St. Naile’s Well

St. Naile’s Well

St. Naile’s Well (Tober Náile)

Townland of Lismonaghan, Civil Parish of Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh

The well is in the graveyard near the parish church of St. Naile, on a slope just below the ruins of a medieval church (probably 14 or 15th century). There is a stone well house built around the well. A dipper gives access to the water through an iron gate.

The water is said to cure jaundice

Although St. Naile’s feast day is January 27, stations were once said at the well on the last Sunday of July, so the well was very likely originally associated with Lughnasa.

There was once a large penitential stone in the north east of the graveyard, but it is now missing.

One local story says that St. Naile and St. Ninian came to the area together and both wished to build their church on the same spot. They settled the dispute by marking two apples and throwing them into a pool at the top of a nearby hill that was connected by an underground stream with a well further down. They each took an apple, marked it, and dropped it into the pool. They then watched to see which apple would be the first to emerge in the well below. St. Naile’s apple won the race so St. Naile built his church near the well. An old crab apple tree was said to have once stood beside the well, having grown from the seeds of St. Naile’s apple. The apple tree was said to cure warts.

Alternatively, St. Naile was credited with using his crozier to strike a rock and causing a spring to gush forth which then fed the well.

Another legend says there were once two trout in the well. A man caught one of the trout and brought it home to his wife to cook. She cooked the trout and died shortly thereafter, while the man himself went insane. The second trout disappeared from the well and was never seen again.

Ordnance Survey of Ireland Memoirs, Vol. 4
The Schools’ Collection (National Folklore Collection, UCD), Volume 0966, Page 156.