St.Johns Well (now dry)

Situated on the S side of a small fold towards the bottom of the steep E-facing slope of the Slaney valley with the N-S river c. 200m to the E. The site of St John's Well where the pattern was held on 24th June until c. 1800 according to John O’Donovan writing c. 1840 (O'Flanasan 1933, vol. 2, 44) is c. 30m to the NW of the parish church (WX032-009001-), but this location is now occupied by a quarry. June 24th is the feast of the birth of John the Baptist, whose mother, Elizabeth, was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. John was blessed in the womb by Mary, but his father, Zachary, had the temerity to question the Angel Gabriel when he appeaered in a vision. Consequently Zachery was struck dumb until he named the baby John. John went on to lead the life of a hermit, wearing camel-hair and living in the desert. He may have been a teacher of Jesus, whom he baptised in the River Jordan, which was the first baptism. (Butler 1883, 90) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 31 August, 2012 Amended: 20 February, 2014

St. John's Well was associated with the veneration of St. John the Baptist, and its annual pattern day on 24th June, the feast day of the saint, likely involved local pilgrimages and devotional practices. The well, now dry, was probably a site of healing or purification, common in Irish holy well traditions linked to saintly intercession.