St Doulagh's Well and St. Catherine's Pond

Dublin Core

Title

St Doulagh's Well and St. Catherine's Pond

Description of Well Item Type Metadata

1 Name of well and saint

St Doulagh’s Well and St. Catherine's Pond

2 Townland, County, GPS

County Dublin, Townland of Saintdoolaghs

3 Physical description of well and its surroundings

Located adjacent to St. Doulagh's church near Balgriffin. The well has a 3 feet deep impoundment and is located within the only free-standing baptistery remaining in Ireland (Branigan, 2012:50-52). Branigan notes that the structure once held plaster frescoes on each of the four walls with images of St. Doulagh, St. Patrick, St. Brigid and St. Colmcille. A plaque also hung within with a Latin inscription comparing the holy well to Bethesda's sacred pool.

4 Cure

St. Catherine's Pond (enclosed with a stone impoundment and fed from the stream from St. Doulagh's well) was formerly visited to cure eye disorders.

8 Stories

Girls were baptized in the pond, while boys were baptized in the well (Branigan, 2012:50,51).

9 Publications

Branigan, Gary. 2012. Ancient and Holy Wells of Dublin. Dublin: History Press.

Moss, Rachel. 2003. "St Doolagh's Church." Irish Arts Review, 20(2):122-125.

Swan, D. Leo. 1990. “ ‘St Doulagh’s’ Balgriffin.” In Excavations 1989: Summary Accounts of Archaeological Excavations in Ireland, Edited by Isabel Bennett, 18-19. Dublin: Wordwell.




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