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PUBLISHED WEEKLY.
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A CATHOLIC WEEKLY CIRCULATING THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIL. PRICE THREEPENCE n by Post as a Newspaper. ESTABLISHED 1874. Registered at the G.P.O., Perth, for Transmissio
Vol. LX.
PERTH, SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1934
No. 2,814
The Mary of Ireland SHRINES OF ST. BRIGID Holy Wells and other shrines dedicated to St. Brigid are to be found in First in immost parts of Ireland. portance amongst them comes St. Brigid's stream and well at Faughart, near Dundalk, the Saint's birthplace. The stream and well were associated with incidents in her early life and have attracted pilgrims all through the centuries. A writer in the -Dundalk Democrat- some years ago save the follow. mg account of the stream and the sta. tions performed at it:— 'The stream preper hews down the part of the hill known as the Highlands; it runs in a 7,ig-zag fashion, passing right through ;Ile grove, under the county road, and oni,varcl through the meadows below. The flow of water is regulated by the seasons. It is sometimes great, and at other times it reduces itself into a tiny streamlet. Whatever its dimensions, it stands high in the affection of th, pcopie who patronise it as a place of pilgrimage. People go in great numbers. Many from the surrounding districts, others from afe.r. . . It appears that the days most favoured for the . religious practices are the first Sunday of the month, especially the one following the Saint's feast day, the first Sunday in February." As at Lough Derg. . The exercises ot the station Were rigorous—by some compared to the Penitential exercises of Lough Derg— and Were performed at the well, the s tream, and at a mound also associated with the saint. In the stream was a stone held in particular veneration by the pilgrims and this bore the knee marks of countless pilgrims. Part of the. station in modern times was the recital of certain prayers whilst kneelmg in the knee-marks of the stone. In recent times the annual pilgrim ages to the shrines of St. I3rigid at Faughart have been led, and the spiritual exercises conducted by the clergy.
"there was a reputed miraculous well St. Brigid's holy well is to be found. In the West of Ireland holy wells of of St. Brigid, on the estate' of Cornelius St. Brigid are to be found at such O'Brien, Esq., of Birchfield, in the places as Ballisodare and Cuilmuine in County of Clare. This well contained County Sligo. High up in the Wick- a large eel, and eleven smaller ones, low Mountains, at a little place called which appeared periodically according Rostyduff, a patron was formerly held to popular tradition. Its waters were at St. Brigid's well on the 1st. of Feb- remarkably clear and cool, but they ".ere never used for domestic purposes ruary. County Kildare, in which so much The well was a famous resort for pilof her life was spent, has its wells of St. grims. especially for those hoping to Whoever was Brigid, including one at Kilcock, at have cures effected. which also a patron used to be held any fortunate enough to see the eels was stations performed on her feast day instantly cured. "Through O'Brien's lawn, free access in former times. to the well was easily obtained. PopuIn the townland of Ballincurrig, lar tradition has it that the water was Buttevant. County Cork, there is a St. desecrated on one occasion. ImmediBrigid's well. Canon (Manion says: ately it removed during the night to a large ash-tree hangs over it, and great distance. A member of the it is popularly called Biddy's Tree." O'Brien family. to commemorate a The patrons or "patterns" aparently miraculous cure, had a beautiful wall Some Dublin Wells. had been discontinued when Canon built round St. Brigid's well. The enUp and down the count:y- one finds O'Hanlon wrote, but stations continued closure was elegantly planted .and the wells bearing the name of St. Bride or to be performed at the well. The Canon plate was even furnished with stables St. Brigid in English. and "Tobar Brig quotes Colgan as referring to a St. for the accommodation of the p:!Even in the city a hide" in Irish. well at "Hy-Kinsellagh, proBrigid's about until existed there itself Dublin Leinster." and another at of since Street Bride off court 70 years ago in a And Overseas. wells were fora well dedicated to St. Brigid. In Tuam. Both of these many parts of Ireland. in Great In Saint's the on to resorted much merely North County Dublin, near Dunsoghly Britain, on the Continent of Europe festival day. Castle, St. Margaret's (the old residence and elsewhere are churches, chapels. mentioned Brigid St. of Other wells of the Plunket family) there is an anciconvents or other shrines of St. Brigid Tober-bricle by Canon O'Hanlon are ent well of St. Firigici, which a Sir John ; These. is merely enumerated, wou1,1 Roscommon County r, Ballintubbe near battlea with Plunkett had surrounded Shrines in name near make a formidable list. mented wall. In the same locality, a well bearing the same her relics were preserved in which of parish the in and town Longford St. nearer to Full.;las, is yet another f ormer. times were held in great Yen Dunleerey, county of Carlow. Brigid's well. At Swords and at Cloneration. Meath and Clare. dalkin are other St. 13rigid's wells: Rev. J. A. Knowles. 