Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

The Obelisk Fountain (NIAH Reg. No. 50080307) on the W end of James's Street opposite St James' Church (DU018-020346-) was locally believed to have been built on the site of the medieval St James's Well that was described in 1610 (Branigan 2012, 82). However the fountain stands 320m W of St. James's Gate (DU018-020035-) and this location does not match the description of the well in the 1620 lease to James Veldon which was was around 14m away from the medieval gate. In 1620 the Dublin Assembly Rolls recorded that; 'James Veldon, tanner, shall have a lease for tearme of fourscore and nyneteene yeares uppon a voyd plott of ground without Saint James gate [DU018-020035-], on the north side thereof, bonding from the said gate to a howse which the said James houldeth neere thereunto, contayneing in breadth from the said gate in the east to the said howse in the west twentie three foote [7m], and in the sowth and north end twentie eight foote [8.5m], and in length from the said gate in the sowth to the well called Saint James well in the north fortie five foote [13.7m] at the yearelie rent of twentie shillinges, sterling current mony in England (CARD Vol. 3, 127).
A pattern and large fair was held at this well annually on the 25th of July, the feastday of Saint James the Apostle (Clarke 2002, 28). In 1610 Barnaby Rich wrote the following about a St. James' Well on the W side of Dublin City; 'On the west part of Dublin they have St. Jeames his well, and his feast is celebrated the 25. of Julie, and upon that day, a great Mart or faire is kept fast by the Well. The commoditie that is there to be vented, is nothing else but Ale, no other merchandize but only Ale: I thinke such another Faire was never heard of in any other place, where a man can not buy so much as a penniworth of pins, but what money hee hath to bestow, hee must lay it out for Ale, and yet it carries the name of S. James his faire. The multitude of rascall people that useth to frequent this faire, are first accustomed to perform certaine ceremonies at S. James his well, in casting the water, backward and forward, on the right side and on the left, and over their heads; then drinking a draught of the water, they go into the Faire, and there installing themselves in some Brothel-booth, they sit and drinke drunke all the day after' (Rich 1610, 52-3). In 1757 Dr. Rutty tested the water from the well of 'St. James's' which he located in Watling Street (Rutty 1757, Table 1 CC).
A possible site of the well was marked in this location by the Friends of Medieval Dublin Map (1978, D1). This would have been one of the conduits which supplied water to the inhabitants of Medieval Dublin (UASCD, 1978, Vol 11, 149). A fountain marked at this location on the 1886 OSi City of Dublin: sheet XVIII.56 matches closely the location of the well as described in the 1620 lease to James Veldon.

Cross-reference with DU018-468----

See attached Rocque's 1756 Map of Dublin City showing the location of St. James's Gate and 1886 OSi City of Dublin: sheet XVIII.56 ("City of Dublin," held by Ordnance Survey Ireland. © Public domain. Digital content: © Ordnance Survey Ireland, published by UCD Library, University College Dublin <http://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:40905>)

Rutty, J. 1757 The Mineral Waters of Ireland. Dublin.

Branigan, G. 2012 Ancient and Holy Wells of Ireland. The History Press Ireland. Dublin.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 21 April 2023

References

Clarke, H.B. 1978 Dublin c. 840 - c. 1540: the medieval town in the modern city. Dublin.

Bradley, J. and King, H.A. 1988 Urban archaeological survey - county Dublin (4 vols.). Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Rocque, J. 1756 An exact survey of the city and suburbs of Dublin. Available at https://libguides.ucd.ie/findingmaps/mapshistDublin Accessed on 5 January .