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Ritual site - holy well

Lady's Well

Holy well in Garrycastle, County Offaly, Ireland.

  • AccessNot confirmed
  • National MonumentNot recorded
  • DateNot stated
  • Folklore1 quote
  • PhotoWanted
Garrycastle, Co. Offaly53.15638, -7.96124
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Unofficial guide. Not the National Monuments Service, the OPW, Fáilte Ireland or the landowner. Disclaimer

At a glance

  • TypeRitual site - holy well
  • Condition (as surveyed)Gone: no visible trace

Picked out from the Archaeological Survey description below.

Can you visit?

  • No source says it is open to the public.Most monuments in Ireland stand on private farmland.
  • Ask the landowner before crossing fields, close gates, leave the stones as you find them.Visiting responsibly
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History and description

Lady's Well is one of six holy wells (OF029-015006-/007-/008-/009-/010-) recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1838, only four of these six wells were depicted on the OS 6-inch maps. Today the precise location of this holy well cannot be identified on the ground, a slight hollow depression along a ridge of rock outcrop located to the NE of the stream may mark the site of the filled in holy well.

Full archaeological record 306 words

Lady's Well is one of six holy wells (OF029-015006-/007-/008-/009-/010-) recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1838, only four of these six wells were depicted on the OS 6-inch maps. Today the precise location of this holy well cannot be identified on the ground, a slight hollow depression along a ridge of rock outcrop located to the NE of the stream may mark the site of the filled in holy well. One of four holy wells (OF029-015004-/006-/007-/008-) depicted on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map where they are shown located immediately to the N of a stream running E-W which at that time was located inside the boundary of the graveyard (OF029-015002-). One of the four holy wells on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map is annotated as ‘Lady's Well’. The location of this well was recorded in 1838 by the Ordnance Survey Letters as being ‘a short distance from the Church yard “All Saints Well”, Tobar na Naomh (OF029-015004-), lying at the foot of a large tree which inclines southwards; a few yards to the north of this well is Lady’s Well and a few yards to the east of Lady Well are the small wells called Eye Wells (OF029-015006-/007-/009-/010-); they are three in number. (There were four, but one ran dry). These small wells are called eye wells and head wells, from the circumstances of their water being applied to sore eyes and used as a remedy for head-aches. A patron was held here on SS. Peter and Paul’s day (June 29) and on the Sunday previous to the 1st of August, but it has been discontinued these three years back’ (O’Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 4). In order to obtain a cure for your headache the custom at All Saint's Well was for people to visit the well on three successive days (Logan 1980, 78).

Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service (CC BY 4.0) · Compiled by Caimin O'Brien · Updated 05 September 2013 · Based on the Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly. It describes the site as it was when surveyed.

Folklore and traditions

In order to obtain a cure for your headache the custom at All Saint's Well was for people to visit the well on three successive days (Logan 1980, 78).
As recorded by the Archaeological Survey · a tradition, not a fact

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      Around Lady's Well

      Other heritage nearby

      Recorded within 5 km

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