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| Rag Tree at St. Patrick's Well Ballyshannon |
Worth a Visit during this Heritage Week or anytime
The scenic
St. Patrick’s Well in the Abbey area outside Ballyshannon is well worth a visit
during Heritage Week as the present grotto was opened ninty years ago on the
15th of August 1929. The site is in a tranquil location overlooking the
picturesque Abbey Bay and historic Sheegus Hill with the Sligo-Leitrim
mountains as a backdrop. Use the enclosed information to guide you around the grotto and well. Pick a good day at anytime! Definitely worth a visit for all the family and for visitors. There are a number of mysteries surrounding the well.
The Feast of the Assumption on the 15th
August is a popular date for visiting the well. Back in 1929 there was a religious revival in the Catholic Church as
that was the centenary of the achievement of Catholic Emancipation by Daniel O’Connell.
On the 15th August 1929 a new grotto to Saint Patrick was erected at
the well through the efforts of the
local community and in particular of Mr .James Campbell, who owned the adjacent
mill. He was also instrumental in the
construction of a roadway to replace the nettle-grown narrow path leading down
to St. Patrick’s Well. Five beds were created by taking boulders from the river
Erne and the station beds still survive to the present day. Many families who
still live in the area contributed voluntarily with the construction work. The McLoone family who live near to the mill
buildings today are closely related to James Campbell. Bunting and flags decorated all approaches to
the Abbey Well on the 15th August and there was a boat in the bay
also adorned with flags. People began assembling in town before 10 o’ clock in
the morning and the Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band led a long procession from
the Courthouse via the Mall, Market Street, Tírconaill Street, Bishop Street
before arriving at the well at 10.30. “The Donegal Democrat” was on hand to
record the ceremony at the well:
“Motor cars
plied constantly between the town and the Abbey, and large numbers were present
from more distant parts of Donegal as well as from the adjoining Counties of
Sligo, Leitrim and Fermanagh. Rev. A. MacLoone, B.D., St. Eunan’s College,
Letterkenny, was celebrant of the Mass; Rev. L. MacGinley, D.D., Philadelphia,
being Deacon; Rev. C. Daly, Sheffield,
Sub-Deacon, and Right Rev. Monsignor MacGinley, D.D., P.P., Ballyshannon,
Master of Ceremonies. After the first Gospel, Rev. John Deeney, Rector, St.
Columba’s Industrial Schools, Killybegs, delivered an instructive and touching
sermon, concluding by making an appeal, which was nobly responded to, for the
restoration fund of St. Patrick’s Church, Ballyshannon, and the Church of the
Immaculate Conception, Cashelard. The music of the Mass – the Missa De Angelis
– was splendidly rendered by the Choir of St. Patrick’s Church under the baton
of Mr. P. Cleary, N.T. The unaccompanied motet, Palastrina’s “Ave Maria”
(Vatican edition) was particularly rich in harmony and expression. Solemn
Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament followed the Mass, and the singing of
“Faith of Our Fathers,” with Band accompaniment, brought a great and moving
religious ceremony to a close.”
Mystery of St. Patrick’s Statue at the Well solved
Three years later on St. Patrick’s Day 1932 the
new statue to St. Patrick was blessed at the Abbey Well by Monsignor McGinley
D.D. The statue was donated anonymously.
In 1940 the identity of the donor was revealed when Maurice P. Hayes
died in that year at Santa Monica in California. His connection with the
Ballyshannon area was through his friendship with William Meehan of Durnish
Rossnowlagh and he had acted as executor of his will in 1905. Much later he met
Fr. Griffith, a nephew of William Meehan, who was a curate in Ballyshannon. The
Hayes family came on a trip to Ireland and met Fr. Griffith in Dublin where he
told them of the development of the Abbey Well. Maurice Hayes gave a gift of
the statue of St. Patrick which still stands at the Abbey Well with the
inscription; “Pray for the Donor.”
