There are 19 wells dedicated to the patron saint in County Limerick but whether he actually set foot here is debatable. I rather hope he did for his presence is everywhere. He left his footprints at Ballyelan; handprints at Ballingary; the print of his back on a tree at Knockainey and saintly kneeprints at Cloncagh and Singland. He threw his prayer book at a rampaging serpent in Cloncagh and avoided poison by druid at Knockpatrick. He was spotted in Kilpeacon, converted pagans in Patrickswell, and baptised a pagan chief in Singland. He blessed wells at Ballingary, Knockainey and Uregare and the entire County Clare from the top of Knockpatrick (or County Kerry depending on where you’re from or where you’re standing! )
Two unusual holy wells dedicated to this extraordinary man lie quite close to Limerick City.
St Patrick’s well, Tobar Padraig, Patrickswell
I knew this once much visited and important holy well had changed enormously over the years but I was keen to investigate. Sited in the village of Patrickswell, a very promising name and not to be confused with a similar name near Knockainey, it lies on the R526, next to a busy garage. The entrance to the well is announced with a flourish, all arches and curlicues and fairy lights.
The interior is walled and neatly kept but the well is a sorry sight. It has been filled over and replaced with a sort of fake wishing well structure complete with a bucket. It is nicely maintained but completely inappropriate.
This well, which St Patrick is said to have blessed, was so important that it has given its name to the village yet it has had a checkered history. According to the Limerick Diocesan Heritage Project, troops were billeted in the village in 1798. The commanding officer broke the stone of the well (discussed further down) and the soldiers’ wives somehow desecrated the well, causing the well to dry up in protest. Further insults occurred in 1890 when a pump was erected over the well, it seemingly having filled up again. This was in use until the 1940s when a typhoid outbreak gave concerns for the cleanliness of the water and the pump was removed. In 1955, O Danachair described a huge elm tree behind the well which was liberally covered in rags, pictures and medals so the photo below must have been taken sometime shortly after that date. The site looks very glum, the well itself with a large stone over it but it’s interesting to see how rural it was.
The well was restored again in 2002 by the Community Council when another pump seems to have been erected and the walls repaired. The photo below was taken in 2017 by the Irish Folk Art Project so what appears today is a very recent development.
On the back wall of the above photo, and in the one from the late 1950s, you can just see a limestone plaque. This rare survivor is a remarkable piece of folk art which has always attracted interest and curiosity.
In 1927, a Mrs Alexander MacDougal was visiting Ireland from Scotland when she came across the carving:
Passing down the only street of the charming village of St Patrickswell, which nestles ‘midst finely wooded pasture lands, adjacent to the Dane-established city of Limerick, attention is soon drawn to the curious figure carving of Ireland’s Patron Saint. The rough-hewn stone, on which the Saint is represented, measures two feet square, and is now carefully built into an ordinary wall, surrounding the roadside well, with its modern inartistic pump, near the barracks of Garda. Beneath the carving may be read, in comparatively modern incised letters, the following inscription:-‘Erected by Thos. McNamara and S. Breay.’
SFC:187/188:0527
She immediately felt it was older, suggesting that McNamara and Breay were stonemasons who found the broken slab, restored it and placed it on the wall:
… Even to the casual observer, the carving of the Saint must appear far more ancient than the lettering of this very brief record, but is is almost certain that Messrs. Breay and McNamara, found the monument lying prostrate, and with commendable care and thoughtfulness for future generations, placed it in a more secure and vertical position. This view being certainly upheld by Samuel Lewis in his ‘Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’, 1837, who when speaking of the veneration paid by the peasantry to this well, informs us that recently a figure of the tutelar Saint rudely carved in stone, has been placed over it.
Ibid
She carefully scrutinised the carving for clues as to its age:
The slab itself shows signs of antiquity far greater than the lettering of this very brief record. Look for example at the thick bell bottomed gown of administration, with the central clasp, which very closely resembles the dress of St Columba’s Clergy. On St Patrick’s right hand we observed the Staff of Order, with three different crosses on its head, instead of the usual crozier hook. On his head is a mitre of antiquated shape, worn differently from the custom of the present day. The local tradition exists that this stone was broken by a bullet from one of Cromwell’s troops but no sign of a bullet mark is visible along the fracture. An opinion is held that the (stone) was broken as far back as 845AD by the Danes of Limerick who were pursuing Forannan who fled from Clonmacnoise with many valuables. He took refuge in Cluin Comada, as Patrickswell was then known, but his hiding place was soon discovered by the Danes, who then are said to have broken the shrine.
