Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Covered holy well standing in S quadrant of Grallagh graveyard (DU007-001004-) which is annotated 'St. Michael's Well' on the 1837 ed. OSi six-inch map and subsequent editions of the OSi historic maps. Also known locally as 'St. Macullin's Well' and 'St Patrick's Well'. St. John's Well (DU007-002----) lies 64m to S. The spring well in Grallagh graveyard is enclosed by a stone house 20m S of Grallagh church (DU007-001001-). The water of the well is accessed down three steps with a shamrock carved into the first step. The well is covered by an impressive, steeply pitched stone building of 20th-century date aligned on a N-S axis with pointed cut-stone doorway in the centre of S wall. The well is covered by a stone vaulted roof with walls that plastered internally with two niches containing votives offerings adjacent to the steps in E and W side walls. Tradition that the water cures whooping cough. Holy well with its stone house was described by D'Alton (1838, 493) as follows; 'The churchyard here is large, having in it an arched well, dedicated to the same saint [Maccallin], and overhung by a fine elder tree'. In 1887 the holy well and its stone house appears to have been repaired or rebuilt as Walsh (1888, 245) recorded the following details; 'To the S is a well, covered in by a carefully-restored stone-roofed building' (Walsh 1888, 245). In former times, a pattern day was held here on the first Sunday in August (Healy 1975, 19; Ó Danachair 1958, 75).
The following folklore collected by Oldtown School recorded the following traditions about this holy well which was associated with St Patrick rather than St Michael; 'There is a Holy Well in the Grallagh Churchyard called Saint Patrick's well and there is a cure for the whooping cough in it. Anyone who has whooping cough goes to this well and drinks some of the water and they get cured. If anyone has sore eyes they rub some of the water to their eyes and they get cured. The well is covered with ivy. If a person has rheumatism visits this well on the night of the patron and say three Hail Mary's to Saint Patrick they get cured of any disease they have' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0787, Page 50; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428183/4384596).

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Updated by: Christine Baker

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 4 April 2023

References

D'Alton, J. 1838 (Reprint 1976) The history of the county of Dublin. Cork. Tower Books.

Ó Danachair, C. 1958 The holy wells of county Dublin. Reportorium Novum 2, 68-87; 2, No. 2 The holy wells of County Dublin: A supplementary list, 233-5.

Healy, P. 1975b Third report on monuments and sites of archaeological interest in county Dublin. An Foras Forbartha, Dublin.