m; D 0.22m; 0.22m x 0.28m; D 0.05m), the latter edges are worn where they meet the edge of the boulder, particularly the two deepest hollows. According to local tradition the bullaun has wart curing properties. The bullaun currently rests on a stone plinth with a low back wall constructed of small rounded river stones surmounted by small stones. The floor of the structure slopes upwards towards the back and is studded with small stones embedded in concrete. According to Weir (1980, 214) the underside of the boulder has two 'less perfect bullauns'and the stone is known locally as 'The Blessed Stone'."

You can't make it out very well in the photos but there is also a cross inscribed in the centre of it and you can see if clearly here on Philip Powell's website.  

You can see how close it is to the road in this one.

Here is some folklore on duchas.ie (Thanks to Rhiannon for transcribing).

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922276/4866523/5054037

"The following story was told by Mrs M Harrington who resides about one hundred yards from Ballagh School. She is about 70 years of age. The story is about a large stone which now lies at the side of the Bansha Galbally road in the townsland of Gortavoher. This rather famous stone has a cross carved on it and at the foot of the cross are two small hollows. The old people say that a saint knelt there and that these hollows are the imprints of his knees.
No matter how dry the weather is there some amount of water in these hollows.
"A farmer living in the vicinity of the stone once used to fence a gap in a ditch which had got broken down. He succeeded in this but in the morning when he went out he was amazed to see the stone back in its former place beside the road. He never found out who replaced the stone in its original position."

For anyone with an interest in Bullaun's a good article to look at it is "Bedrocks and Bullauns, more than one use for a mortar" by Brian Dolan for some up to date thinking on the subject.

View of the Galtees to the south from Gortavoher

St. John's Footprint, Nenagh North

I first heard of the stone in the Schools Manuscripts for the area.

From duchas.ie

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162110/5155109/5168413

"St. John's well is situated about one mile from Nenagh and on Brookwatson lands. It is called after St. John, and the print of his foot is still to be seen on a stone there. The people of the town still go to visit it on his feast day - 22nd June. St. John's Terrace is called after him."

Thanks to John Flannery of Ormond Historical Society​ for the information that it is still there. It located outside the well's enclosure in a field adjacent to the river.
It is an earthfast stone with what is probably a natural depression (in which a size 12 foot can fit). There is also carved graffiti on the stone. A number of incised lines, a cross and some writing which I couldn't make out (Two of the letters look to be O & N).
I hopefully will get back there to take some night photos and they might be a bit clearer.

Cross inscribed on the stone in centre of photo & O N to the bottom left

St Odhran & Iona

St Odhran's Well

So what links the far flung island of Iona with the landlocked hills of Latteragh?

Edit 

Actually nothing that I'm aware of, it looks as though what I previously wrote was incorrect, there are in fact a number of different St. Odhran according to The Dictionary of Irish Saints namely - Odhran of Latteragh, Odhran of Iona & probably Odhran of Waterford.  

St Odhran of Latteragh today is the patron saint of the Silvermines parish and the ruins of his monastery are still intact today at Latteragh (although what remains today are later ruins built on the earlier church).

One of the more interesting features from Latteragh are four early Christian graveslabs found there while digging a grave in 1977. They are an unusual form of cross-carved slab that is mainly found in the midlands with some outliers in Co. Mayo, Co. Donegal & Co. Wexford. They have been dated between the 6th century and 7th century (so after St. Odhran's time there).
These slabs can now be viewed in the Nenagh Heritage Centre.

The views from the hillside are spectacular and its location near to the probable route through the mountains linking North & South Tipp can not be an accident.

View from Latteragh graveyard

Less than 1km away from the ruins of the monastery is St Odhrans well. It is described in archaeology.ie as follows

"Situated in a marshy hollow in an upland area with a nearby church (TN028-025) to the NW. A circular well (diam. 2.3m E-W; D 0.75m) enclosed by a drystone wall surviving three courses high with a small stream flowing out from the N face of the well (FitzPatrick 1985b, 134-43). Dedicated to St Odhran with a pilgrimage to the well on August 15th. The OS Letters describe the well as possessing curative properties for sore eyes and headaches. Cures were obtained by placing a stone on top of your head. Stations at the well were performed on the 27th of October (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 192)."

An annual mass is still held at the well on the feast day of the 15th August.

Entrance to holy well

St Odhran's holy well

There is also mention of St Odhran in the Schools Manuscripts on duchas.ie.

