St. Ninnidh's Well

Dublin Core

Title

St. Ninnidh's Well

Description of Well Item Type Metadata

1 Name of well and saint

St. Ninnidh's Well, named for 6th-century Irish saint, one of the "twelve apostles" of Ireland. Not to be confused with an earlier St. Ninnidh who was a friend of St. Brigid, nor with St. Ninnian who brought Christianity to Scotland

2 Townland, County, GPS

Knockninny, Civil Parish of Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

3 Physical description of well and its surroundings

The well is a circular pool about 5 feet in diameter with a low masonry wall around it. The well was improved and the wall constructed in the late 1880s by J.G.V. Porter, a local businessman and owner of the hotel at Knockninny. The well is just off a path, not far from Knockninny Quay. It is also known as the "new well" or Proctor's Well. See the note* below.

4 Cure

The well is said to have the cure for ailments of the eyes. (St. Ninnidh is said to have been blind in one eye.)

5 Pattern day

January 18, feast day of St. Ninnidh

8 Stories

In 2019, Lough Erne Heritage, re-enacted St. Ninnidh's voyage along the Erne, starting from Knockninny Quay to the site of the 6th-century monastery on Inishmacsaint island.

10 More

* The well described above only became visible in the 1880s when a drainage scheme lowered the water level in Lough Erne. Before that, the stream would have entered the Lough under water. The original St. Ninnidh's well is in a grove of trees on higher land above the old shoreline, about 450 yards southwest of the new well. Trees near this well include ash and whitethorn. The remains of an old pump house can still be seen there. People no longer visit the original well and have accepted the new well.

Geolocation