What is recorded here

St. Feichin’s holy well in Riesk, County Kilkenny, is called Desart Well after leaving Cill-Feichin because of profanation and reappearing half a mile south-west. The water did not stop; it moved the boundary of the sacred place. People may have drunk, washed or prayed at either site, carrying the same belief into new soil while the old margin faded from memory.

According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 389-90) St. Feichin’s holy well, ‘was formerly beside his church of Cill-Feichin [KK022-021001-], but it removed thence, owing to some act of profanation, and broke out again about a half a mile to the south-west in the townland of Riesk, where it is now generally known as “Desart Well.”’. The precise location of the original position of this well (KK022-021004-) and the subsequent position, are unknown. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 May 2021

St. Feichin’s holy well is associated with the early Christian saint Feichin, a 6th-century monastic founder linked to several sites in Leinster. The well was traditionally believed to have curative properties, particularly for eye ailments, and was reportedly relocated after an act of desecration, according to local tradition and historical records.

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