Grand Holy Well Tour (aka The Young Offenders)

People in Ireland will get the reference for we were travelling in the Garda minibus for the day driven by the delightful Ciarán (in plain clothes!) and one of the our crew chirped up: Just like the Young Offenders!
What a day! The weather was vile - around 12c, murk, mizzle and wind - but the attendees were most definitely a sunny and interesting group. I had 10 in the minibus and picked up another two in Clondrohid cemetery, as you do. We visited eight very different wells from simple bullauns to those with posh wellhouses to little holes in the ground. We tramped across fields, skidded up damp rocks  and fought our way through a path that had turned into an exuberant meadow.  At half time we fell into the Mills inn in Ballyvourney and ate enormous scones and drank strong tea.  Two highlights - at one point, in a dark wooded enclosure which had once served as a cilleen (burial place for the unbaptised) we looked at the tiny much loved bullaun and Mary asked if she could sing a song.  She is a sean-nós singer and gave the most beautiful spine tingling version of a song about St Brigid in Irish. Ann then placed a triskel  (3 spiral shape)in the well and we all joined hands for a quiet moment.  Later, as we reached the tiny and very obscure well at the end of that rocky path (see extra) Mary whipped out a low whistle and played a haunting air. 
I had tried to find some little glass vials to collect water in but all I could find were specimen jars - these went down very well!!
An exceptional day in exceptional company - humans and wells.  I've made a collage of some of the highlights and managed to get a pic from the video I took of Mary playing. 

An Buachaillin Ban - listen to a bit of sean-nós sung by one of f the masters Iarla Ó Lionáird, who hails from Ballyvourney where we were,  if your spine's not tingling I'd be worried!