Knockainey, Midsummer and the scent of Meadowsweet.

Midsummer is almost upon us, our senses filled with colour, the heady scents of woodbine 

and wild sweet pea, the sound of bees and birds. 

Almost overnight, clouds of meadowsweet appear along the boreen. 

In folk medicine meadowsweet, Airgead Luachra, ‘silver rushes’

was used to cure fevers and colds as well as easing pain. 

In Co. Galway meadowsweet was placed under the bed of a person afflicted by wasting sickness brought on by contact with the Good People. The use of the flower was fraught with danger however, as patients risked falling into a deep and deadly sleep.

Also known as Cúchulainn’s Belt, meadowsweet was said to have reduced 

the heroes’ fever and calmed his fits of rage. 

It was Àine however, the ‘bright’ goddess often associated with the sun, who gave meadowsweet its’ perfume. 

In the old tales she is described as “the best-natured of women”.

Àine is found in several places in the Irish landscape, including Lough Gur 

where she is remembered as Bean Fhionn, White Lady. 

Link to previous post about Àine & Lough Gur ~
LOUGH GUR - “a personality loved, but also feared.”

Her main residence however is her hill, Cnoc Áine, Knockainey, which is steeped in myth.

Knockainey from Bóher Na Sceach, ‘road of the thorns’. 

Ritual once took place here on Oiche Fhéile Eóin, St. John’s Eve, June 23rd.

The celebration falls close to the Summer Solstice and many believe it has its’ roots in pagan ritual. 

In legend Áine, using her magic, helped to take the hill from the Firbolg so that her people, the Tuatha Dé Danann, could settle there. 

Her price for preventing bloodshed was that “the hill were given to her till the end of the world.”  

At 528 feet high, the summit provides views across the landscape to the hills around Lough Gur, 

to Knockfierna and to the sacred fires which would once have been lit on hill tops to celebrate the changing seasons. 

Knockfierna to the west of Knockainey. 

Folklore tells that the local fairies, led by Áine, used to play a hurling match against the god, 

Donn Firinne who lived beneath Knockfierna. 

Whoever was victorious would ensure a successful potato crop.

The top of Áine’s Hill, difficult to reach in the summer months due to grazing cattle, has the remains of three mounds. These were believed to be the dwelling places of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Eogabal (said by some to be Aine's father), 

Fer Fi and Áine.

Diagram of Knockainey mounds from Thomas J. Westropp, 

 “The Ancient Sanctuaries of Knockainey and Clogher, Co. Limerick and Their Goddesses”

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 1917 - 1919 

After visiting Knockainey Westropp describes’s Áine’s cairn as

 “a defaced, insignificant heap of earth and stones wrecked by treasure-seekers.” 

As late as the 19th century celebrations were held at Midsummer and at harvest when burning brands of hay and straw were carried to the summit.

Evans-Wentz, W. Y. - 'The Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries', London: H. Frowde, 1911.

The goddess herself was believed to lead a similar rite. 

Several wells are marked on the old maps suggesting that there may have been rituals involving water. 

One ‘curious’ well which flowed down the slope beneath her mound was recorded as 

Áine’s Well and she was said to haunt the local river as a banshee, combing her hair beside the waters of the Camòg.

All that can be found today is Mary's Well in the village.  

A series of exposed rocks, the remains of an old quarry, hide the elusive Áine Clíar's Cave.

The Hill and land around Knockainey is filled with ancient monuments, mounds and standing stones once part of Bronze and Iron Age burial traditions and ceremonies. 

The landscape holds its’ secrets but still whispers, in the summer months, of forgotten rituals, celebrations to the sun and to Áine, the “ beautiful spirit crowned with meadowsweet”.

Offerings to Áine at the river.

Click link below to read more about Knockainey & view the surrounding landscape from the summit ~ 

VOICES FROM THE DAWN

Bealtaine, Water & Sun~Enchanted Dew.

Bealtaine Eve, Oíche Bealtaine, and the supernatural prevails.

On May Day, the start of summer, especially in the moments before dawn, water was understood 

to possess magical qualities and in rural Ireland the Good People used this medium to meddle in the affairs of humans.

Folk belief was rich in traditions surrounding wells, rivers and dew at this time.

Tobar Geal, Bright / White Well, Co. Galway. 

The first water taken from the well after dawn on May Day, known as Barra-bua an tobair , 

sgaith an tobair, ‘the top of the well’ or ‘the luck of the well’, was collected from the surface using 

a milk-skimmer. 

This water, which brought luck to the household, was used as protection against evil intent and 

was saved for healing. 

Village well, Co. Offaly.

Where a water source was in a village or shared by neighbours there was rivalry 

between households to be the first to skim the well for luck after the sun rose on May Day.

So strong was the belief in Other-worldly forces that precautions were taken to protect the water supply from interference. 

