Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

St John's Well was located at the junction of O'Connell Road and the railway line and was obliterated during the construction of St. John's Terrace and the railway. A pattern was traditionally held here on St. John's day. According to Archdall (1786, 120-1) this well was formerly dedicated to St. Maighnain and was changed to St. John by the Knight's Hospitallers (DU018-020286-) of Kilmainham (Cill Mhaighneann). In 1538 Dr. Staples, Bishop of Meath preached here (D'Alton 1838, 635). In 1710 the Irish House of Commons passed a resolution declaring the devotion of the well a menace (Joyce 1912, 341-343; Daly 1957, 17). It was venerated up until the 19th-century. In 1818 a ferry service was kept in order to keep one or more boats available for a week each year to ferry those from the north side of the city who wished to cross the river near Steeven's Lane for the purpose of visiting St. John's Well (De Courcy 1996, 204). In July of 1834 police reports recorded that; 'little difficulty would arise to the proposed abolition has been recently proved by the suppression of the celebration of Midsummer at St. John's Well, near Kilmainham, where similar proceedings had been carried on for many years. This was effectually accomplished last month through the intervention of the police, with the concurrence of the proprietor of the soil' (Anon. 1834, 576).
The well was described by Joyce (1912, 340-1) as follows; 'Near where O'Connell Road (formerly St. John's Road) crosses the railway, there stood until a few years ago, inside a niche in the wall on the western side of the road, the famous St. John's Well, ruthlessly swept away during the alterations consequent upon the building of St. John's Terrace. Its original position was, however, on the other side of the road, one hundred and twenty yards lower down the hill in the direction of the Phoenix Park. A pattern was formerly held here on St, John's Day (24th June), and to accommodate the votaries, a number of tents and booths used to be erected, giving the place the appearance of a fair. As might be expected, an institution of the kind so near a large city, attracted a mixed class of patrons, and the drunkenness and debauchery by which it in time became characterised, made it such a nuisance that efforts were made on several occasions, by the clergy and others, in the 18th and 19th centuries, to have it suppressed. Even up to the time of its disappearance, the well was not without a few old pilgrims on St. John's Day, some for devotional purposes, and others to procure some of the water, which on the anniversary was believed to possess a peculiar sanctity. A flat slab of stone in the waste plot adjoining St. John's Terrace appears to mark the recent site of this ancient well, which it is presumed has met the ignoble fate of being drained into the street sewer'. Ó Danachair (1958, 80) recorded that an; 'iron hatch cover on the west side of Islandbridge Road, opposite Bully's Acre, seems to mark the site of this once famous well'.

Anon. 1834 Evidence on Drunkenness [taken in June and July, 1834] presented to the House of Commons, by the Select Committee appointed ... to inquire into this subject, etc

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 18 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.

De Courcy, J. 1996 The Liffey in Dublin. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan.

Daly, M. 1957 Curative wells in old Dublin. Dublin Historical Record 17, 13-24.

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

Archdall, M. 1786 Monasticon Hibernicum: or, an history of the abbies, priories, and other religious houses in Ireland. Dublin. Luke White.

Joyce, W. St. John 1912 (Reprint 1995) The neighbourhood of Dublin by Weston St. John Joyce. Dublin. Hughes and Hughes.