Description
This well is named after St. Bernard of Clairvaux,(1090-1153) a
French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian
order. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into
the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new
abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val
d'Absinthe, about 15 km southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. According to
tradition, Bernard founded the monastery on 25 June 1115, naming it
Claire VallÃce, which evolved into Clairvaux. There Bernard would
preach an immediate faith, in which the intercessor was the Virgin
Mary.
In the year 1128, Bernard assisted at the Council of Troyes, at
which he traced the outlines of the Rule of the Knights Templar,
who soon became the ideal of Christian nobility (and who are known
to have had a significant presence in the area especially near
Lismore.
In 1139, Bernard assisted at the Second Council of the Lateran, in
which the surviving adherents of the schism were definitively
condemned. About the same time, Bernard was visited at Clairvaux by
Saint Malachy, Primate of All Ireland, and a very close friendship
formed between them. Malachy wanted to become a Cistercian, but the
Pope would not give his permission. Malachy would die at Clairvaux
in 1148.
It is likely that the nearby Cistercian abbey built and
sanctified this well sometime in the 12th century, 'Barnane' being
a derivative use of the name Bernard, and St. Bernard is the patron
saint of the Cistercian Order although many people would recognise
him as the patron saint of a Famous Irish Chain of Grocery Stores
(Hint: The second word in the name of the cache!)
[ ;) ]
St. Bernard of Clairvaux also appears with St. Patrick and St.
Joseph on the stained glass window behind the main altar in St.
Patrick’s Church
Hitherto this well provided a valuable source of water for the
people of Fermoy
The Cache
Parking is available on Street in Fermoy and from the provided
parking co-ords the cache is a 5-10min walk along the river (And is
en route to the Lonliest Bird
Box in the World)!
Happy Hunting!!!
Information: Taken from Wikipedia
