TREES AT HOLY WELLS
Holy wells are often sheltered by special trees or bushes, which were also considered sacred to our ancestors. Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Ash and Sycamore or Laurel sometimes mark the place and are often festooned with votive offerings left behind by pilgrims.
A mature ash tree guards the holy well of St. Feichin, at Termonfeckin, Co. Louth.
St. Feichin's Well, also known as The Pan Well nestles at the base of an ash tree in a private garden.
A rag bush at Drumtarriff, Co. Cork.
This thorn bush, near the Blackwater River is festooned with pieces of cloth, offerings left by pilgrims. At some holy wells people would bathe the part of the body needing a cure and then hang the cloth, which had been used, on the nearby tree as a votive offering or in the belief that as the rag decayed the ailment would diappear.
Stone-lined holy well dedicated to St. Ionganbhui at Drumtarriff, Co. Cork.