What is recorded here

St Patrick's Well in Gowran, County Kilkenny, was a ritual water source hidden in pasture south-west of the town. Local tradition remembers it as a holy well, though the water has vanished from sight and the hole is no longer marked. The loss does not diminish the place; it sharpens the picture of people drinking, praying or leaving offerings beside an ordinary field.

SW of Gowran, c. 40m N of a tributary of the River Barrow which flows c. 5km to the E, immediately W of the road leading from the town to Castle Ellis Bridge, in pasture. Not indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map but indicated and annotated 'W' on the 1900 revision. According to local tradition it was known as 'St Patrick's Well' (pers. comm. Mary Moran, 7 July 1992) and this suggests it was a holy well. The well has been closed up and is no longer visible in the field. The 'Bastionfort Well' is located c. 160m to the W in the same field, though in a different townland. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 25 March 2021

Linked to St Brigid, the well is traditionally associated with healing and fertility, with pilgrims visiting to seek cures for ailments and to leave offerings. The site's absence from early maps suggests a long-standing but undocumented devotional practice in the area.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.