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922147/4856395/5017239

"Saint Odraín of Latteragh is the patron Saint of this parish.
He built a famous monastery in Latteragh about the year 500 A.D. on a level space on side of a hill.
Some time later he built another in Kilmore which means the big church, it was made of timber but later on it was made of stone, it is now in ruins.
There was a great miracle performed there by St. Sennon, he brought the son of a woman of that district to life.
The name of Templeorum near Fiddoun, Co. Kilkenny is another form of Teampull Odhrain the church of St Odhran. Several town lands in Co. Tipperary are called Killoran, the Church of Odhran. A pattern in honour of the Saint is held at Holy Well in Latteragh on August 15th."

Odhran of Iona

"St Odhran of Iona is thought to have been born in County Meath in Ireland. In 563 along with 12 others he followed St Columba to the island of Iona in western Scotland to bring Christianity to the Picts there. There are some suggestions that the name Iona comes from Innis nan Druinich or "the isle of Druidic hermits. However there is no archaeological evidence to suggest any such presence on the island.

This, you could argue, ties in with St Columba whose Christian credentials are often questioned. His family (who were the royal Dál Riata family in Ireland) would have been pagan and it has been suggested that St Columba's take of Christianity had a pagan "tinge" to it. Due to Iona's later influence as a place of learning in the Christian world it has been argued that some of these pagan beliefs may have made there way into Christianity.
http://thecraftandthecross.com/index.php?p=1_20_St-Columba

Although Iona is remote today, when St Columba & St Odhran went there it would actually have been part of the Irish Dál Riata kingdom. Geographically it would have been reasonably central via the sea to its borders which included north eastern Ireland & parts of western Scotland (see here for more info). As mentioned above St Columba was actually a member of the royal family of the Dál Riata and was able to get his kinsmen to engage in battles on his behalf with other monasteries in Ireland. Once in 560 over the right to copy a book and again in 561 due to a disagreement where a follower of a rival King in Ireland broke the rule of safe sanctuary at a holy place.St Odhran's time on Iona seems to be equally well spent. The oldest remaining church on Iona is named after him and the surrounding cemetary is called Reilig Odhráin.

Oran's Church & Reilig Odhráin on Iona

By Otter under creative commons license

He is also associated with some unusual folklore on Iona, from Wikipedia.

"One popular legend surrounding Odran's death is that he consented to being buried alive beneath a chapel that Columba was attempting to build at Iona. A voice had told Columba that the walls of the chapel would not stand until a living man was buried below the foundations, and indeed, each morning the builders would arrive at the site to find all their work of the previous day undone. So Odran was consigned to the earth, and the chapel was erected above him. One day, however, Odran lifted his head out of the ground and said: "There is no Hell as you suppose, nor Heaven that people talk about". Alarmed by this, Columba quickly had the body removed and reburied in consecrated ground – or, in other versions of the story, simply called for more earth to cover the body.
In a Hebridean version of this tale, Odran was promised that his soul would be safe in heaven. Some time after the burial, Columba wanted to see Odran once more and opened the pit under the chapel. When Odran saw the world, he tried to climb out of his grave, but Columba had the pit covered with earth quickly to save Odran's soul from the world and its sin.
These legends are one of the few instances of foundation sacrifice in Great Britain. While the story of St. Odran's self-sacrifice does not appear in Adomnán's Life of Columcille, George Henderson says that the legend points to an ancient folk-belief, and sees a similarity with the Arthurian legend of the building of Dinas Emris, where Vortigern was counseled to find and sacrifice "a child without a father" to ensure that the fortress walls did not collapse"

Odhran of Waterford

Remarkably he was also chosen by the Vikings of Waterford to be the patron saint of that settlement and it must suggest that the monks on Iona also helped Christianise some of the Vikings of the western isles in Scotland. This website says that Vikings were buried on Iona and that is the reason he became patron saint of Waterford.

Edit 

It looks as though I was incorrect, there are in fact a number of different St. Odhran according to 

The Odhran of Latteragh, Odhran of Iona & Odhran of Waterford.

