St. Gobnait
The Spiritual
Mother of Ballyvourney - County Cork
Feast Day - February 11th
In the early 6th century when
Gobnait fled her home in County
Clare, she went to Inis Oírr. We
don’t know why she fled, only that
she believed she would find refuge
in the Aran Islands. Legend states
that an angel appeared to her there
and told her that her place was not
on Inis Oírr, and instructed Gobnait
to go on a journey – to seek her
true place of resurrection. “Go
until you find nine white deer
grazing” the angel told her. “It is
there that you will find your place
of resurrection.” So Gobnait
wandered about the southern coastal
counties of Ireland – Waterford,
Cork and Kerry – searching.
She saw three white deer in
Clondrohid and followed them to
Ballymakeera where she saw six more.
But it wasn’t until she came to
Ballyvourney to a small rise
overlooking the River Sullane that
she saw the nine white deer all
together - grazing … just as the
angel from Inis Oírr had prophesied.
She crossed the river and settled
there. She founded a religious
community for women, performed
memorable – some say miraculous
works, and it was there she died and
was buried.
February 11th is St. Gobnait’s feast
day -the day her memorable life is
celebrated. She is one of the few
Irish saints that is not only
remembered in her native region, but
has been proclaimed by the Irish
bishops to be a national saint.
There are shrines and places of
devotion to St. Gobnait in all the
places she is believed to have
stopped on her journey - including
Inis Oírr. But Ballyvourney, where
she carried out most of her
ministry, is the place that draws
the greatest number of pilgrims
devoted to this saint.
Today there is an active church on
the former monastic site.
St. Gobnait’s grave and marked
spots around the churchyard are
places where pilgrims pause for
devotion and reflection. It is here
that they can do the “rounds” or
turas, always moving in a
clockwise direction – a tradition
that has pagan roots. One of the
strongest mystical draws on this
site is St. Gobnait’s Holy Well,
with its arched entryway that takes
the pilgrim into a deeply shaded
path.
Just next to the well is a sturdy
tree, and hanging from it are
hundreds of tokens or “clooties”
that have been placed there by
pilgrims hoping to leave behind a
part of themselves or loved on in
need of healing. There are taps and
cups available for drinking from the
well or for pouring into personal
vessels to take holy well water
home.
St. Gobnait was best known for her
care of the sick. There is a legend
that tells of her staving off the
plague from Ballyvourney by drawing
a line in sand with a stick and
declaring the village “consecrated
ground.” Inside the church today,
there is a medieval (possibly 13th
century) figure of St. Gobnait which
is kept in a drawer. Every year on
her feast day, the parish priest
brings out the figure to celebrate a
devotional tradition. He holds up
the ancient figure and the faithful
each step forward with a piece of
ribbon. They hold the ribbon up and
measure it against the length and
around the circumference of the
figure, then take it home as a
blessed relic used for healing or
further devotion.
A tall statue of St. Gobnait
that was erected in the 1950s stands
near the monastic site. She appears
with a nun’s habit standing on a bee
hive surrounded by bees. Gobnait is
the patron saint of bee keepers, and
there are several legends recalling
Gobnait forcing invaders out of
Ballyvourney by setting swarms of
bees upon them. It’s probable that
Gobnait had a close relationship
with bees and used honey in healing
efforts.
PLACE OF RESURRECTION
Dan and I visited St. Gobnait’s
monastic site many years ago. It is
indeed, a thin place. The stories of
St. Gobnait specifically mention a
“place of resurrection.” I heard
Dara Molloy use this phrase when
referring to his home on Inis Mór
and have seen a few authors
reference the phrase. But regarding
thin places … a place of
resurrection is the pinnacle – that
place where one’s spirit is totally
whole, at home, with no longing or
yearning to be anywhere else. A
place of resurrection is not only
the place where one’s spirit will
resurrect from its lifeless body
upon death, but also the place where
that spirit is most alive inside the
living body. And I believe that a
place of resurrection is the
spiritual home where one is most
completely alive and able to create,
to discern, to prophesy … to be
wise.
The connection between the eternal
world and the physical is nearly
unidentifiable in a place of
resurrection – as they are knitted
together in an inextricable pattern
where neither can be separated from
the other. The place of resurrection
then is unto itself the combination
of both worlds particularly suited
to that specific spirit. … and
Ballyvourney was St. Gobnait’s
place.
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Image of St. Gobnait courtesy of
Patricia Banker; Copyright by
Patricia Banker, All Rights
Reserved. Used With
Permission.
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