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Holy Wells began life as sacred pagan sites, and were gradually assimilated into the early Celtic Christian in an effort to convert the native masses. Many have seen the rise and fall of Catholicism and some now see pagan visitations once again. There are approximately 100 surviving Ancient & Holy Wells in County Dublin, including natural springs, elaborate stone monuments, sea caves, and hidden sites in tunnels under the Dublin streets. This book will document the remaining Wells in the landscape, with many beautiful photographs of each and its surroundings, detail brief history and legends attached, and give precise locations and directions, allowing people to start visiting these ancient places of both religious and archaeological interest again.
The verdant landscape of Ireland is dotted with holy wells--small springs, pools, and ponds that hold spiritual and often curative meaning to locals. Sadly, many of these sites have been lost to development, despite being associated with daily devotions and indigenous saints never canonized by the Catholic Church. To celebrate and protect the wells that remain, Holy Wells of Ireland examines these irreplaceable resources of spiritual, archaeological, and historical significance. Of the roughly 3,000 holy wells documented across Ireland, about a third are still visited; some attract international pilgrims and others are stewarded by a single family. This sense of spiritual tradition draws younger Irish generations to the wells even when they no longer consider themselves practicing Catholics. Holy wells are also home to flora and fauna deemed sacred to their patron saint and instrumental in their waters' curative powers. Featuring 140 color images, this remarkable volume shares the interdisciplinary work of contributors who study these wells through the overlapping lenses of anthropology, archaeology, art history, biomedicine, folklore, geography, history, and hydrology. Braiding community perspectives with those of scholars across academia, Holy Wells of Ireland considers Irish holy wells as a resilient feature of ever-evolving Irish Christianity, as places of pilgrimage and healing, and as threatened biocultural resources.
This book re-assesses archaeological research into holy well sites in Ireland and the evidence for votive deposition at watery sites throughout northwest European prehistory.
This book re-assesses archaeological research into holy well sites in Ireland and the evidence for votive deposition at watery sites throughout northwest European prehistory. Ray examines a much-ignored and diminishing archaeological resource; moving beyond debates about the possible Celticity of these sites in order to gain a deeper understanding of patterns among sacred watery sites. The work considers how and why sacred springs are archaeologically-resistant sites and what has actually been found at the few excavated in Ireland. Drawing on the early Irish literature (the myths, hagiographies, penitentials and annals), the author gives an account of pre-Christian supermundane wells in Ireland and what we know about their early Christian use for baptism, and concludes by considering the origins of "rounding" rituals at holy wells. Table of Contents: 1: Water Veneration and Votive Deposition in Prehistoric Northern and Western Europe; 2: Iron Age Evidence, Continuity, and the "Celtic" Question; 3: Iron Age Water Deities4: Holy Wells and Sacred Springs as Archaeologically-Resistant Sites; 5: The Contested Origins and Materiality of Irish Holy Wells; 6: Supermundane Wells of the Iron Age and the Early Irish Literature; 7: Irish Sacred Wells of the Early Christian Era and the Conversion Model; 8: Sacred Springs and Conversion Strategies in Britain and on the Continent; 9: Christian Holy Wells and Baptism; 10: The Origins of Rounding and the Interconnectedness of Wells; Appendix A: Irish Excavation Reports of "holy wells" from Excavations.ie (as of June 2014); Appendix B: Holy Wells in the County Archaeological Inventories of Ireland
This work is a labor of love by writer Mary Thorpe as a tribute to her much loved Granny O'Rourke (nee Nolan) in an attempt to place the stories she heard and was told into a true and historical context. As a social worker who came across many cases of social deprivation in modern times, Mary had the dawning realization regarding what her own grandmother had been through in even harder times in the late part of the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century in Ireland. Mary felt the driving need to record her much-loved grandmother's story as recognition of Bridget's harsh life and also as a tribute to her and the millions of others like her who made the best of things while still retaining a sense of pride, of the worth of education as a ticket out of poverty, and of the importance of retaining one's dignity and commitment to family through good and bad times.
Mythical Ireland embodies the search for a soul among Ireland's ancient ruins, and is an attempt to retrieve something of deeper import from 5,000-year-old megalithic monuments and their associated myths. The book represents a fascinating and engaging journey through time, landscape and the human spirit. Dealing with archaeology, interpretive mythography, cosmology and cosmogony, the book attempts to grapple with a core meaning, something beyond the functional interpretations of academia. In this revised and expanded edition, Anthony Murphy delves further into the many enthralling aspects of this journey. Just how much knowledge did locals have of the secrets of Newgrange before it was excavated? Who is the Cailleach, the ancient hag goddess whose image is ubiquitous in the ancient landscape? What happened to make Ireland's Stonehenge disappear from the landscape? Who were the first kings of Tara? What were the indigenous Irish myths about the Milky Way? Did someone try to steal the Tara Brooch? Why are there myths in Ireland about flooded towns and cities? Lavishly illustrated with exquisite photographs of the Irish landscape and ancient monuments, Mythical Ireland represents a personal and yet universal journey, a quest to reimagine the shrines as empowering and transformative sacred places. Murphy invokes the druids and poets of the Boyne and thus the sídhe of the ancient texts are reawakened for a modern and turbulent world.
Bringing together a range of different place-studies, including holy wells, spa towns, Turkish baths and sweat-houses, sea-bathing and the modern spa, this book investigates associations between water, health, place and culture in Ireland. It is informed by a humanistic approach, showing how health and place are socially and culturally constructed and how health is embodied, experienced and enacted in place. In addition, the work argues that an understanding of health and place must also consider the historical, societal and cultural orthodoxies that shape and produce those places.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.