Village pumps were also defended, especially at dawn on May morning and some were chained 

and locked overnight to prevent their use.

People sat guarding the well, salt or holy water was sprinkled around the site or a slip of mountain ash or piece of iron was placed in the water itself. 

Flowers collected on Bealtaine Eve were placed in wells to safeguard water and the health 

and livelihood of the community. Later in the day May flower water could be taken from the well
for use as a cure and as a means of protection.

However, it was not only the Good People who were believed to be abroad at this time. 

Certain individuals who harboured evil intentions would steal well water or dew from fields to appropriate the fertility, luck and prosperity of their neighbours.

The Hag of the Mill - LINK HERE

Those who worked charms were understood to be older women with supernatural powers, gained from invoking 

the devil or associating with the Good People. 

They obtained assistance from the Otherworld by crawling naked on May morning under an arch of briar then bathed naked in dew. 

Water was understood to hold a subtle connection to people and to animals which could be 

utilised by fairy and human alike.

Taking water from three different wells on May morning had the power of stealing the butter yield from the neighbours, whilst water taken from a point where 3 farm boundaries or townlands met, uisce na dtrí teorann, ‘water of three mearings’, was especially potent for use in magical workings and setting charms, so these areas were safeguarded.

Drinking place for cattle on the River Barrow.

Watch was often kept overnight at streams which flowed through farmland as the spots where cattle drank were also vulnerable. 

Strangers or Otherworld beings, who could approach in the form of wild creatures, were warned off with a shout or a blast from a shotgun.

To avert malign influence neither milk nor cow dung was permitted to fall into streams lest the water be used magically. 

Even after milking, hands to be washed elsewhere to avoid drawing unwanted attention to the contaminated water. 

Dew was of great value on the first day of summer.

In some places as much as possible would be gathered before sunrise in order to ensure enough money for the rest of the year.

Washing the face or rolling naked in May dew bestowed beauty as well as giving a resistance 

to sunburn, freckles, chapping and wrinkling of the skin in the following year. 

Dew was collected before sunrise by shaking long grass or herbs into a dish or by placing a clean cloth on the grass and wringing it out when soaked.

The most powerful dew was understood to collect on green corn or wheat.

Dew on May morning was considered most potent and walking barefoot through grass 

ensured healthy feet.

The collected dew was transferred into a clear glass bottle then placed on a window sill to stand in the summer sunshine. 

During this time any dirt settled at the bottom then the liquid was decanted. 

This process was carried out several times as the action of ‘sunbeams’ on the dew itself was considered purifying and increased its’ potency. 

By the end of summer the dew would look ‘whitish’ and could be kept for a year or two as a 

medicine to cure headaches, skin ailments and sore eyes.

Dew was at its’ most potent when used before sunrise on May Day especially when it was employed in the working 

of malevolent magic.

‘Stealing the butter’, increasing your butter yield at others’ expense, was accomplished by gathering dew from a neighbours’ field where their cows grazed whilst repeating a charm.

“Come butter come!

Come butter come!

Every lump as big as my bum!”

***

Today many May Day water customs have long been forgotten but the practice of washing the face in May dew continues.

Where did this reverence for dew originate?

The late folklorist Dáithí Ó hÓgáin wrote of a source of wisdom employed by the druid-poets which describes the action of sun on dew resulting in inspiration. 

“imbas gréine, … defined in early literature as ‘bubbles which the sun impregnates on herbs, 

and whoever consumes them gains poet-craft.

This is a reference to dew.”

Ó hÓgáin goes on to say:

“Elsewhere there are highly significant references to druchtu Déa, (dew of a goddess), 

which in early poetic rhetoric was a kenning for the all-important 

ith ocus blicht (‘corn and milk’). ”

The land-goddess is fertilised by the sun, her body produces dew and the corn and milk which are essential for the nourishment for the community. 

As Ó hÓgáin theorised this may be an early understanding of agriculture and the partaking of dew an element in druidic ritual during summer.

At dawn tomorrow, when you wash your face in the dew, beware, 

you may be taking part in a tradition that stretches back further than you imagine.

By Stone, Whitethorn and Well.

It may have been that sacred springs and wells were understood by our ancestors to originate in the Otherworld, flowing from the earth into this world at special places, bringing healing, inspiration, wisdom and connection to deities.

Gold boat from the Brighter Hoard Co. Derry, thought to be a votive offering to Manannán Mac Lír.

Numerous deposits of votive offerings were made during the Bronze and Iron Ages in the lakes, rivers and bogs of Ireland indicating that water was an important part of ancient peoples’ lives and beliefs.

In Ireland there remain wells that are pre-Christian in origin

St. Mobhi’s Well, also known as Fionn MacCumhail’s Well. 

