Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

'St. Bridget's Well' in the parish of Clondalkin, consists of a spring well with stone drain is enclosed by railings and a stone wall. The spring is contained within a rectangular chamber which has a lintelled roof. Its position is marked by a mature ash tree. Dedicated to St. Brigid. Described by Ó Danachair (1958, 85)as follows; 'A clear spring in a small roofed well. Embellished with slabs, a statue and a crucifix, and surrounded by a railing. An old whitethorn tree overhangs and a young ash and an elder are close by. Still visited, especially for the cure of sore eyes. Usually three visits are made, prayers said, water drunk and the eyes bathed. Many medals are nailed to the tree as offerings; formerly the cloth used in bathing the eyes was hung on the tree. Legends : It can never run dry. St. Brighid baptised pagans here'. The Ordnance Survey Name Books recorded that there was a; 'beautiful Spring on the side of this lane is nicely built over and on a marble slab is written 't. Bridget's Well' (Ua Broin 1944, 199). According to Ua Broin (ibid.), 'the structure referred to in the O.S. Letters and still present was built subsequent to 1761, and that an older protection was a two-step surround. At the well a bush is shown on a couple of the maps and bending over it there is now a venerable hawthorn attached to which pieces of rag, religious emblems, &c, are often to be seen betokening continued belief in the curative powers of its waters. Within living memory there was no special date for visiting the well, but formerly there would seem to have been, judging by an entry in Austin Cooper's diary according to which it was "resorted to as an Universal Restorative on a particular day" which he did not name. Portion of the inscribed slab in the well masonry was still to be seen 50 or 60 years ago. Tradition now reaching vanishing point has preserved the memory of a burial place for unbaptised infants (DU021-010003-) near the well. Up to about 50 years ago its mounded earth enclosed by a ditch stood immediately across the lane where it passes the well. Without information as to what it represented the enclosure was shown on O.S. maps. In private possession there is a document of 17th Octr., 1843, signed by W. Caldbeck, promising to a predecessor of the present owner a lease of the field containing the site. Three items appear on the document, one being "Burial ground 4 perches."
Folklore collected from Clondalkin School recorded the following tradition about this well; 'This well is about 200 yds from the Boot road, a road which leads from Clondalkin on the south west side, to the Naas road. It is surrounded by stone work and a stream flows flows [sic] from it along the Boot road into the Camac river. People do not come there on any fixed day, but some people make rounds there, at any time of the year. Sore eyes are believed to be cured there. Bits of rags, bits of rosary beads, old coins, pencils, etc., are left on a bush or on a stone by people who visit. A lane way leads from the road to the well, and the water of the well is used by the local people for domestic purposes' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0796, Page 010; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428223/4387053/4457244?ChapterID=4428223).
Archaeological testing by John Channing under licence number 93E0016 was conducted at St Brigid's Well, Brideswell Commons, Clondalkin, prior to road construction and was funded by Dublin County Council. There is a tradition of a killeen in the vicinity of the well. A series of test trenches revealed no archaeologically significant strata (1993:047; https://excavations.ie/report/1993/Dublin/0001425/).

See attached photos (02-08) taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, courtesy of and © National Folklore Collection, UCD. The Photographic Collection, F024.06.00013; F024.06.00018; F024.06.00019; F024.06.00121; F024.06.00262; F024.06.00263; F024.06.00264 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 19 April 2023

References

Ua Broin, L. 1944 Clondalkin, Co. Dublin and it's neighbourhood. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 74, 191-218.

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.