Remembering St. Patrick in Ballyshannon 2023

 

Rag Tree at St. Patrick's  Well Ballyshannon

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2023 to those at home and away with  Ballyshannon connections or interests. Nostalgic memories today include customs and cures at St. Patrick's Well,  photos of the town band on St. Patrick's Day and remembering the man from California who gave St. Patrick's statue to our town. 

The present St. Patrick's Well in Ballyshannon was opened in 1929 although pilgrims had visited the site to worship for hundreds of years.

"Pray for the Donor" inscription on statue of
St. Patrick. Donor revealed below.

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.”  

A station at Ballyshannon's St. Patrick's Well

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 15^th 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.

Rag Tree at St. Patrick's Well

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 15^th 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.

Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band at St. Patrick's Well in 1947

 Front (l.to r.) Cyril Curran, Leo Masterson (young boy), John McCafferty

 Middle Row: Freddie McDonagh, Patsy O' Donnell, Sean Fox, Jim Dolan,

 P.J. Goan, Tom Gallagher, Jim Gallagher, Jimmy Daly.

 Back Row: Bob Gallagher, Jim Gallagher, James Gallogley, Packie McIvor,

                   Jimmy McNulty, John Davy, Pat McGahern, Seamus Gallagher, Jimmy Coughlin.

Ballyshannon Band at Sligo Parade St. Patrick's ' Day 1979
        Front (l.to r.) Padraig McGarrigle, Danny McGeever, Seamus Gallagher, Bob Gallagher
       Second Row (l.to r.) Jack Grimes, Packie Gallagher, Jimmy Rafferty, Francis Gallagher,
Tom Gallagher, Anthony Begley, James Hoey
            Third Row (l.to r.) Mickie Gallagher, Fergus Lawlor, Michael Dalton, P.J. Goan, Jim Gallagher
   Fourth Row Eamon Gallagher, Cecil Stephens, Michael Gallagher, Eugene McLoughlin
John McGahern.

Band members at St. Patrick's Day Parade Donegal Town 2012
(l.to r.) Danny Carron, Anthony Begley, Tom Gallagher, Michael Donagher