Dublin Core
Title
St Finian
Description of Well Item Type Metadata
1 Name of well and saint
St Finian’s Well
2 Townland, County, GPS
Clonard, Meath
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
“In the 1930s the well was described as about three feet in diameter and about three feet wide and was neglected. No pattern was held there at the time. In recent years a wall was erected around the well and steps allowing access to the water were constructed. The well features on the Clonard Heritage Trail. For the Clonard pilgrimage in 2011 a new entrance was created to the well to facilitate pilgrims” (French 2012: 42).
4 Cure
“Cures were attributed to the waters of St Finian’s Well. St Finian is said to have bestowed a blessing on the people of Clonard whereby nobody from the are would ever be killed by lightning” (French 2012: 42).
8 Stories
“Born in the latter half of the fifth century in Myshall, Co. Carlow Finian studied under St Foirtchern of Trim before travelling to Wales for further studies. Led by an angel to Clonard Finian founded a monastery and school of learning beside the river Boyne at Cluain-Eraird, Erard’s lawn or meadow. St Finian became known as a great teacher and students flocked to Clonard, at one point three thousand students were attending the school including twelve who were to become apostles of Ireland. Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, two Brendans, Canice and Colmcille of Iona are among the many students to have trained under Finian” (French 2012: 41).
“St Finian had a cow and no matter how big a vessel was the cow couldn’t fill it with milk. One day a man arrived and said he had a vessel that the cow could not fill and produced a strainer or a sieve. The cow was milked and the milk miraculously filled the vessel” (French 2012: 41-42).
“St Finian of Clonard died from yellow fever about 548 and his feast day is 12 December” (French 2012: 42).
“Clonard went on to become the seat of the bishop of Meath and today Finian is the patron saint of the Diocese” (French 2012: 42).
“One of St Finian’s main considerations when selecting the site for his monastery at Clonard was access to a clean water supply. Wells provided clean water and could be used as a source of holy water and even utilized for baptizing new converts. An angel warned Finian to move the well from the spot he had selected and leave that ground as the cemetery and that is what Finian did. Leaving Ard na Reilig, the height of the cemetery, Finian founded his monastery nearby and dug a new well. St Finian moved his monastery to the hill called Church Hill and the well on the eastern side is now the holy well” (French 2012: 42).
“St Finian had a cow and no matter how big a vessel was the cow couldn’t fill it with milk. One day a man arrived and said he had a vessel that the cow could not fill and produced a strainer or a sieve. The cow was milked and the milk miraculously filled the vessel” (French 2012: 41-42).
“St Finian of Clonard died from yellow fever about 548 and his feast day is 12 December” (French 2012: 42).
“Clonard went on to become the seat of the bishop of Meath and today Finian is the patron saint of the Diocese” (French 2012: 42).
“One of St Finian’s main considerations when selecting the site for his monastery at Clonard was access to a clean water supply. Wells provided clean water and could be used as a source of holy water and even utilized for baptizing new converts. An angel warned Finian to move the well from the spot he had selected and leave that ground as the cemetery and that is what Finian did. Leaving Ard na Reilig, the height of the cemetery, Finian founded his monastery nearby and dug a new well. St Finian moved his monastery to the hill called Church Hill and the well on the eastern side is now the holy well” (French 2012: 42).
9 Publications
French, Noel. 2012. Meath Holy Wells. Trim: Meath Heritage Centre.