Daily Photo | 04 January

04 January 2012 | St Brigid's Well Liscannor

Monuments, holy wells, standing stones, dolmens, ring forts, ancient ruins, I tell you it's impossible to move in County Clare without walking slap bang into something interesting........

St Bridget's Well Liscannor 04 January St Brigid's Well Liscannor
Photo: county-clare-i.com

.......I didn't set out to find St Brigid's well in fact I had passed it many times without giving it even a glance. I mean seen one well and you've seen 'em all right. This one though is well worth taking a few minutes to check out.

Located on the road between Liscannor and Doolin the Well just happens to be right opposite a tall monument erected to Cornelius O'Brien.

St Brigid's Well is accessed through a gate and is quite a neat little place with nicely landscaped rockeries and a grotto (pictured). To the left of it is a narrow enclosed sanctuary which houses the well itself and there is photos and offerings all over the walls and in the nooks and crannies, left there by people who were moved by the solemnity of the place.

Behind and up some steps is an ancient cemetery in which the Kings of Dál gCais are at rest and this is an added place of interest and must be checked out while you are there.

Brigid herself was no ordinary mere mortal, she was the Celtic goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare and of all things of high dimensions, flames, ring forts etc, let's just say she was kept busy in her role of goddess and she is commemorated not just here but in lots of spots throughout the country.

This particular well is connected to the ancient Festival of Lughnasa and in the past there were huge gatherings of pilgrims praying in the evening time on the first Sunday of the month, nowadays the ceremony is held on the 15th of August the feast of the Assumption.