Wells were of great significance in Pagan times. With the arrival of Christianity in the 5th century these wells assumed the name of the local saint. This is evidence of the gradual assimilation of Paganism into Christianity, St. Finian Lobhar (the Leper) came from Leinster, he took on the disease of leprosy to save the life of a friend and was divinely directed to this well for its curative powers.
Patterns were held here on 3rd May and the 14th September until the 1820s. A pattern is a traditional way of honouring a saint. "Doing rounds" is an universal ritual whereby people walk around the well a number of times reciting prayers and always travelling clockwise (deiseal).
Today people visit St. Finian's Well and cures for eye ailments are attributed to it. Little strips of cloth are left hanging on branches near, the well and the belief is that as the cloth disintegrates the ailment diminishes.
ST. FINIAN'S CHURCH
The original St. Finian's church on this site was a wooden structure.
Medieval churches were built on sites of earlier churches and the ruin in the north east section of the cemetery dates to the 15th or 16th century. It was a nave and chancel church built with sandstone and rubble bonded by lime and shell mortar. Part of the north wall and an east gable window can still be seen.
30 сен 2024
