This article is from page 36 of the 2007-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 36 JPG
THE race is on to claim a place in Ire- land’s first ever official holy well tour which will be headed up by broad- caster, Donncha O’Dulaing. Clare people are being asked to nominate
their local well to become part of the tour which is raising money for third world charity Bothar.
“T am delighted to be able to lend my support doing what I love best, meeting people, discovering Ireland and all it has to offer. Almost every
part of Ireland has at least one holy well and the well’s water is believed by many to have healing properties,” said O’Dulaing.
“There are over 3000 wells in Ire- land, more than in any other country in the world , so I am encouraging
people to rediscover them and focus on making history present by raising funds for Bothar.”
O’Dulaing will be travelling all over Ireland on a holy well trail and member of the public are invited to get in touch with him by e-mailing failte @rte.ie.
Holy wells exist in most counties of Ireland.
While many of the old wells have fallen into disrepair, interest in the history and heritage associated with these ancient sites has been revived and there are many people now ac- tively attempting to restore them.
All funds raised will go directly to Bothar projects in the develop- ing world. Bothar give people the eift of a-food-and-income producing animal, together with the training & veterinary back-up necessary to look AVACoOMmAOt-Lmr-bOpbeet-0
Each family that receives an ani- mal must promise to ‘pass-on’ the gift of livestock by donating the first female offspring born to their animal to another needy family that 1s also involved in the Bothar programme.
Through this ‘pass-on’ tradition, the gift multiplies and has the power to help an entire community over many years.
Produce from the animals in the form of milk and honey, cheese and eggs can provide a family with a vi- tally important daily source of nu- trition. Any surplus produce can be sold to earn a little money for other foodstuffs, clothing, medicine and necessities.
The greatest dream of most devel- oping world families is to send their children to school to get an education and get a chance to break out of the cycle of poverty – a living gift from Bothar gives each family an oppor- tunity to do just that.
For further information on the holy well trail tune into Donncha’s ‘Fail- te’ Programme on Saturday evening at 10.0.5pm on RTE Radio 1.