Feast of St Fanahan and the stories surrounding it

THIS Sunday is St Fanahan’s Day in Mitchelstown, the local Feast Day.

The Monastery in Brigown gives its name to two thirds of the modern parish in Mitchelstown. It was founded in the seventh century by a warrior monk named Fionn Cú or Fanahan ( White Hound).

Apparently Fanahan was born at Rathealy near Fermoy and was the son of an Ulster petty chieftain exiled in Munster. As was common in early Christian times, Fanahan entered religious life at a very early age. He joined the monks at the Monastery in Bangor County Down, where he showed a quick temper and astonising spiritual powers.

A quarrel with his brethren led to Fanahan’s expulsion from Bangor. He and a few of his followers made their way to the King of Munster’s residence in Cashel, where he told King Cathal MacAedha that he wished to have land to build a monastery in Munster.

The monarch duly obliged the holy man with a grant of Fan Muilt (The Wether’s Slope), which was at that time a great dairy farm owned by the King’s wife and roughly equivalent to the 19th century civil parish of Brigown. Legend has it that it was here that Fanahan proclaimed and gave evidence of Our Saviour and was a flame against guilty men.

Down through the years many people from adjoining counties have made the Novena to the well starting nine days before the Feast Day on November 25. Many changes have taken place over the years. For the past 10 years the well path is lit from 4pm to midnight during the night nights before and after the Feast Day.

The older people of the countryside held St Fanahan in very high regard and observed his Feast Day in a most strict manner. No unnecessary outdoor work was done, and even indoor occupations, such as baking or knitting, were taboo. In fact in olden days the eve of St Fanahan was a day of abstinence, and many local people were known to abstain from flesh meat on November 24. A bottle containing water from St Fanahan’s Well was a regular feature on the bedside table, especially with the dying.

One of the best-known legends about the well deals with the eel which is said to be at the bottom of it. If you see him dart out from the side and move in the sign of the cross, your prayers will be heard – if your faith is strong enough.

Other legends maintain that the eel is frequently seen at night as he is attracted by a beam of light directed into the depths of the water. The well is also said to contain a trout, and it is a considered a great privelege to see the trout. The well itself contains spring water, which is not the usual home of either the eel or the trout. To many in olden days the eel represented St Fanahan, and the trout The Blessed Virgin.

The origin of St Fanahan’s Stone is also shrouded in mystery. Unlike the well, it has remained in Brigown and can be seen today lying in the bed of the stream beside the local bridge. It is circular in shape and is approximately four feet in diameter, with a small hole in the centre. Legend has it that the builders tried on three occasions to fit the stone into the bridge but each time it fell out.

Some older people used to say that at one stage St Fanahan was imprisoned in Clonmel for his Faith and was chained to this stone.

It is claimed that one night the door of his cell opened, as if by magic, and he walked out, carrying with him the stone to which he was still chained. Legend has it that on reaching Brigown almost 30 miles away, the chain broke and the stone fell into the stream which runs about 400 yards away from the site of the monastery which he founded. Although St Fanahan’s name does not appear in the Calendar of Saints, the people of Mitchelstown and District over the years made no secret of their love and affection for him.