What is recorded here

St. Dallans Well in County Kilkenny is a holy well whose water still flows through an underground drain from its old basin to a new one, linking two places where people once gathered to pray. The Flood family moved the well about forty metres north, yet the old stone basin remains beside a small rath, holding the shape of earlier devotion. For decades the first Sunday of August drew crowds who argued whether the true feast day was the first or third of August, turning worship into lively dispute. That argument is gone now, but the well keeps doing what it has always done: carrying water, memory and doubt from one place to another.

Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map as 'St. Dallan's Well', this is the original location of the holy well which was subsequently moved c. 40m to the N (see KK023-054----). According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 376), 'the well was removed to its present position by the Flood family. The old basin, however, remains uninjured, about 40 yds. to the north [actually to the S], beside the fosse of a small square rath [KK023-100----]. A drain conveys the water, underground, from the old well to the new one. A pattern was held at the well on the first Sunday of August, till the early part of the 19th century, but tradition says that the people attended it were divided as to whether the real pattern day, that is, the feast day of the saint, was the first day of August or the third'. Satellite imagery (Google Earth, imagery date 25 April 2021) shows that the area of scrub where this well was formerly located has been reclaimed. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 17 August 2021

St. Dallan's Well is associated with St. Dallan, a 6th-century Irish poet and saint, known for his hymns and contributions to early Christian literature. The well was traditionally visited for its healing properties, particularly for ailments of the eyes and skin, and was often the site of votive offerings and seasonal rituals.

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