What is recorded here

St Dominicks Well in County Cork still bubbles limpid water from limestone rock, though rags have vanished from the old tree and pilgrims no longer cluster beneath it. Sheehan built a tall tapering obelisk nearby around 1870, perhaps believing that stone could hold back forgetfulness as much as rain. The well may have belonged to a crone, a priest or Dominick himself, but its name keeps changing like water under pressure. What remains is a small sandstone plinth, a hidden chamber and the suspicion that Glanworth still wants people back.

In flood plain on SW side of Funshion River, just N of Glanworth. Well overgrown; water runs off to NE; site marked by sandstone plinth (1m x 1m; H 1m) to SE; no longer in holy use. Smith (1750, vol. 2, 344) described 'a fine spring, bubbling out of a limestone rock, of limpid water...over the well is a large old tree on the boughs of which an infinite number of rags of all colours are tied'. Windele (1897, 379) called it 'famous' and said that those who drank from it would 'ever after have a longing desire to return to Glanworth'. Named 'Tober na scruinahur holy well, St Dominick's well or perhaps the well of the priest' in OS Field Book of 1840 (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 3, 135). Byrne (1912, 174) gives well name as 'Cronee, probably dedicated to a virgin of that name which appears in Martyrology of Tallaght'. An obelisk to shelter pilgrims from bad weather was built near the well c. 1870 by local eccentric named Sheehan. This is illustrated and described by Byrne in Grove White (1905-25, vol. 3, 135, photograph opp. 132); it was 'about 18 or 20 feet' high, square in form and tapering to a point. Several crosses are built into the work and at one time it was surmounted by an iron cross. There is an arched chamber at the base...still closer to the holy well is another smaller structure, on which is fixed a little wooden case containing statues'. Plinth adjacent to well probably remains of this structure. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 Images provided by and copyright of Amanda Clarke 2016-2022 https://holywellscorkandkerry.com/

St. Dominic’s Well is associated with St. Dominic of Silos, a 12th-century Spanish saint venerated in Ireland for cures related to skin ailments and livestock diseases. The well, now overgrown and no longer in active use, was historically marked by a sandstone plinth and may have been a site of pilgrimage or local devotion, particularly in times of agricultural hardship.

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