Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Known as the Chink well, this natural spring well is located deep in a sea cave below the boundary wall of Portraine Demesne. Folklore collected from Swords School recorded that; 'Along the coast at Portrane there are many interesting caves, and inlets, But one of great interest is the cave where the Chink well is. This well is a scooped hole in a rock, which always supplies fresh spring water. It is said that this well got its name through its water being a cure for the Chink cough, more commonly known as whooping cough in this district.
The strange thing about this well is, that at high tide, the sea surrounds it, but it does not affect the waters of it, which still remain sweet and fresh. Old people in the district say that in the days of the persecution of the Catholics, the priests and other religious Clergy men were compelled to practice their religious duties, and to say Mass in the nearby caves. The only place they could get water for long periods at a time. They began to pray hard to God, to give them some way to obtain water, and through some miracle the waters of the well were miraculously preserved from the salt of the sea. Above this cave there is another cave, which is said to be the entrance to the well from the adjoining caves' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0789, Pages 267-8; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4498569/4384994). Folklore collected from Malahide School recorded the following tradition about this holy well; 'There is a well near Donabate called Chink Well. There was a great number of children cured from the Whooping-cough by drinking the water. Chink Well is in a big rock. The field in which it is situated is owned by the Portrane Asylum' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0791, Page 157;https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4498689/4385453/4498718). Accessible at low tide (Healy 1975, 25). Local belief that it had the cure for whooping cough or 'chin cough' (Skyvova 2005, 61).

See attached photo (01) taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, courtesy of and © National Folklore Collection, UCD. The Photographic Collection, F024.06.00067 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/16630.

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Updated by: Christine Baker

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 12 April 2023

References

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

Skyvova, P. 2005 Fingallian Holy Wells. Fingal County Libraries.