Teltown, Ciaran's Well

Venue: Teltown - named after the Irish goddess Tailtiu.



Above: River Blackwater at Teltown House

Teltown – Tailteann- Site of the August Oenach, aka Lughnasadh assembly, where games, meetings and marriages took place. These are replaced today at the Trim Haymaking festival by the Scurlogstown Olympiad on the 3rd Sunday of June every year in the Porchefields in Trim, Co. Meath. Scurlogstown Olympiad

Place where the Tuatha de Danann lost a battle with the Milesians and they were forced underground.

According to the Senchas na Relec in Lebor na Huidhre it was one of the chieftain burial places.

Three marvels:

1. Headless man,
2. 7 year old father and son small enough to sit on a finger,
3. ships in sky....

"The Annals of Ulster in the year AD 749 report that ships were seen in the air (some said above the monastery of Clonmacnois). Other sources report a similar episode at Teltown, during the reign of Congalach mac Maele Mithig (d. AD 956), when a ship appeared in the air above a market fair (oenach) and a member of the crew cast a spear down at a salmon below.

When he came down to retrieve the spear a man on the ground took hold of him, whereupon the man from above said:

'Let me go! I'm being drowned!'

Congalach ordered that the man be released and he scurried back up to his shipmates,

'who were all that time looking down, and were laughing together.'

Well they might. There is no point in trying to explore the Otherworld with the apparatus and outlook of the science laboratory: flying ships are not subject to the laws of quantum mechanics."

Black associations

-Rath Dubh, Dubh Loch & Abha Dubh, Crom Dubh

River Blackwater,abhainn saile

- aka Bo Guaire, Guaire's cow, possibly rising in Sliabh Guaire.

The Blackwater is a tributary of the Boyne, relating to the Goddess Boann, the white cow, and the Milky Way.

Donaghpatrick

- built on old earthwork, founded by St Patrick. There is said to be a passage from Rath Airthir (Eastern Fort) to the church, a vast treasure in the crypt of church. Men and women looking for the fortune follow a piper and never return.

Blind loughs

- several artificial lakes are in the area

Dubh Loch

- at entrance to Teltown House – Leary's Hole. St Patrick is said to have condemned King Laoghaire to remain in it until Judgement day. It is also said to be the entrance to Hell.

Knockauns

– deep long rectangular cleft sometimes recognised as a marriage site, although this could have been at the more circular hollow lower on the hillside.

In 1997 the Knockauns was bulldozed in what a leading archaeologist described as "a tragedy for Irish heritage". Due to the importance of the Knockauns, an archaeological investigation of the site was undertaken and the bulldozed bank was reinstated.

References for the text - LeborGabala, Dindshenchas, Annals of Four Masters

Teltown House....

Set among three hundred acres of rich pasture land in the heart of the Boyne yet just 55 minutes from Dublin Airport. and only a short drive from the towns of Navan, Kells and Slane, Bertie and Renée Clarke’s lovely creeper-covered 17th century country house overlooks the River Blackwater Valley.

Teltown House Bed and Breakfast Instagram page and Teltown House Facebook page

Venue: St Ciaran's Well, Castlekeeran, Co. Meath

From 'The Beauties of the Boyne and its tributary the Blackwater' by William Wilde:

About a furlong's length to the west of the old church may be seen St. Kieran's well, one of the most beautiful holy wells in Ireland, and shaded by a hoary ash tree of surpassing size and beauty...

The well is situated on the side of a beautiful and exquisitely green sloping bank, upon which the neighbouring sheep love to congregate. It springs from a limestone rock of considerable extent; and appears first in a small natural basin immediately at the foot of the tree.

Within the well are several trouts, each about half a pound weight. They have been there " as long as the oldest inhabitants can recollect" and, strange to tell, they are said not to have grown an ounce within that period. These fish are held in the highest veneration by the people, who, when the well is being annually cleansed of weeds, carefully preserve the blessed creatures, and replace them as soon as possible.

About ten years ago a report spread over Meath and the surrounding counties, that Saint Kieran's ash tree was bleeding, and thousands of people flocked to the place to witness the wonder, and many brought with them vessels and bottles in which they hoped to carry away a portion of the miraculous fluid. With this it was hoped they might perform cures such as " common doctors" could not even attempt.

From the County Atlas of Ireland, drawn and engraved by John Kirkwood 1868 -

Legend has it that the healing powers of the water are at their strongest between midnight and 1a.m. on the first Saturday of August and each year dozens of people take the old pilgrim route there.

Nowadays the trout at said to appear only at mid-night on 1st August.



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There is a large stone Oratoryon the top of the hill, erected in 1913, looking down on the limestone pavement and well.

The waters at Ciaran'sWell carry special healing powers, the water in one of the pools is said to have been the cure of headaches, toothaches and sorethroats. Bathing feet in the tiny stream that flows from the well is said to preserve them from soreness during the coming year and healing of warts.

Within the rocks is a chair shaped depression that is said to have the impression of the saint's back, and is believed to cure back ailments.



There are two bridges across the Stoneyford River from the road onto the site.