The Stations at
the Abbey Well
Patterns or festivals were celebrated in honour of the
patron saint (patrún) of a district or of some saint associated with the area.
The pattern at the Abbey Well was held on the Feast of the Assumption on the 15th August each year. It is possible this feast
day was chosen because the nearby Abbey of Assaroe was dedicated to Mary.
Patterns were important social occasions and, according to tradition, the
pattern at the Abbey Well was attended by large crowds up to the nineteenth
century with the religious and social events lasting for a few days.
On arrival at the Abbey Well, the pilgrims on some
occasions would have Mass celebrated for them, but for the most part they would
have performed the station. The station involved reciting set prayers and
moving around beds in a similar manner to Lough Derg at the present time.
According to folklore the station at the Abbey Well went as follows: Fifteen
pebbles were picked from the river bed or station bed and pilgrims began by
saying, one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Creed while kneeling at the well.
Then going sun wise they knelt at each bed, saying one Our Father, ten Hail
Mary’s and one Creed. A pebble was tossed into each bed. The round of five beds
was completed three times and the station was concluded by taking three sips of
water from the well and saying a rosary at the grotto. A rag or a medal was
left on the bushes near the well. It was also believed that if the water was
misused the well would dry up. It was said that a woman used the well to wash
clothes and that the well dried up and remained so until blessed by the priest.
Two St. Patrick's Wells ? and the Rag Trees in the Abbey
If you look
at the Ordnance Survey Map for the Abbeylands at Ballyshannon (O.S. 107) you
will discover a most curious enigma. The name of the well at the Abbey Bay is
listed on the map as Tobernaboghilla, in Irish Tobar na Bachaille which means the
Well of the Crozier or Staff. (An alternative meaning
suggested for Tobar na Bachaille is the
well of the cripple) . In the neighbouring townland of Abbey Island is a well,
clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey map as Toberpatrick or Patrick’s Well.
This well was situated on the Ballyshannon side of Abbey Assaroe and the
graveyard. ( in a field close to the junction with the Rossnowlagh Road). In
the 1930s when the folklore of the area was being collected, Brother Nathy, a De La Salle Brother,
recorded that people at one time visited this well as a place of pilgrimage: “There
is a Tobar Patrick near the Pound, in the townland of the Abbey but no stations
are performed there now; up to thirty years ago, people frequented this well as
a place of pilgrimage; but since its enclosure by Mr. Cassidy, Ballyshannon,
for the production of mineral waters, which never materialised, though the
sample of water from this well was the best of six or seven other sample .” At some period in the
history of the two wells,Tobernaboghilla became St. Patrick’s Well, and all
veneration at the well centred on Saint Patrick. All that remains of Toberpatrick or Patrick’s Well in nearby
Abbey Island, is a forgotten name on an ordnance survey map and the folklore that
indicates people visited it up to the 1900 period.
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| A station at the Abbey Well Ballyshannon |
Despite the religious revival in the 1930s and 1940s, large crowds visiting the Abbey well gradually
waned and nowadays visits to the well are infrequent, except on days like the 15th
of August when people still carry on the tradition of visiting the well on the
pattern day. A feature of the Abbey Well which still attracts great interest
from visitors are the rags on the white thorn bushes. Wells were said to have
certain cures attached to them and the Abbey Well water was said to be most
beneficial for trouble of the eyes. Offerings of coins, medals, flowers and
cloth are associated with wells in various parts of the country and the
tradition is still practised at the Abbey Well. This tradition of pilgrims with
illness or concerns, praying and leaving a piece of cloth on a bush, reminds us
that in our modern world there are still echoes of a world which has not fully vanished.
In this period
of Heritage Week it is a good time for visitors and local people to visit this historic well and
reflect on the contributions made by local people, 90 years ago, this week, in
passing on this beautiful Abbey well to the present generation. Bring the blog with you and self-guide your visit.
Book available from A Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon, Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town and Local Hands Ballyshannon.
Hardback and softback book also available from the author Anthony Begley- contact anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com
