Uiscí Naofa - Holy Waters
Oil on Canvas
100 X 80 cm
Date: 2020
Framed Original Painting:
Price: €5000
Double mounted Limited edition prints:
30X24 cm - €75
Framed Limited edition prints:
Frame size: 48X34 cm
Image size: 30X24 cm - €125
New! Large size Limited edition print 50x40 cm
unframed - 150€
Click here to order
Ireland lays claim greatest number of Holy Wells (Tobar Beannaithe) in the world. Counted, there are 3,000 holy wells and springs across the Island. Through ancient manuscripts and stories from Irish mythology we know that hydrolatry /water worship has existed in Ireland for thousands of years.
Ancient belief held that the holy well was an opening leading into the womb of the earth - mother herself. The surface water of the holy well was considered a sacred veil of mystical manifestation because its source issued from deep within the unseen earth.
By scrying its surface holy waters could reveal 'Imbas Forosnai' the gift of esoteric knowledge and so the dark pools of well water became windows through which the 'fili' the visionary poets of ancient Ireland could glimpse the flicker and form of other realities through vision and illumination.
In historical testimony to their long standing spiritual importance in Ireland many remarkable megalithic remains can been found in close vicinity to the holy wells; like as dolmens, ogham stones and standing stones. With the historic changing of the guard from Pagan to Christian Ireland we see the emergence of hermitages, early Christian monastic remains, grottos and churches .
I've visited innumerable holy wells since I was a child. On Christmas Eve every year we have a family tradition of visiting the Holy Well close to Mount Melleray abbey in the Knockmealdown Mountains. On a silent winters night when the sky is glistening with stars, its easy to grasp this sense of the sacred as you drink the cold, clean, curative water into your being.
From the realm of imagination this painting speaks to these senses and beliefs.
The Original painting as well as Framed Limited Edition Prints 48X34 cm - €125, Large Unframed Print 45 x 60 cm - €150 available for purchase.