Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ritual site - holy well
Killeighter, County Kildare, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Killeighter
- County
- Kildare
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.42592, -6.74331
- SMR number
- KD004-031004-
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Located 6m to the S of a church (KD004-031002-) at the N end of a graveyard (KD004-031003-). Although not indicated on the 1st ed. (1838) of the OS 6-inch map its existence is mentioned in the OSL (Herity 2002, 30). According to Jackson (1979-80, 150) it was visited for headache cures but had no associated pattern, however O'Donoghue (1999, 171) records that it was visited traditionally on St Patricks day and was believed to cure eye ailments, and further, that it was 'refurbished' in 1993 using 'dressed stone' from the nearby church. The spring well occupies an oval area (int. diams. 2.8m E-W; 1.9m N-S; D 0.4m) defined by a mortared stone wall which does not rise above ground level, with three shallow steps leading down from the N. A culverted pipe runs N to feed a stock watering trough abutting the external face of the graveyard wall. A holy tree (KD004-031005-) stands immediately to the S.
Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy
Date of upload: 10 June 2011
Nearby in the register
- Ritual site - holy tree/bushunder 1 mi
- Churchunder 1 mi
- Graveyardunder 1 mi
- Children's burial groundunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.