Dublin Core
Title
Lady's Well
Description of Well Item Type Metadata
1 Name of well and saint
Lady’s Well
2 Townland, County, GPS
Tyrrelstown, Dublin
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
Branigan records that the well “is located on Church Road, south of the ruined church and graveyard…a large white-washed structure originally built in the fourteenth century improved on [some] of the occasions since. It resembles a miniature church and is open at both ends. There are [tunnels] at each end, one with a cross, and the other with a niche which holds a statue of […] Mary” (Branigan 2012: 74).
The well is engraved with:
“[…] ’I H S Holy Mary pray for us’
[…] ‘O blessed mother and ever virgin glorious queen of the world make intercession […to our Lord] Amen.’
[…] Vouchsafe that I may praise thee O sacred Virgin Obtain for me force against thy […]’”
(Branigan 2012: 74).
The well is engraved with:
“[…] ’I H S Holy Mary pray for us’
[…] ‘O blessed mother and ever virgin glorious queen of the world make intercession […to our Lord] Amen.’
[…] Vouchsafe that I may praise thee O sacred Virgin Obtain for me force against thy […]’”
(Branigan 2012: 74).
4 Cure
Cures sprains, cuts, bruises, and rheumatism.
5 Pattern day
“The practice was for the pilgrim to crawl on hands and knees around the well and, lying on their stomachs, put their head inside the well house and drink directly from the water. A large pattern was held here in times past on Lady Day, 8 September, and like at other wells, drunkenness and violence eventually crept in, culminating in the death of a man in 1760 during a fight at the well” (Branigan 2012: 77).
8 Stories
The well was “originally dedicated to St Cuthbert but rededicated in or around 1300” (Branigan 2012: 74).
The well was supported “by Henry VI in the fifteenth century and provided with a financial fund to maintain local Marian shrines, particularly Lady’s Well. During their guardianship numerous improvements were made to the well structure and subsequent to the Order being disbanded on the King’s death, care of the well was undertaken by members of the Gracedieu Nunnery who also built onto the previous structure” (Branigan 2012: 77).
“Legend has it that the well was offended and it moved from the other side of the road to where it is situated now. It is also held that there are nine cures in the water, but nobody knows what they all are” (Branigan 2012: 77).
The well was supported “by Henry VI in the fifteenth century and provided with a financial fund to maintain local Marian shrines, particularly Lady’s Well. During their guardianship numerous improvements were made to the well structure and subsequent to the Order being disbanded on the King’s death, care of the well was undertaken by members of the Gracedieu Nunnery who also built onto the previous structure” (Branigan 2012: 77).
“Legend has it that the well was offended and it moved from the other side of the road to where it is situated now. It is also held that there are nine cures in the water, but nobody knows what they all are” (Branigan 2012: 77).
9 Publications
Branigan, Gary. 2012. Ancient and Holy Wells of Ireland. Dublin: The History Press Ireland.