A Dictionary of Irish Saints

Pg 519 

Odhrán Maighistir, 'master', of Latteragh (Leitreacha Odhráin), barony of Upper Ormond, Co. Tipperary. Easily the best known of he saints of this name, Odhrán (anglicized Oran and Otteran)) son of Mac Raith was attached to the Ui Dhaighre of Múscraighe Tíre, whose lands straddled the two baronies of Ormond. Seanán of Scattery also belonged to the Múscraighe, and this may explain why a member of his household named Odhrán is said to have been with his brother Meadhrán, Odhrán Maighister is supposed to have visited Ciarán at Seirkieran with a view to making a pilgrimage, only to be told that, though his brother should remain, he was fated to return to his place of resurrection at Latteragh. In the same passage, mention is made both of an otherwise unattested Life of the saint and of his part in the translation of the remains of Colum of Terryglass to Inishcaltra, elsewhere commemorated in quatrains attributed to Bréanainn.

Odhrán is said to have acted with Mac Cuilinn of Lusk as an emissary to Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, to let the latter know that the saints of Ireland were under his authority. He is also reputed to have placed a curse on Cormac son of Coichean of the Dál gCais at a place called Rinn Arda Odhráin on Lough Derg because of the dynast's refusal to grant his people, the Múscraighe's three seanóirí, the saint is likely to be intended in the dedication of a holy well to Oran at Ahaveheen in the Limerick parish of Cloncrew, just outside the later cantred of Muscridonegan. Odhrán was remembered on two days, 2 and 26/27 October, the latter of which - observed at Latteragh - was shared with namesakes on Iona and Killotteran in Waterford. 

Odhrán of Iona, Scotland. Described in some late sources as abbot of Iona, Odhrán son of Ainghin is said to have belonged to the same branch of the Ceinéal Conaill as his later colleague Doirbhéan. In reality he was a priest on Iona, and probably because the local cemetery (Reilig Odhráin) was named after him, he became the subject of a story suggesting that, with a view to consecrating the island, he had volunteered to become the first person interred on it. His feastday of 27 October also belonged to his namesakes at Latteragh (Tipperary) and Killotteran (Waterford) and, through confusion with the saint named Oireannán commemorated on the same day, he later became attached to the church of Teach Oireannáin, sometimes taken to be the Westmeath chuch of Tyfarnham. A cemetery dedicated to Odhrán 

St Johns Well, Nenagh North

Following on from yesterdays post about the recent Mass at St Johns Well, I decided to make a quick trip there myself.
I had stopped for a quick look around before but this time I took a more detailed look.

It is described in archaeology.ie as follows

"Situated in a slight hollow on the S bank of a river. A stone-faced square-shaped well (dims. 1m x 1m x 0.75m D) with a stream flowing out of the N face into the nearby river. The well is contained within a large concrete wall. It is dedicated to St John whose feast day is the 24th of June and there is a statue of St John over the well. According to Sheehan (1949, 38-9) the well was visited in the nineteenth century on this feast day for its curative powers. No votive offerings visible."

It is a beautifully maintained well with some interesting features.

In the surround of the well are two semi circular stone features, the design on them suggest to me that they were probably worked /carved and so are probably architectural fragments taken from somewhere else.

Also a stone has been embedded in concrete beside the well with the words "Croagh Patrick" carved into it. I'm guessing that perhaps someone brought back a stone from the mountain while on a pilgrimage there.

I had came across a reference previously in the Schools Manuscripts that I found interesting.

From duchas.ie

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162110/5155109/5168413

"St. John's well is situated about one mile from Nenagh and on Brookwatson lands. It is called after St. John, and the print of his foot is still to be seen on a stone there. The people of the town still go to visit it on his feast day - 22nd June. St. John's Terrace is called after him."

There was nothing jumping out at me as being very foot like, however this stone below with a slight semi-circular bit missing is a possible contender. It looks very different to the more modern flag stones and you would wonder why it was retained? (Apologies for the quality of the photo).

All in all, a very peaceful and tranquil place diminished by the proximity of a meat processing plant on the opposite bank of the adjacent river. It didn't smell so great.

Edit
See my next post about finding St. Johns footprint stone here. (Thanks to John Flannery of Ormond Historical Society for the location).

Cursús in Tipperary

Recently discovered Cursus on Slievenamon highlighted in Red (© Bing Maps)

(© Bing Maps)

Cursús (the plural of Cursus) have been speculated upon for centuries. The name comes from latin meaning "course" and in the 1700's British antiquarians such as William Stukeley thought they were Roman race tracks and hence the name in latin - Cursus. In Ireland a cursus on the Hill of Tara was named "The Banqueting Hall" by antiquarians as they tried to match monuments on the hill with ones mentioned in the Annals.

