It’s just small parcel of land, lying quietly adjacent to the village of The Loup, in south County Derry, only a few miles from Lough Neagh. Thousands pass it every week but don’t realise it’s there, let alone call in to visit. The site has been used for thousands of years, and today a modest redevelopment plan is in place to revitalise this holy place, this time capsule of Irish history.

In Ballyeglish Old Graveyard there is a holy well. These days, it’s named for St Bríghid, one of Ireland’s three patron saints. But Bríghid had no known association with this place. Patrick had, but not Bríghid. So why has her name been attached to the holy well there?

In ancient Ireland, there was a plethora of gods and goddesses. One of these was Bríghid, Celtic earth goddess of wisdom, poetry, protection, smiths, new life and domesticated animals. She was also the deity of healing, and so the wells of Ireland became places to go to receive a “cure” for certain afflictions. Using the water to rub on an ailment (no info on whether covering a troublesome spouse in it worked), the penitent received relief from the symptoms. The goddess provided the cure.

Fast forward one or two thousand years, and we see the introduction of Christianity into Ireland. One of the earliest missionaries, Bríghid, no doubt named for the pagan deity, acquires a reputation for all of the traits attributed to her pagan namesake. Upon the death of the saint on 1st February 521, Bríghid quickly gained sainthood and a mystical dimension for good works. The wells of Ireland, previously named for the goddess, simply moved into the purview of the Christian saint. Some were in areas where Christian Bríghid had been, but most were not. It’s worth noting that Saint Bríghid’s feast day is 1st February, known in the old Gaelic calendar as Imbolc, the first day of Spring in the ancient tradition. The goddess was the deity of new life, an earth-mother from whom the crops sprang to nourish her people. It fit Saint Bríghid well- no pun intended.

The lack of a connection between St Bríghid and Ballyeglish dates the well to pre-Christian times. It might well be the reason why the graveyard stands there today. The ancients visit the well for healing. It becomes regarded as a sacred place. Early Christians, such as Patrick who did visit the area, place their new churches on the old pagan sites to provide continuity of worship for the locals. Old pagan wells are utilised as baptismal fonts for Christian converts, and the adjacent land is used for the early, clay and wattle churches.

The goddess is eventually over-written by the saint.

A basic check of the holy well at Ballyeglish will show that it is a cavity in the bedrock. During glacial times, the ice sheets scraped their way across the landscape, tearing rocks from their bases and leaving gouges and holes. This process is known as glacial “plucking” and is not uncommon. It might prove to be the case that the well at Ballyeglish was formed through this process. This would mean that the “sump” in the bedrock was formed and holding water when the first people arrived onto the island of Ireland some 12,000+ years ago.

The early people had no knowledge of glaciology. To them, an unusual hole or depression in the bedrock was the work of supernatural beings or deities. Such features became important for their religious meaning. The water held in such places was sacred. We see the same principle at play in the use of ballaun stones, used to provide cures in the same way as holy wells do. Ballyeglish Old Graveyard seems to have had its own ballaun stone, now situated at a nearby farmyard.

It’s just a simple graveyard, and most don’t know of its existence. But, it’s a site of ancient religious importance that has seen countless thousands visit to be healed by the waters of the well, which sits and waits. Do you believe?

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