Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Described as St. Moling's Well on the 1839 and 1924 eds of the OS 6-inch map, and situated on the NE bank of a NW-SE stream, in its steep-sided valley. This is a U-shaped well (dims. 1.25m E-W; 0.8m N-S) defined by a drystone wall and open to the E. It is roofed with lintels, and the pattern was held on the 17th of June according to John O'Donovan writing c. 1840 (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 226) but there is no evidence of veneration now. Moiling was descended from the Uí Dhealga, a branch of ruling Uí Cheinsealaigh in south Leinster. His church at St. Mullin's, Co. Carlow (CW026-011----) bacame a popular centre of pilgrimage that continues to the present. He died in 697 but c. 1160 St. Mullins was granted to the Augustinians at Ferns, who produce two Latin lives of Moling, and there was always a close association between the centres (Ó Riain 2011, 487-90). Moling's church (WX016-021001-), the parish church of Monamoling, is c. 370m to the NNE. (O'Broin 1983-4, 34)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 15 June, 2012
Amended: 29 April, 2014

References

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1933 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of County Wexford, collected during progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838. Typescript in 2 vols. Bray.

Ó Riain, P. 2011 A dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin. Four Courts Press.

Ó Broin, G. 1983-4 The holy wells of Wexford. Journal of the Wexford Historical Society 9, 27-35.