‘About ten days ago or so, people started coming in their droves looking for the hay fever cure at St Faithleach’s Holy Well… there was a guy in here who drove from Cavan last week looking for a cure for his young fella’ – Joe O’Brien
For as long as I can remember I’ve suffered with sinus issues – and each year whenever the pollen count is high or there’s a change in the weather, I’m rendered a sniffling, coughing, choking wreck.
Now though, thanks to the divine intervention of St Brendan’s brother, St Faithleach, it might finally be safe to throw away the Clarityn and go run around a meadow!
That’s as the Holy Well of St Faithleach, located in a nondescript sliver of land just outside Ballyleague, has gone viral in recent weeks as a possible provider of a cure for hay fever.
According to the locals, people have been arriving in their droves from all over Ireland to sample the healing water for themselves and the well has even featured on national radio stations.
With all that in mind, the Roscommon People decided it was time to head out towards Ballyleague this week to investigate.
I’m sure, much like this reporter, that St Faithleach and his brother Brendan the Navigator, would be relieved to know that the well is actually quite easy to locate on Google Maps. Located on the right-hand side just before Ballyleague, the well’s location is marked by a helpful information board.
The first thing visitors will notice is a statue of Our Lady adorned with a number of scapulars and rosary beads. There are also memorial cards as well as some children’s toys, and at least two pairs of sunglasses at the bottom of the well itself. Though it’s not known whether the shades were intentional offerings or accidental offerings, dropped there by head-dipping pilgrims.
The well, which was initially said to contain stomach healing properties, contains cool but stagnant water, so unsure of how to proceed, I decided to splash some on my face after being talked out of drinking it by the People photographer. Then, all we could do was wait for the healing process to begin.
Twenty minutes later, not feeling any better or worse, we were stood inside Joe O’Brien’s shop in Lanesboro as he explained the recent increase in sniffling pilgrims to the area.
“It was always a popular well throughout my youth as a cure for stomach issues and even for domestic use.
“Then, about ten days ago or so, people started coming in their droves looking for the hay fever cure at St Faithleach’s Holy Well,” Joe said.
“I believe it started with a comment on Facebook and now they’re coming from all over the country – there was a guy in here who drove from Cavan last week looking for a cure for his young fella”.
It turned out we hadn’t completed the necessary ablutions correctly and if we wanted to be free from the curse of hay fever we’d have to stop once more on the way back to Roscommon.
“You wash your face three times with the water,” Joe said.
“The water can also be brought home and administered to other people too”.
So, back to St Faithleach’s Well we went to complete the sacred healing ritual at the second time of asking, washing our faces three times with the water.
Fast-forward two days to the time of writing and I have to say my sinuses have cleared noticeably. There might just be something in the water after all!
