The tower is all that remains of the former Church of Ireland church in Millstreet

The tower is all that survives of Saint Anna’s Church, Drishane, on a hill on the south side of Millstreet, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

On a hill overlooking most of Millstreet, and clearly visible from the former shops and pubs once run by my grandmother and my aunt, the early 19th century square tower is all that is left standing of Saint Anna’s, the former Church of Ireland parish church.

The former Church of Ireland church that once stood on this site was built by the local landlord, J. Wallis of Drishane Castle, replacing an earlier church that stood close to Drishane Castle and that probably dated from the late 15th century.

For centuries, the parish was part of the Diocese of Ardfert, which covered much of Co Kerry, and the parochial territory traversed the boundaries of Co Kerry and Co Cork. Many of the Vicars of Drishane were also Treasurers of Ardfert Cathedral or Archdeacons of Aghadoe, but the parish was often unable to financially support its own resident priest, and at times was united with neighbouring parishes, including, at times, parishes in north Cork that were part of the Diocese of Cloyne, such as Dromgtariffe and Nohovaldaly.

The earliest vicars of Drishane are recorded in 1463 or 1464, when Canon Matthew O’Falvey was holding Drishane as a sinecure, and was Treasurer of Ardfert Cathedral, Co Kerry. Soon after, the Revd Donald O’Sullivan was found guilty of simony in 1466.

If Drishane was treated as a sinecure and embroiled in accusations of simony, it is surprising that there are few or new records of serving clergy in the difficult years of the Reformation and throughout the 16th century.

By 1615, when the Revd John Proudville or Prenderville was Vicar of Drishane and Dromtariffe, it was noted that he was a ‘reading minister’ and that the church and chancel were being repaired.

Canon Deane Hoare, who Vicar of Drishane from 1784 until he died in 1795, was typical of the pluralist clergy of his time, holding many Church appointments at the same time, and delegating his church duties in the Millstreet area to a poorly-paid curate. When he died, the parish was virtually inherited by his son, Canon John Hoare, who probably lived in Limerick until 1803, when he became Chancellor of Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick.

While John Hoare was the Vicar of Drishane, the Wallis family built a new church for the parish. The town of Millstreet was developing an expanding to the west of Drishane, expanding around a new and lengthy main street that offered easier access to the mills that give the new town its name.

The Wallis family built the new church on a prominent hill above the town, and the church may have been named Saint Anna’s in the mistaken belief that the name Drishane was linked to Saint Anne.

John Hoare was succeeded as Vicar of Drishane in 1804 by Canon William Maunsell, who lived in Millstreet, unlike many of his predecessors. While he was vicar, the church was enlarged between 1807 and 1814 and the tower and belfry were built during this time. The church building covered an area of about 1,500 sq ft, and had seating for about 70 to 80 people.

Maunsell became Archdeacon of Limerick in 1814, and he was succeeded in 1815 by his brother-in-law, Charles Warburton, a son of Bishop William Warburton of Limerick. Howeverf, Warburton was also a pluralist, and he lived in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, where he was one of my predecessors as rector. He was also Chancellor of Limerick and Archdeacon of Tuam at the same time.

When Warburton resigned from Drishane in 1820, he was succeeded in Drishane by his first cousin, John Charles Mongan. He was ordained before he reached the canonical age, although this probably provided no obstacle for his uncle the bishop.

A Church report in 1835 said the average attendance at the Church on Sundays was about 60. But Mongan was a particularly negligent Vicar of Drishane, even though he married Elizabeth Wallis, a daughter of John Wallis of Drishane Castle, and left much of the work in the parish to his curate, the Revd Francis Young.

Mongan seems to have spent most of his clerical career in Belize, then British Honduras, where he had secured a post as chaplain, and he died there in 1860.

Due to the gradual decline in the Church of Ireland population from the late 19th century on, the Parish of Drishane was united with the neighbouring parish of Dromtariffe in 1904. In 1917, Drishane and Dromtariffe were united to another neighbouring parish, Clontarf, and were transferred to the Diocese of Cloyne.

In the decades that followed, Church services were held with less frequency in Saint Anna’s. The last regular church service in Saint Anna’s was held in the 1930s, and the church was officially closed for public worship on 16 November 1958. The main part of the church building was demolished the following year, and the tower was all that was left standing.

The four-stage, square tower, built ca 1810, is the all that survives of the former parish church. It has carved stone pinnacles to the corners, rubble sandstone walls with carved limestone string courses dividing the stages, and cut sandstone voussoirs, with cut-stone sills to some openings.

The ground stage of the tower has a segmental arched blind doorway to the east and a round arched doorway to the north with dressed limestone voussoirs and a sheet metal door.

The second stage has round blind oculus windows to the north and south faces, a blind camber-arched opening to the east and a round-headed glazed window opening to the west. The third stage has round-headed blind windows. The top stage of the tower has oculus openings with inset metal clock faces to all four faces.

The surrounding graveyard has carved limestone gravestones and carved limestone box-tombs. For example, here is an elaborate carved limestone stepped rectangular-profile tomb to the south, with an elaborately carved headstone. But in the rain and the grey mists on Sunday afternoon, I was unable to read the inscriptions.

