[MR] BBC: Saving Northern Ireland's Holy Wells

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today BBC offers a brief illustrated feature on a project to document, and
possibly protect, holy wells in Northern Ireland. Only 187 such wells are
officially documented, but many more are known to have existed, or still
exist but are "below the radar", so to speak.

Holy wells were venerated in Europe long before Christianity. Christians
rebranded many pagan wells, often in the name a local saint, and continued
to hold them sacred. Many wells were believed to have healing powers, and
some actually did have medicinal properties because of dissolved minerals
in the waters. The wells became minor places of pilgrimage in medieval
times, and some are still venerated today.

Dr. Celeste Ray, a Texas academic, has developed a database to document the
locations of holy wells, and to record the folklore and beliefs for each.
She hopes her database will be a useful tool for protecting the wells that
remain, and remembering those that have been lost.

Here is the BBC story: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56216763
.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