Ibid
Mrs MacDougal had her suspicions confirmed by Professor Patrick Weston Joyce, an Irish historian and member of the Irish Royal Academy, and although her ensuing paper is included in the Schools’ Folklore Collection for Tobar Padraig National School, the original article was published in the Oban Times, 1927 under the heading Carving of Great Antiquity.
The light was so dazzling when I visited that my photos came out very badly and I asked permission to use an image by Derek Ryan, the wonderful Tipperary Antiquarian. The depictions are much worn and eroded and Derek has outlined the figures for clarity which shows St Patrick himself with a serpent at his feet, holding a book in his left hand and a triple cross in his right hand, Mrs MacDougal’s description remaining rich and accurate. The break in the stone is clearly seen going horizontally across the piece, also described as being broken by one of Cromwell’s men or the officer from 1798. Its age remains open to conjecture but it is a tenacious survivor when the rest of the well site has been so altered.
St Patrick’s Well, Singland
On the outskirts of Limerick city lies another unexpected and interesting holy well, also dedicated to St Patrick. It is set in a large green space planted with trees, now on the edge of a housing estate erected in the 1980s.
The well area is imposing and clearly defined by concrete walls, the tops painted a jaunty green. However the whole thing has definitely seen better days and has a neglected and sorry air.
An impressive and elaborate shrine surmounted by a stone cross sits over the well, containing a worn statue of St Patrick, a carved inscription at its base proclaiming Naomh Padraig. The whole ensemble was erected in 1904 by the clergy and parishioners through public subscription, a list of those who contributed engraved on the back of the alcove. It seems that the current statue replaced the original and was erected in 1933, the work of sculptor Bill Keane. According to the Limerick Christmas Gazette of 1988, when it was unveiled by Very Rev Canon O Leary more than 3000 people were in attendance.
Today the well itself is covered by an ugly grill, this scattered with an unpleasant array of debris.
The water is copious though and leaking out all over the place, the area surrounding the well rich in watercress and other water-loving plants. It is considered to hold a cure for sore eyes and other ailments and a glimpse of its power ( or not) can be seen in an odd case brought before Limerick Petty Sessions in 1881. Edmond Fitzgerald, an elderly man in his 90s, wanted to find a cure for an unspecified illness. He made inquires through his servant whether anyone could be found who would pay the round on his behalf. Mary Kearney was recommended who duly collected water from the well over Easter and used it to bathe Edmond’s head and shoulders. However, it appears that Edmond received no relief and he refused to pay Mary. It was revealed to the court that Mr Fitzgerald was a Protestant and the prosecution on discovering this stated: surely the water could have no influence upon him! The judges unanimously awarded 15 shillings and costs to Mary as she had carried out the job for which she was employed. (limerickslife.com)
St Patrick is said to have stayed in the area sometime around 448AD whilst he supervised the building of a church – once situated up on the hillside. He slept on a flat stone, the leaba Phadraig, which was retained the outline of his kneeprints after he knelt down to pray. Water was needed for future baptisms and the saint caused the well to spring up. Folklore suggests that it was in Singland that he baptised Caitheann Mhor Mac Blóid, chief of Clan Turlough, the saint having cured his son.
Somewhere on the site are three natural rocks, one of which is the leaba, which were included in the rounds and it was traditional to visit the well for nine days before the feast day, a novena. The feast day is of course the 17th March.
Until the shrine was erected in 1904 there was an ancient tree over the well:
… festooned with bandages, crutches and other walking aids, left by those who attributed relief from their infirmities to the curative properties of the water from the holy well. Then there was the multiplicity of small objects left by the pilgrims – coins, medals, small statues and of course small pieces of cloth which were knotted onto the lower branches of the tree.
St Patrick’s Parish, Limerick Christmas Gazette, 1988
A wonderful photograph remains, in the care of Limerick Museum, showing the mighty tree in all its glory. There is also an intriguing glimpse of what the well originally looked like surmounted by higgledy-piggledy shrines. Rather confusingly, the date is given as 1910 but I suspect it must be earlier as this is obviously pre1904 when the new shrine was erected and the tree dismantled. The group, mainly men, are in their finery and I wonder if it was the pattern day or a last photograph of the old well before being replaced by the new shrine and walls.
Although neglected, this is an interesting and expansive site and there is a very pleasing piece of art hidden in one of the niches of the perimeter wall.
Incidentally, Limerick Museum have a pop up exhibition entitled Pagan Ireland and Saint Patrick, open until the 15th April, well worth visiting.
Edit: A friend visited the Singland site at the beginning of April and was pleased to report that it was looking much healthier – the debris has been removed from the grill and the whole area generally tidied up.
Lá fhéile Pádraig shona dhuit.
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