Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

St. Carthach's Well is an octagonally-shaped spring on the SSW side of a cairn 6.3m x 4.9m and 0.95m high. It is situated in good pasture WSW of Kilcar town. Described by Ó Muirgheasa in 1936 as at 'Kilcar there are three Holy Wells: (1) Tobar Charthach, or St. Carthach's Well (2) Tobar Chonaill (DG096-010001-), or St. Conall Caol's Well (3) Tobar Mhuire (DG096-010008-), or the Blessed Virgin's Well. O'Donovan, in the Ordnance Survey Letters, says that one of the wells is called after St. Patrick, and the other two after St. Carthach himself. But herein he is in error. St. Carthach has only one well at Kilcar, while St. Patrick's Well, as will be noted later, is at Cashel. Crowds of pilgrims still make the station or turus. It begins in the old ruined church of St. Carthach, after which the pilgrim makes three circuits of each of the three wells, and then finishes up at " the altar" in the old church. Dr. Maguire, in his History of Raphoe Diocese, says "At Bawin, on the Kilcar frontier, there is a farmer's well known from the remotest antiquity as St. Naal's Well." This, I fear, is an error. The most diligent inquiries on the spot failed to discover any other well at Bawin, but St. Ciaran's, and there is not a shadow of tradition connecting this well with St. Naal. Possibly Dr. Maguire got his notes mixed up, and inadvertently substituted Naal's name for Ciaran's. Curiously enough the turus is made on the 4th March, though all the Martyrologies give the 5th March as St. Carthach's festival, the same day as St. Ciaran's. A probable explanation of this is that the people of the Kilcar district found it too much to do both stations in one day, and that it was arranged for them by some one in authority that St. Carthach's turus could be done on the preceding day. The old Irish day, how ever, began at sunset, so that after sunset on the 4th would count as St. Carthach's festival, and very probably his turus was at first performed only at this time, but gradually came to be regarded as lawfully done any time during the 4th. Local tradition says that St. Carthach was a Munster bishop, who came here to do penance for his sins: that the Munstermen, on discovering his retreat, wished him to return home, but that he would not go. Most of this is borne out by the meagre details of his life given in our Martyrologies, but there it is stated he was sent to Rome to do penance, which is probably a later addition. He was the pupil and trusted friend of St. Ciaran, and the juxtaposition of both their wells here in this remote part of Tirconaill is a valuable fact which seems to have been unknown to our hagiological writers. Tobar Phadraig, or St. Patrick's Well, is in Cashel, near Kilcar, on the north side of Towney Bay. It was formerly, it is said, included in St. Carthach's turus, but it forms no part of it at the present day. There is no record of St. Patrick's visitation of this part of Tirconaill, nor is it likely that he came here from Ballyshannon, for had he done so other wells or churches bearing his name would mark his route. What is more likely is that during his apparently long stay in Tireragh (the district of County Sligo lying opposite Donegal) he ran across here by boat in fair weather, converted a village or two, baptised them at this well, and then sailed back to County Sligo. On no other supposition can the name of this well be explained. Tobar Chnapostuin at Muckress, near Kilcar, commemorates not a saint but a fairy, or more probably a local deity of ancient times, still remembered in local legends. For one such see the story of Bolcan Mor in Oidhche Airneail i dTir Chonaill. It was probably a " sacred well" in pagan times, and having escaped the attention of the missionaries, it has preserved its name and identity until the present day, a circumstance perhaps, unparalleled in this country' (Ó Muirgheasa 1936, 147-8). (Ó Muirgheasa No. 20)

The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Compiled by Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload/revision: 03 November 2011