Dublin Core
Title
St. Catherine's well
Description of Well Item Type Metadata
1 Name of well and saint
St. Catherine's Well
2 Townland, County, GPS
County Dublin, Drumcondra
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
The structure housing the well was built into the side of a house. Currently, the well is located along the main walkway of Griffith park, but all surface remains of the well were removed due to repeated vandalism. A brass plaque attached to a fence around the park marks the approximate location of the original well.
4 Cure
Cures sore eyes, toothache, and whooping cough; cures only worked if the water was drank from a skull
5 Pattern day
“No annual celebration or pattern days within living memory”
8 Stories
The spring that fills Saint Catherine’s well rose beneath the kitchen floor of a home in Drumcondra, the structure that housed the well at the time was built into the side of the house. After the house was demolished, local officials made efforts to preserve the well by using ornamental shrubbery, which has since then disappeared. The practice of drinking the well’s water from a skull points to pre-Christian rituals.
9 Publications
Branigan, Gary. 2012. Ancient & Holy Wells of Dublin.