St. Cathaldus's Well

St. Cathaldus's Well

The Well of St. Cathaldus is dedicated to Saint Cathaldus.

The well is located in Canty, Count Waterford (west of Dungarvan).

The well is located in a field owned by a farmer and his family. A large crab apple tree used to shade the well, but most of the tree has been removed.

It is said that the well once held cures for sore eyes.

The pattern day was once celebrated on May 10th, but has now fallen out of popularity with pilgrims as it is believed the well is no longer curative.

Rosaries were once tied to the crab apple tree that grew above the well. Close to 100 years ago, children from the village would throw rocks at the tree to knock down the apples, but the rocks would then fall into the surrounding field. The farmer who owned the land (Mr. Kiely) became angry at the children because one of their rocks had fallen into the hay he was cutting and had broken his scythe when he went to cut the hay. He cut the tree down and threw it into the corner of the field before dying several months later from unknown causes. The well dried for several days after the man cut down the tree, and now dries each summer.

The well is no longer visited for its cures. Rather, pilgrims will visit the site in order to honor Saint Cathaldus.

It is said that the well lost its curative nature after an unknown woman washed her clothing in the well's waters .

Eugene Broderick (2016) Broderick, Eugene. 2016. Patterns and Patrons: The Holy Wells of Waterford. (p.52)
http://homepage.eircom.net/~whitech/historyofcanty.htm

This site was deemed to be significant to the life of St. Cathaldus by an Italian delegation in the year 2000 who visited Canty in order to honor the saint.