Essentially cursús are large parallel lengths of banks with external ditches. Cursús at lower elevations in Ireland seem to be associated with "Royal" sites such as at Tara in Co. Meath, the Mucklaghs at Rathcroghan in Co. Roscommon, the Knockauns at Teltown (again in Meath) or nearest to Tipperary, Knockainey in Co. Limerick.

Cursus at Knockainey, Co. Limerick (© Bing Maps)

(© Bing Maps)

The high elevation cursús seem to be related to mounds or passage tombs on top of mountains.

A number of uses have been proposed for cursús.

One suggestion that I found interesting by Elizabeth Fitzpatrick recently in 2012, is that they could have been used simply for wild animal coursing (Fitzpatrick, 2012). However this would hardly explain the upland cursús due to the steep slopes associated with them.

A more likely use however is ceremonial. As far back as 1983 when Herity was surveying the Mucklaghs he said they "may have been a ceremonial trackway, possibly used in rituals connected with the trials and inauguration of the King (Herity, 1983). 

Could they have been used to "stage manage" how pilgrims or perhaps diplomats from rivals approached one of these royal sites?

Most convincingly to me is an article by Christian Corlett in Archaeology Ireland in 2014.

He outlines new cursús discoveries at Brewell Hill in Co. Kildare, and three in Co. Wicklow. He states that it is "generally believed (but not universally accepted) that cursus monuments were used as formal ceremonial processional avenues". He goes on to say that it is unlikely they were all used in the same way. The three on steep mountain sides (in Co. Wicklow) are visible from a long way off in the landscape. Two of them also lead to possible passage tombs. This then is similar to the Mucklaghs or Banqueting hall which both focus on significant monuments.

Cursus at Keadeen Mt, Co. Wicklow (© Bing Maps)

(© Bing Maps)

The one at Brewells hill doesn't align directly to the hill-top but there is a henge / stone circle on its low summit.

He wonders regarding the mountain ones whether they were purposely chosen as the most difficult way up these hills. So maybe it was a similar idea to Croagh Patrick - climbing the hill as a form of penance or for some sort of religious reason? He also says that, with the steep slope of hill they are located on, it often makes it impossible to view the top as you climb and so the walk has a sense of uncertainty to when it will finish
He concludes by saying the cursus were most likely about control both up and down the mountain in a ceremonial sense.

Christain Corlett doesn't stop there with new Cursus discoveries but recently along with Ivor Kenny they discovered a Cursus on Slievenamon in Co. Tipperary. This is detailed in the latest issue of Archaeology Ireland (Summer 2016).

It has been described in archaeology.ie as follows

""On the E mountain slope of Slievenamon. A cairn (TS078-001----) is situated just E of the summit of the mountain and is 150m WNW of the cursus. Another cairn (TS071-021----) is visible 1km to N from the upper end of the cursus and an unclassified megalithic tomb (TS071-064----), though not visible, is located c. 930m to the N. The view NE-E-S is extensive, with the passage tomb at Knockroe (KK034-019001-) c. 10km to the E and the passage tomb at Baunfree (KK034-031----) c. 13m to the SE. Aligned roughly E-W, the monument, running downslope, consists of two roughly parallel stone banks (N bank Wth 1.9m at top; overall Wth 3.3m; H 0.3m; S bank Wth 1.3m at top; overall Wth 2.2-2.9m; H 0.25-0.35m) overgrowth with grass, moss and heather. The banks are 90m apart, though they narrow to 75m at the upper western end. The upper end terminates with a bank (Wth 2.7m at top; overall Wth 5.5m; int. H 1m; ext. H 0.22m) which curves at the NW angle, while at the SW angle there is a gap (Wth 2.7m). The N bank runs E-W from the W end for 118m before turning ESE for the remaining c. 260m while the S bank runs ESE-WNW for its entire length of c. 360m. The upper end of the monument is on a relatively gentle slope, however, the ground level becomes increasingly steeper and both banks appear to terminate at the E end where the ground level becomes very steep. Similar cursus monuments have been identified in Carlow (CW020-026----; CW020-027----); Kildare (KD032-058----) and Wicklow (WI005-124----; WI027-089----)."

After their discoveries in Carlow / Wicklow, the writers of the article thought they would have more success finding others around the country. However to date this is the only additional one they have found. It also mentions that the cursus does not align exactly towards the possible passage tomb on the mountain.

