Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Traditionally called 'Sunday's Well' or 'St. Sylvester's Well'. Not indicated on the 1837 ed. OSi 6-inch map. Annotated 'Well' on the 1863 ed. OSi 25-inch map. D'Alton (1838, 186) recorded that; 'In the middle of the town is a well of clear and wholesome water, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and covered with an arched enclosure , within which her statue was formerly set'. O'Reilly (1910, 147-8) disagreed with the dedication recorded by D'Alton and wrote the following details about the well; 'This well was situated towards the centre of the road way at the top of New Street, the side street running northwards from The Mall, or main street, to the shore, and was in a line with the fronts of the houses on the north side of The Mall. The well is now covered
in; but the source supplies a pump erected at the rear of the new National' Schools. When I first saw it in the sixties, it was surmounted by a small, slate-roofed, circular stone-house about 12 feet high and nine feet wide, in which a flight of steps descended to the well, the door of which was then kept locked. D'Alton was misled as to the dedication of the well by the facts that, till a comparatively recent period, a patron was held at it on Lady Day in August, which afterwards was transferred to the Sunday following that feast, and that a statue of the Blessed Virgin had formerly been placed there, as is shown by the continuous tradition of the people as to the name of the well, and the dedication of the Roman Catholic church'. Folklore collected from Malahide School recorded that; 'There is a well in Malahide called Sunday's Well because it was not there on a certain Saturday night but was first seen on the following morning. It is just outside the school windows' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0791, Page 158;https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4498689/4385454).
Today the well structure stands in a square at the rear of St. Sylvester's R.C. Church. The well is covered by a conical stone built superstructure. Access to the spring from a flight of steps. Pattern day on August 15th (Ó Danachair 1958 78; O'Reilly 1910, 147-65; Flanagan 1984, 110-113). A modern stone plaque at the foot of the well is inscribed: St Sylvester's well ca. AD 430, restored 2001.

See attached photographs taken by Henry A. Wheeler of the National Monuments Service 21/07/1976

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Updated by: Christine Baker

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 13 April 2023

References

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.

O'Reilly, P.J. 1910 The dedications of the well and Church at Malahide. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 40, 147-65.

Flanagan, N. 1984 Malahide: past and present. Malahide. Privately published.

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