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Holy Wells
Almost every part of Ireland has at least one Holy Well, places usually associated with local saints and whose water is believed by many to have healing properties. There are over 3000 of them.
Some wells are still tended to carefully by local people, with flowers and nice planting surrounding them, some have statues close by and have had access improved with steps or cleared pathways. Others are hidden away and overgrown, but locals will be able to direct you to them.
Ancient Customs and Beliefs
Many of these places have pre-Christian origins, and were often associated with Celtic goddesses. The pre-Christian belief that drinking from or bathing in the water would confer gifts of wisdom or healing are almost seamless with the Christian belief of healing bestowed by saints.
With the coming of Christianity the wells, rather than being abandoned, were gradually given new significance in line with new beliefs, probably with the support of pragmatic missionaries. To-day however, church authorities are not always supportive of the devotion shown by some Catholics for their wells.
There is still a belief in many places that the water from a holy well will keep a person healthy, with some people traveling regularly to fill bottles or even tanks with the water. The reality is that the water is often contaminated, and should be drunk with great care if at all.
Rags and Other Offerings
Some wells are given particular reverence and the visible signs of this can be quite startling. Quite a few wells have other objects, stones or statues, close to them to which meaning or power is also attributed. Almost all rag trees are in the vicinity of a well.
In other cases, as with St Brigid's Well in Liscannor (right), close to the Cliffs of Moher people have left not only scraps of clothing, but statues heavily bedecked with rosary beads close to the well.
The wells are particularly important in the culture of Ireland's nomadic travelling community, who regularly revisit the same wells year after year and leave votive offerings at them.
Photo by bettlebrox
More Information
Geoff Burton has a great website about Holy Wells, which although it has not been updated for a long time still has excellent information.
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Suggested Reading
In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells
The stories and customs associated with hundreds of Holy Wells, Good directions also.
The Traveller's Guide to Sacred Ireland
Wonderful and well researched book with a good section on wells
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