What is recorded here

St. Finans Well in County Kilkenny was a fine spring gushing from under an aged ash, drawing pilgrims with head-ache until about 1835. Local tradition claims the water moved seventy metres when the ash fell, leaving behind a muddy hollow and a dry channel that still borders an ancient moated site. The lost stream may have carried more than rain, perhaps bearing the prayers of those who knelt beside the roots before the tree crashed down.

In a densely wooded copse c. 20m SE of Glashagal River. According to the OS Letters (1839) (O'Flanagan 1939, vol. 1, 26), at this well, dedicated to St Finan, 'a Patron was held some day in August till about thirty years ago'. It is described by Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 106) as, 'a fine spring, gushing forth from under an aged ash' and he relates that, 'Pilgrimages were made at the well, especially by persons afflicted with head-ache, till about 1835'. According to local tradition the well moved c. 70m to the SW when an overhanging ash tree was uprooted. This second spring is at present a muddy hollow covered in dense overgrowth, c. 0.8m below field level. The well itself, now dry, was the source of a stream which flowed N into the Glashagal River. The shallow channel created by this stream also serves as the W side of the fosse of an adjacent moated site (KK005-012002-). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 April 2017

St. Finan's Well, also known as Tinnalintan, was associated with a local patron festival held around August until the early 19th century. The well, located near the Glashagal River, reflects a tradition of saintly veneration and seasonal communal gatherings common in early modern Ireland.

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