In 1994-1995, the Millstreet Tidy Town Association, with support from FÁS and Cork County Council, began restoring the church tower and the surrounding graveyard, and recording its history. Saint Anna’s Amenity Park was officially opened by Bishop Roy Warke, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, on 4 May 1997. This restoration project has enhanced the image of the town and preserved an important part of its ecclesiastical, social and architectural history and heritage.

Nearby, the former rectory that was built in 1879 is now a private house. Together, the tower of the church, graveyard and the former rectory form an interesting group of church structures.

Two ‘holy wells’ and their patron saints in Millstreet

Saint John’s Well on Mushera Mountain … one of the many holy wells near Millstreet, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

Millstreet has about half a dozen mills that gave the town its name. But it also has almost the same number of ‘holy wells.’ We visited two of these earlier this week, but wondered less about their miracle-working than we did about the saints they are supposed to be linked with.

Saint John’s Well, otherwise known as Tobair na Faithni, is on the north slopes of Mushera, about 6 km from Kilcorney and 8 km from both Rylane and Macroom.

The well is in a rugged but dramatic location on the slopes of the mountain and at the edge of a new forestry plantation. I could imagine on Sunday, despite the rain and the mist, that on clear days there are expansive panoramic views across the surrounding countryside, looking upwards are the formidable slopes of the mountain, while the valley below is splattered with patchwork fields, glowing rich with colour.

Mushera is the highest mountain in the Boggeragh range, and there are three holy wells here, all dedicated to Saint John. But this is best-known of the three wells, and attracts a steady stream of visitors, some attracted by its reputation for offering a cure of warts.

A pattern or festival is held at this well each year on 24 June, the Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist. But local people say the well is dedicated to Saint John of Mushera.

The statue of Saint John the Evangelist at Saint John’s Well near Millstreet (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

We found all this very confusing, as the principal statue at the well is of neither saint, but of Saint John the Evangelist or Saint John the Divine, also known as Saint John the Theologian or the Beloved Disciple, the author of the Fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation.

I pointed out that a statue of Saint John the Baptist might be expected to show him as a very hairy figure with coarse clothing – perhaps even carrying his head on a platter, as he is depicted so often in Greek icons.

Local legends place Saint John of Mushera in the mountains of Muskerry and say he had three sisters, all revered as saints and named as Lasair, Inghean Buidhe and Latiaran, the patron saint of the nearby parish of Cullen, and each her own feast day on 6 May, 24 June and 22 July.

Saint Berihert is said to be a member of the same family, and these legends say Saint John and Saint Berihert lived with their sisters at Cullen before setting out on their missionary journeys, Saint John to Mushera and Saint Berihert to Tullylease.

Until about 1940, Saint John’s Day was marked with a pattern at the well. Tents were set up on the mountain near the well, with stalls selling sweets, cakes, lemonade, cigarettes and porter. Pilgrims visited the well in the morning, and the secular entertainment continued for the rest of the day, with singing and dancing. Over the years, however, the crowds dwindled in size, and the pattern was abandoned.

Then on Saint John’s Day, 24 June 1954, the late Michael Buckley of Aubane placed a picture of Saint John the Evangelist in the grotto. The late Sonny Buckley from Tullig, near Millstreet, who visited the well later that day, decided to erect a timber altar to protect this picture.

A committee was formed in Aubane to build a stone grotto, and when this was completely by voluntary labour the picture of Saint John was placed inside the stone grotto.

In 1958, a statue of Saint John the Evangelist was placed in the centre grotto, and two side grottos were built. The statue of Saint John was blessed in 1958 by Canon Costello of Millstreet. The first Mass at the grotto was celebrated on 24 June 1974 and Mass has been celebrated there every year since.

When Sonny Buckley died in 1979, he left £500 in his will towards the erection of the Stations of the Cross at the well. These 14 stations were designed by Liam Cosgrove of Blackpool in Cork City.

Tubrid Well at the western fringes of Millstreet (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Back in Millstreet, we visited a second holy well at Tubrid, on the western fringe of the town, and once again the three of us found ourselves wondering about the origins of the name of the well, and the saint it might refer to.

A sign at the entrance to the well briefly tells the stories of the well, its history and folklore.

Local people differ about the identity of the patron saint of Tubrid Well. Some say the well is Saint Gobnait of Ballyvourney, and that the source of the well is there, with the water coming north under Clara Mountain. Others say the name of the well is Tobar Íde, Saint Ita’s Well, and that over time this name was abbreviated to Tubrid.

Although the sign does not mention it, another tradition suggests the name of the well is derived from Saint Bride or Saint Brigit. In any case, Saint Ita is said to have been a niece of Saint Brigit and that after she founded a nunnery in Killeedy she stayed there until her death in 570.

Tubrid Well has been a place of pilgrimage for the people of Duhallow for countless generations. The well is 40 feet in diameter and is said to be the second largest well in Britain and Ireland.

Tubrid Well was almost forgotten and abandoned until the middle of the 20th century when it is said it was rediscovered by a blind man from Limerick. Now large numbers of people visit the well at Tubrid in May each year to pray the Rosary and to drink the waters that are said to have healing properties.

According to local traditions a fish appears in the well on occasions, and pilgrims who catch a glimpse of the fish are said to have their requests granted. But while we saw bubbles in the water, we saw no fish, and instead of pilgrims the only other visitor was a man filling large containers with natural spring water – a healing and miraculous alternative to the water that flows through many of our taps today.