The Laois Cyclist: Saint Fortchern's Well and the White Church, Carlow

Wednesday 1 June 2022

Saint Fortchern's Well and the White Church, Carlow

Tucked away at a place known as Killoughternane in a serenely quite location in Carlow is Saint Fortchern's Holy Well.

It lies almost directly across a small road from the White Church, a very early stone built Irish Church known as Saint Fortchern's Oratory.

Saint Fortchern is often listed as a disciple and student of Saint Patrick, one of Ireland's three Patron Saints and probably the most famed.

Patrick is credited with introducing Christianity to Ireland although strictly speaking this is not completely true.

Christianity in Ireland predated his arrival as is evidenced by an earlier reference to Papal instructions for a Bishop Palladius to minister to the Christians in Ireland.

Saint Fortchern was born in Trim in County Meath. He was reputedly installed as a Bishop there but after three days he resigned his authority as Bishop and went South to Tullow in County Carlow.

Fortchern's name in Irish was Fortiarnán.

There are no exact dates recorded for his birth or death and he is assumed to have lived and died sometime in the 5th century with the possibility of having lived slightly later, until the early 6th century or thereabouts.

He was reputedly a Prince of Royal blood and his father was Irish and his mother Welsh.

It is quite possible that Fortchern was an Anglo Saxon name and indeed some speculate that the name may even be connected to a mythical pre Saxon 5th century Briton Warlord, Vortigern (Wyrtgeorn).

It was strange to come across this Saint's Holy Well having never heard mention of him before.

As an influential early Christian of Royal blood and a student of Saint Patrick I should have imagined that he would have been carried over into contemporary literature and everyday devotional worship. This does not seem to be the case.

Saints Berrihert and Willibrod spring to mind here and I wonder if the important early Saxon influence may have become somewhat obscure in later years as Irish Christianity developed. Supposition on my part.

Fortchern was both a Hermit and a Craftsman and is the Patron Saint of Bell-Founders/Bell Makers.

The Holy Well was at one time lost but rediscovered and reinstated circa 1880.

There was also a Gold Chalice and a Paten discovered in the well sometime during the 1800's when the Well was being cleaned. They date to 1595 and were possible hidden here for safe keeping.

Today the Well itself looks a little run down. There are probably far fewer visitors now than there once were however a Pattern (Patten / Patron) Day is still held in July I believe.

There is a large and ornate Marble Altar in the field above the well. It's strange to see an Altar just sitting in a field full of Cows however it could probably allude to the previous importance attached to the site.

It's likely that large crowds once gathered here for both Mass and Pilgrimage.

It would appear the Saints day was celebrated on two different days. 17th February in Meath and 11th October in Carlow. I have no idea why a contemporary Pattern day is held at the Well in July.

There is a nice Bullaun Stone located close to the entrance of the Well and inquisitive Cows ramble around in the adjoining field.

It is called the Wart Stone and water from it reputedly cures Warts, a common enough belief often found in connection with many of the Bullaun Stones found in Ireland.

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The White Church, also known as Saint Fortchern's Oratory lies almost directly across the road from the Well at Killoughternane.

It is a beautiful example of an early stone built christian Church.

Many of these Churches were built on the site of earlier wooden Churches and indeed traces of a previous wooden Church are recorded here.

The walls on the end project out to give extra rigidity and strength and are called antae.

At this time in Ireland there were few stone built structures and the antae were used as a form of reinforcement and are a feature of early Churches in Ireland.

Located inside the Church is a large font, most likely a baptismal font.

These early stone Churches and Oratories were small simple structures often with a single door and a few small windows.

I believe that their beauty lies in their simplicity. There are very few later buildings that mirror this understated simplicity.

The stone is of hammer dressed granite which simply means that the rough edges have been hammered off leaving flat opposing surfaces on the granite stones which gives the walls of the Church a neat and clean finished look.

Though simple in design they were well built and the Church here may be of 8th century origin which means that it has survived in situ for well over a millennium.

An information board onsite describes it as 10th century however its SMR (Sites and Monuments Record) official record describes it as 8th or 9th century.

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At a nearby crossroads there were several pieces of stonework, some ongoing restoration and a ruined building with candles beside its windows.

I have no idea what all this represented and it is quite likely that further work has been undertaken here since last I passed and more information may be available on site.

With the Blackstairs mountains and Mount Leinster as a striking backdrop this bucolic site is well worth visiting.

Incidentally the last living Wolf in Ireland was hunted down by the master of the Tullow Hunt and killed on the slopes on Mount Leinster in 1798.