What is recorded here

Indicated is a drowned holy well in County Cork, dedicated to St James according to local memory, where people once travelled from Rylane and everywhere near to pray at its water. The farm track is gone, the trees have closed over the stones, and the well no longer answers prayers, but the bullaun marker still stands two hundred metres north, worn smooth by hands that believed it could ease rheumatic pain. What remains is a wet hollow full of moss and shadow, holding the shape of every person who ever knelt beside it.

Wet area overgrown with trees and bushes; some moss-covered stones visible through overgrowth. According to local information, site of holy well dedicated to St James. Farm trackway once connected well with road to E; people came from "Rylane and all around" to pray here. No longer in holy use. Bullaun stone (9234) by roadside c. 200m N of well; Brash (1879, 133) recorded that stone 'lay formerly near a holy well in adjoining field'; probably same well which he (ibid., 133-134) described as having an 'insignificant appearance', and 'dedicated to no saint'; he noted also that 'certain rounds and washings at the well, were deemed a specific for rheumatic pains and other ailments'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 Images provided by and copyright of Amanda Clarke 2016-2022 https://holywellscorkandkerry.com/

A holy well dedicated to St James, associated with healing traditions, particularly for ailments of the eyes and general wellness; the site was historically connected to a farm trackway suggesting its former local importance.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.