Photograph courtesy of Gary Branigan - Gary's book is available HERE

The construction has lead archaeologist Geraldine Stout to suggest that it may have been built around the same time as the great mound at Newgrange. 

and famous wells of mythology whose over flowing created the rivers of the island.

 Trinity Well, the source of the Boyne.

One such well was Tobar Segais, said to be surrounded by nine hazel trees.

When the hazelnuts, containing wisdom, fell into the water they were eaten by the Salmon, a creature who appears throughout Irish tradition associated with great knowledge. 

An Bradán Feasa, The Salmon of Wisdom courtesy of Séighean Ó Draoi.

More work by Séighean HERE

The legend of Tobar Segais explains that the only visitors allowed to approach the Well of Knowledge was Nechtan and his three cup bearers.

However, Boann, Nechtan’s wife, defies this taboo and visits the well where she walks around it three times, tuathal, anti-clockwise, against the course of the sun.

Unfortunately Tobar Segais, like most wells, should only be circled in a sun-wise direction and her offence causes the waters to rise up, drowning and dismembering Boann and creating the River Boyne, which bears her name.

Boann - the goddess whose essence forms the river.
More about Boann HERE

We cannot know the ancient rituals or beliefs associated with sacred springs and wells but the spiritual traditions which have grown around them may offer a glimpse into the past. 

Tobar Lugna, Co. Offaly.

With the arrival of Christianity many wells were consecrated by the early saints of Ireland and folk traditions were incorporated into the Christian rituals.

These older folk beliefs are thought to contain traces of much earlier practices of pilgrimage and veneration at well sites. 

Irish Roman Catholicism today includes devotions which take place on the feast day of the patron saint of the parish, these are known as ‘patterns’ and many are linked to rituals at wells. 

Sign explaining the pattern at ‘The City’ and holy well, Co. Kerry. 

Part of these prescribed rituals involved pilgrims ‘paying the rounds’, reciting a rosary whilst circling around the well site a number of times, always revolving deiseal, in the sun wise direction.  

Crutches and circling ritual at Doon Well, Co. Donegal. ©info@ihpc.ie

Often this circling is carried out three times, at others nine, with water from the holy well sipped at the end of the rounds. 

Occasionally holy water was taken away in bottles to be used at graves, in healing or sprinkled at the four corners of the home for protection.  

In the past patterns often ended with drinking, dancing and fighting and were so popular in rural areas that the church began to forbid these gatherings, describing the folk belief in the powers of the wells as pagan.

Bullaun stone at St. Manchan’s Holy well, Co. Offaly where sunlight and shadow creates the ‘mystical fish’.

Some healing wells were understood to contain a mystical fish, often a salmon or a trout, which appeared at certain times when the water was especially potent. 

As a sacred symbol the fish is known in both Irish mythology and Christianity. 

At St Kieran’s Holy Well, Castlekieran, Co. Meath, three trout are said to appear just before 

midnight on the first Sunday of August.

For those seeking to be cured the presence of the fish is taken as a sign that the healing

will be effective. 

Offerings continue to be made to wells, usually after drinking the water, with coins, holy medals, pieces of cloth and flowers left by pilgrims. 

Occasionally a pin or coin is put into the well water itself.

Offerings at St. Fachtnan’s Well on the Burren.

Offerings of daisies and rose petals at Ladywell, Co. Galway.

Another element of many well sites is the presence of a special bush or tree, usually a whitethorn, ash or oak.

Rags are often secured to the branches of these trees as an offering to the well or in the case of healing wells, in the belief that as the cloth rots away so does the illness.

Whitethorn & offerings at one of The Seven Blessed Wells of Killeigh, Co. Offaly.

The well dates to pre Christian times.

Holy wells are not only accompanied by trees.

There are numerous locations recorded as having some sort of stone nearby and this combination of water, tree and stone was incorporated into Christian ritual.

Stone, whitethorn and well at Tobereenatemple, Co. Clare.

Stones found near wells may consist of standing stones, enclosures or natural outcrops. 

The City, Co. Kerry.

The City, Co. Kerry 

The stones may be used as altars or utilised in ‘patterns’ with marks being scratched on the surface to indicate points within the rounds.

It is common to find a boulder with one or more depressions near to holy wells, known as a bullaun stone, although the formation and original function of bullauns is unknown.

Bullaun stone at Saint John’s Well, St John’s Point, County Down.

The presence of a well, a tree and a special stone marks these locations as sacred.

Unlike the great community gatherings at bonfire festivals of the past, perhaps our ancestors also visited these places alone, in silence, or circled sacred wells chanting or murmuring prayers as many do today?

The atmospheric Ráithin Well, Co. Clare.

Sitting by stone, whitethorn and well the modern world drops away and we are left with nature, 

deep peace and the spirits of the place.

St Fachtnan's Well, a place of solitude and silence.

This is the second of three posts about Sacred Water, you can read the first HERE