Overview
St John’s Well lies on the north-facing slopes of Mushera, above the Millstreet valley in north Cork. Its Irish name, Tobar na bhFaithní, means the Well of the Warts, and it comes from a local healing tradition associated with the well. By long folk tradition, people came to dip their hands in the water in the hope of being rid of warts and facial lumps. That is folklore, not medicine, and the well is better visited for its history, its setting and its shrine. The Millstreet community history describes the history of the site.
History and development
The devotion moved downhill. The principal well originally sat at the top of Mushera Mór, and pilgrims faced a gruelling clamber to reach it. In the late 1940s, Robert Kelleher of Ballinagree built a timber platform lower on the slope so more people could attend the pattern; the wood eventually rotted and was replaced in concrete.
The site took its modern shape from 1954, when Michael Buckley of Aubane carried a picture of St John up to the hillside spring. By 1958 a committee of local people had built the permanent central shrine by voluntary labour, with a statue of St John in red robes blessed that year by Canon Costello of Millstreet. Two smaller grottos flank it, one holding the original picture, the other a headless Infant of Prague beside a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Stations of the Cross came much later. They were funded by a bequest from Sonny Buckley, who died in 1979, and erected through the 1980s, designed by the Cork sculptor Liam Cosgrave of Cosgrave & Sons and built by volunteers John and Brendan Kelleher, using limestone from Ballygiblin.
The rounds and the cure
The pilgrim ‘rounds’ here are plain enough: dip your hands in the water, circle the well three times, and say the prayers as you go. Small flat stones scored with crosses are left along the path as markers, and a petition box by the statue takes written prayers. Leave the stones and other offerings where they lie.
The well’s reputation rests on the wart cure. Local folklore collections record the tradition, and the odd story of a wart gone overnight after rounds paid on St John’s Day. Treat these as stories rather than a promise.
St John’s Day
The feast of St John falls on 24 June, near midsummer, and the grotto is associated with Mass on that day. If you are coming for Mass, check local notices for the arrangements. Within living memory the day was a fair as much as a devotion: stalls went up in the townland of Moulnahourna selling sweets, porter and lemonade, there were games of three-card-trick, the singer Bill O’Dea and the white-bearded ‘St Joseph’ Lucey worked the crowd, and the sisters Han and Judy Murphy sold well water from a saucepan. The stalls are gone.
Folklore and older roots
Like many Irish holy wells, this one probably began as a pagan spring later taken over and blessed by the church. Local legend ties St John of Mushera to three sisters, Lasair, Ingean Bhuide and Latiaran, whose feast days fall on old Celtic seasonal festivals, and the 24 June date sits on the old midsummer, when bonfires were lit across Ireland on St John’s Eve. What you get on the ground is three layers at once: older ritual, an early Christian dedication, and a shrine built by a 1950s parish committee.
Visiting and practical information
- Access: Use the visitor access indicated on the day, and keep gates and passing places clear. The site is cared for by a volunteer committee.
- Getting there: The well is on the Millstreet side of Mushera. Check the Millstreet community history and local notices for directions and arrangements, as parking and the state of the path could not be confirmed.
- Terrain: Expect a short walk on uneven, unpaved ground; it is unlikely to suit wheelchairs or pushchairs.
- What to bring: Sturdy shoes.
- Etiquette: Stay on marked paths and leave the votive stones and other offerings in place.
Nearby
The original summit well on Mushera Mór is a hillwalk in its own right, and there is another well on the Kilcorney side of the mountain. The surrounding Boggeragh Mountains carry marked trails past wedge-tombs and standing stones, and Millstreet, a few miles off, is the nearest town for shops and refreshments.
If you are timing a visit for 24 June, check the local notices first, arrive early and leave time for the rounds before Mass.