Patron Well
Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ritual site - holy well

Patron Well

Former holy well in Church Hill, Co. Kilkenny.

  • AccessNot confirmed
  • National MonumentNot recorded
  • DateNot stated
  • FolkloreNone recorded
  • PhotoWikimedia Commons
Church Hill, Co. Kilkenny52.60081, -7.30565
Directions Map

Unofficial guide. Not the National Monuments Service, the OPW, Fáilte Ireland or the landowner. Disclaimer

At a glance

  • TypeRitual site - holy well

What to look for

  • Cross or cross-slab

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

According to Hogan (1880-83, 41-4), ‘The well of the cross, or as it is more popularly called the “Patron Well,” springs from under a small stone-roofed apse on the north side of the road, between the village [Cuffesgrange] and the church [KK023-036001-]; it is now a neglected pool filled with sludge, but within the memory of many it was a neatly enclosed spring of pure fresh water.

Full archaeological record 133 words

According to Hogan (1880-83, 41-4), ‘The well of the cross, or as it is more popularly called the “Patron Well,” springs from under a small stone-roofed apse on the north side of the road, between the village [Cuffesgrange] and the church [KK023-036001-]; it is now a neglected pool filled with sludge, but within the memory of many it was a neatly enclosed spring of pure fresh water. The two “patrons” were still continued to be observed at Grange down to a few years since. I have been informed that in the early part of the present century “May Sunday” was a gala day in that little village’. Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 391) also mentions the ‘holy well of Grange’ and locates it to being, ‘on the roadside, between Grange village and the chapel’.

Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service (CC BY 4.0) · Compiled by Jean Farrelly · Updated 6 September 2021. It describes the site as it was when surveyed.

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      Around Patron Well

      Other heritage nearby

      Recorded within 5 km

      Walks and trails

      • Coille an Fhaltaigh Millennium Park - Red TrailWalking Trail · 3.3 km · nearest point 2.1 km
      • Coille an Fhaltaigh Millennium Park - Green TrailWalking Trail · 2.5 km · nearest point 2.4 km
      • South Kilkenny Cycle LoopRoad Cycling Trail · 43.2 km · nearest point 4.3 km

      Outdoors, towns and places to stay

      • Coill an FhaltaighForests · 2.7 km
      • JenkinstownForests · 15 km
      • Ballykeefe Nature ReserveNature reserves · 6.0 km
      • Kyleadohir Nature ReserveNature reserves · 13 km
      • KilkennyWalled towns · 6.8 km
      • CallanWalled towns · 8.5 km
      • Clomanatagh CastleHistoric stays · 18 km

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