What is recorded here

Holy well in Slanecastle Demesne is a small D-shaped stone basin on the east-facing slope of the Hill of Slane, tucked just inside the north graveyard wall. John O’Donovan heard in the 1830s that Patrick himself had knelt there, leaving his mark on a stone, while Cogan wrote that people still climbed its steps for stations into the 1850s. The water may have failed in summer, but the hole remained: a sharp-edged cup in the hill where prayer could be poured down and kept.

Located on the E-facing slope of the Hill of Slane and just inside the N wall of the graveyard (ME019-060016-). John O’Donovan in the 1830s described Tobar Patrick as having stones to the ground level but the well ran dry in the summer. There was a stone that had the imprint of the saint’s knees (Herity 2001, 44). Cogan (1862, 1, 296) describes it as having a stone wall with steps leading down to it and stations were held there until the 1850s. The well is a D-shaped area (int. dims 1.5m E-W; 1.3m N-S) defined by the graveyard wall on the N side and a small wall (Wth 0.5m; H 0.3-0.5m) elsewhere. It is closed with loose stones. (French 2012, 11-12) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 17 November 2021

This holy well is associated with Saint Patrick and is known as Tobar Patrick, a name indicating its early Christian significance. It was traditionally believed to have curative properties and was likely a site of pilgrimage or ritual, as suggested by the presence of stones at ground level and its location near a graveyard.

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