Possible passage tomb with its "false" entrance

They also look at some interesting folklore from the schools Manuscripts regarding Fionn Mac Cumail and the famous race to the top by his suitors.

There are a few different stories;

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5162114/5155409/5195755

"Finn mac Cumail, having come to age, took upon himself the task of choosing a wife. A public man like him had to cater to the public and he was in sore straits fearing to give hunt to any of the noble families wishing to link their daughter with Finn in the bonds of Holy Matrimony. Having tasted of the Salmon of Knowledge, he was all wise, so he hit upon a good plan. A race would decide who to wed him. He sat on the top of Slievenamon, which is now know as "See Féin" which may be some corruption of Finns' Seat". All the ladies were to race from the ? and the first up was to become his wife.
Then the gathering began old, young, fair, dark, ugly, beautiful, sprightly and lame all came to try and become Finn's wife.
They're off" what a view as all the maidens of Munster set off on their race. The beautiful girls began well, but soon got tired and as some old hag would limp past them shed sneer "Fair and go easy goes far in a day"
On they went the latter tripping the former - three remained to do the east climb - two beautiful girls and a worn, old hag, up still up who'll win what? what? the fair girl has fallen, now a dark-haired caílin & the old woman, oh look she's down the girl hurts her ankle & tries to creep along, but faints. Now the old hag has an open field. Finn must marry her - But no, up the slope come a lovely girls & reaches Finn first and like all nice stories, they were married & lived happily ever afterwards.
(Nobody knew the Finn had instructed his lady love, to run over to Boherbee where the mountain is low & run along the gradual slope, instead of trying to climb the steep precipitous mountain face)"

http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922223/4862196/5020502

"Long ago in the time of Finn and the Fianna their lived a lot of beautiful girls around this district.
One day Finn and his men came along hunting.
All the beautiful girls fell in love with Finn but he gave his heart to one alone - Grainne.
He did not like to hurt the rest of them, so he settled on a plan which would decide the matter.
He arranged that at dawn one morning all the girls would gather at the foot of the hill and race to the top and whichever of them reached the top first he would take her as his bride.
The night before the race he went to Grainne's house and carried her to the top of the hill. The race
started and when the girls reached the top they found that Grainne was there before them and had one.
(There are two endings to the story)
1) Finn married Grainne and they lived happlily ever after
2) The girls were so jealous of Grainne that they all took up stones and threw them at her until they killed her. The stone were piled up on top of her and form a big carn!

This heap of stones is called See-fane."


Could it be that similar to the idea of the Roman race-track of the early antiquarians in Britain that this folklore is remembering / trying to explain this large cursus monument as a kind of race track to the top of Slievenamon? 

Interestingly enough a cursus recently discovered at Coolasnaghta, Co. Carlow was known locally as "The Witches Slide" - does the folklore around the race to Slievenamon echo this idea of a different way up the hill?

Post-script

As I was writing this blog post, I had a quick look around some of the mountain tops of North Tipp on Bing maps.
I thought I was about to have a large dose of beginners luck when I happened upon a pair of roughly parallel banks on a mountain just south of Rearcross. However after consultation with an expert on upland cursús unfortunately their opinion is that it is likely to be a modern feature.

Hopefully this post will get people onto google and bing maps searching for cursús. However I accept no liability for any loss of eyesight from all the squinting!

Cursus on Cullaun Mt 3d view (© Google Maps)

(© Google Maps)

Cursus on Cullaun Mt? (© Bing Maps)

(© Bing Maps)

Further Reading

Formaoil na Fiann: Hunting Preserves and Assembly Places in Gaelic Ireland
Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, Vol. 32 (2012), pp. 95-118

The Unseen Hill of Ward: new insights from LiDAR data, Steven Davis, Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Winter 2011), pp. 36-40)

A Survey of the Royal Site of Cruachain in Connacht: 1. Introduction, the Monuments and Topography, Michael Herity, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 113 (1983), pp. 121-142

Archaeology and Myth: a consideration of the ancient royal site of Rathcroghan, Gerard Mulligan, Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Autumn 2011), pp. 14-17

Some Cursus Monuments in South Leinster, Christian Corlett, Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Summer 2014), pp. 20-25

A Cursus at Slievenamon, Co. Tipperary, Christian Corlett & Ivor Kenny, Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer 2016), pp. 40-43