St. Annes Well

Located on the floor of a small W-E valley, at its S edge and at the base of the bluff on which the castle (WX047-050002-) and mass-house (WX047-050001-) are situated. According to John O’Donovan writing c. 1840 the pattern was kept on the 26th of July (O’Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 200) and it is still held on that date. The bluff is faced with stone and the well faces NE. This is a D-shaped well (dims 0.75m x c. 0.5m) with a pointed opening (H c. 1.1m) of undressed stone. Above the opening is a pointed niche with a statue of St. Anne. Water enters the well from the S and an underground channel leads N where it meets the water from St. James’ Well (WX047-049----) and is led off to the SE through a small park. The parish church of Tomhaggard (WX047-052001-) is c. 55m to the NNE. St. Anne was the mother of Mary and was revered in the church as a paragon of virtue in marriage. She also had a special care for the education of young children. A church was dedicated to her in Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian I c. 550 AD, and when her remains were discovered they were moved there in 710 AD. From Constantinople her cult spread around the Christian West. (Butler 1883, 105)

St. Annes Well is associated with St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, and was traditionally visited for healing and fertility. Local folklore suggests that the well’s waters were believed to have curative properties, particularly for women’s ailments, and rituals involving ninefold prayers or rounds were often performed.