Holy Wells

Holy Wells.

On Tallaght Hill [The proverb “Tallaght Hill Talk” appears to have arisen from the circumstance that brawlers and rioters, who had been confined by the Archbishop’s court at St. Sepulchre’s, used, when returning to their native mountains, to give vent to their feelings on Tallaght Hill, which was outside the jurisdiction of the Archbishop. - Wilde’s Memoirs of Gabriel Beranger.] there is a well called “Tobar na Cluar,” or the Ear Well; it was said to be good for the cure of ear-aches and headaches. Near Orlagh gate, about 100 yards from the road, in a field on the west side of Mount Venus, is a well dedicated to St. Columkille. There are some very old thorn trees round it, formerly covered with rags, ribbons, and garlands, the votive offerings of those who came to drink of the water. [See Wood-Martin’s *Pagan Ireland, *p.157.] Beside the well is a large granite rock, in which is the deeply marked impression of the knee of the saint where he knelt to drink. It is said that the water of this well cannot be made to boil; but I never tried.

Of late years, this and all the other it holy wells in the country have been greatly neglected; their curative powers are not tried by the descendants of those who believed in them, and there are very few who would not prefer a pint of porter to a drink of the holiest well in the country. In the field, near the well, stands a large plain granite cross, erected about 1849, with several others - some of granite, and others of wood - to secure immunity from the cattle plague.

A spring, by the side of the road, near Tymon Castle, is called the Fairy Well. Close to it, is a small mound called the Fairy Hill.

To the east of Balrothery Hill is a fine, strong spring*, *formerly a blessed well, now called the Limekiln Well, from a small hill near it, called the Limekiln Hill, though no limekiln now exists near the stream. [This was possibly the spring to which Swift, accompanied by Lord Orrery and Dr. Sheridan, made an expedition in 1733, and of which the following extraordinary account appeared in many of the Irish and English papers of the time. Sir Walter Scott says it is difficult to know whether it is serious or ironical. “Dublin, May 19th, last Saturday, the 12th of this instant, the Right Honourable the Earl of Orrery, the Reverend Dr. Swift Dean of St. Patrick’s, and the Reverend Dr. Sheridan, rode from Dublin to Tallow Hill to take a prospect of the adjacent country. As they were mounting a rock, they observed a stream running through the middle of it, which fell into a natural basin, and was thence conveyed through some subterraneous cavities; but they could not anywhere discover by what secret passage it was conveyed out again; so that they concluded the waters were still in some reservoir within the bounds of the hill, which must infallibly come to burst forth in time, and fall directly upon the city. The Doctor sent for a milking-pail to compute what quantity ran out, which held two gallons, and it was filled in the space of a minute, so that it runs in twenty-four hours 2,880 gallons. This multiplied by 365 produces 1,051,200, and shows the quantity that runs from the rock in a year; so that in three years, about the 15th of November, he computed that it must burst the body of the mountain, and emit an inundation which will run to all points of the Boyne, and greatly endanger the city of Dublin.” - Scott’s *Works 0f Swift, *xviii p. 130.] This well is said to have supplied St. Patrick’s Well, near the Cathedral in Dublin. [Mr. John Martley in a letter to Mr. Handcock, says: “Your statement as to the whereabouts of ‘St. Patrick’s Well’ is at variance with my preconceived opinion. That opinion is partly founded on the fact that the old name of Nassau Street and the line of its consecutive was ‘Patrick’s WeIl Lane.’ This I know from old title-deeds of premises thereabouts. I have also a recollection that Messrs. Cantrell & Cochrane laid claim to having this well on their premises, 2 to 4 Nassau Street.”]

This might be so, for the stream from this well flows into the city water-course, which runs close to St- Patrick’s Cathedral. A little to the west of this well there was formerly an oblong square, enclosed, containing nearly one acre, surrounded by a pretty deep fosse, the site of a village or castle, of which hardly a trace remains.

A fine spring, now covered over, in a field at the back of Fir House, is led through a drain into the Dodder, nearly opposite the third sluice on the city weir.

As has been before mentioned, there is a well at Tallaght Church, near the old stone font, which is now covered in.

There is a well near Killinardan, called St. Paul’s Well, and another at Corballis. [It was formerly known as Piper’s Well. About 250 years ago Corballis was a flourishing town, and considered the first manor in the County Dublin. Part of the wall of the town is still to be seen, also the site of the jail and of the toll-house, where toll was paid on corn. Eugene O’Curry, in his *Ordnance Survey Letters *of 1837, mentions that there is near Corballis a field called the claish, the trench or furrow-pit, where a number of the inhabitants were buried during a great plague which raged there about 300 years ago.]

There was also a well on the high ground between Tallaght and Balrothery, now covered in, but an old thorn tree marks the spot. Many years ago a farmer named Ledwich owned the around round this well. He was annoyed by the people who frequented it, and broke down his fences; and he ordered his men to bring a load of manure, and to throw it into the well. None of his men would do this. He did it himself, and destroyed the well, As he was driving from the place, his horse ran away. He was thrown out of the cart, and broke his leg, which, according to the notions of the country people, was the punishment due to his crime.

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