0.S.A., in his ex.1 celebrated spring, known as cellent Life of the Saint, published there was one at Clonskea on the south existed of Meath, county another the in and well. Bride's side of the city, some time ago. has much to say on this not far from Kilcock, was formerly interesting subject towards the conclua t Castleknock. It day. much frequented on the Saint's canon (Manion, in his biography of sion of his work. flowed from the side of a circular the saint, in "Lives of the Irish Saints," He tells how the clergy and people St. of case the in as and. mound. differin gives a big list of holy wells () Kildare treasured for centuries after others, and at Buttevant, well Bride's ent parts of Ireland dedicated to her. death the relics of St. Brigid with over her branche.; its spread tree ash an Near Wicklow town, he tells us, was a and filial affection. Then he tender feet. a 12 is well this of The diameter it St. I3ricle's well on the seashore. and his list tells of the ravages of the Danes, the concludes O'Hanlon Canon Kilplace." ay out-of-the-w "in a very of St. Brigid's wells with the follow- transfer of the relics to Downpatrick lisk Parish, in County Wexford, has and their vicissitudes through the cening interesting story: in and well; (or has) its St. Brigid's , turies. write he the foregoing," Besides a " Kilscoran parish in the 'same county
Faughart is nut the only place in Louth in which are to be found holy wells or other shrines associated with St. Brigid. The O'Donovan MS. Let. ters on the Louth parishes mention several of them. In the parish of Manes. town, for example, he found a "Tobar Brighide" "at which, some say, there is yet a station held; others say not." The patron day of the parish, he reminds us, was the festival of St. Brigid. The parish of Dunleer had formerly a St. Brigid's well, which was closed This was early in the last century. reputed to be the identical well at which the saint's sight W33 restored after she had plucked out one of her eyes to avoid the unwelcome attentions of a rustic.
Dungannon Lady's Death at 93 Years Four Grand-Daughters Nuns .The death of Mrs. Margaret Got-man, ot Dungannon, removes one of the Oldest inhabitants of this district, writes the "Ulster Examiner," of Januthe aTy 13. ripe age ofDeceased had attained 93 years. Her husband. the late Mr. Peer Gorman, predeceased her many years She was a ago. nlear relative- of the Right Rev. Dom '!'llsten, Lord Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery, Malvern, England. A charming Personality, kind and considerate, universally loved by the people who knew her. was a de:out Catholic, Mrs. Gorman lived a pious and holy ,1ife, and, as long as she was able, conilant1Y attended every service in St. r a triek,, Church. Tier remains s-ere sen2"ed from her late residence on Lurday to St. Patrick's Church. and 1,e funeral took place on Sunday after o'clock Mass. The cortege was — Re and Rev. L. representative. -0411. -41141
Walsh, C.C.. in the course of a touching panegyric. paid an eloquent and well-deserved tribute to the many excellent qualities of the deceased, and referred to her having four granddaughters whose lives were devoted to Holy Church. Afterwards the remains were interred in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Dungannon, Rev. Father Walsh offi(sating at the graveside. Deceased is survived by her granddaughters, Sister M. Patrick, Convent of Mercy, Dungannon: Sister M. Dympna. Convent of Mercy. Donaghadee; Sister M. Francis, Convent of Mercy. Perth. Australia: Sister M. Benigmus. 'Assumption Convent, Ballynahinch, Co. Down; and her grandson, Mr. Joseph Greene, Dungannon.
Restoring Irish Forests In furtherance of the plans of the "Free" State Government to restore the depleted forests of Ireland, nearly six thousand acres of land are being purchased in Counties Waterford, WexThe work is under ford. and Cork. the supervision of Senator Joseph Connolly, Minister for Lands and Fisheries. The purchases include a 2.000 Acre estate on 150 years' lease at Portlaw. Waterford, owned by the Marquis of Waterford, which now carries a crop of timber, portion of which has matured. Men are now engaged preparing new plantations on the estate.
Other purchases are 300 acres at Collegan Wood. near Dungarvin, from Lady M. Crichton: 3(10 at Dunmanway from D. Connor, and 400 at Clonroche, Enniscorthy, from a number of local people. Negotiations are in progress for the purchase of an estate of 2 500 acres at Kilsheelan. Waterford, When the soul is distressed or cast on the Tipperary border. Eight new plantations were bough': down, that is not sin in itsel; but sill comes in when there is distruct in God. during November and December. bring-
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ing the total to 50. Preparations have begun on all those estates for plantng in February. Over 100 offers of land are being The considered by the department. Minister is also considering the possibility of establshing plantations in the counties which have not any—Leitrim, Meath, Kildare. Longford. Westmeath. The difficulty is to get and Sligo. lrmd which is suitable. Work is in progress on the BourseVincent Memorial Park, K:Ilarnev, and also on the 300 acres of land at Brittas, near Saggart. When the Killarney afforestation resolution was read at the meeting of the County Wicklow Committee of Agriculture. W. Hammond said that the Department was moving carefully and satAfforestation isfactorily at present. gave employment at the planting, but none for many years afterwards, and it was better to travel steadily than to make a tremendous spectacular outburst.