St Michael's Well
Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ritual site - holy well

St Michael's Well

Holy well in Bayswell, Co. Kilkenny.

  • AccessNot confirmed
  • National MonumentNot recorded
  • 19th-centuryIn the record
  • FolkloreNone recorded
  • PhotoWikimedia Commons
Bayswell, Co. Kilkenny52.77844, -7.61786
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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
  • Date or period mentioned19th-century

What to look for

  • Well house

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

In a natural cleft in rock on a N-facing slope, at the E end of small yew grove enclosed by a stone wall (dims. c. 16m NE-SW; c. 7m NW-SE), in the grounds of Bayswell House. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 303), 'Up to sixty or seventy years ago this well was visited by crowds of pious pilgrims on the 29th of Sept. and the seven following days.

Full archaeological record 204 words

In a natural cleft in rock on a N-facing slope, at the E end of small yew grove enclosed by a stone wall (dims. c. 16m NE-SW; c. 7m NW-SE), in the grounds of Bayswell House. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 303), 'Up to sixty or seventy years ago this well was visited by crowds of pious pilgrims on the 29th of Sept. and the seven following days. The pilgrims always wound up their devotions with prayers before an effigy of the Crucifixion carved in stone, which had been fixed into the wall surrounding the well. The slab was broken several years ago, and its fragments have been lost, except one piece which Mr. Connell [the owner of Bayswell House] has reverently, but, by a misapprehension of the identity of the carving, mistakenly incorporated with an effigy, in cement, of St. Michael, which he has placed over the well'. The spring well is covered by modern brick structure with an 18th/19th-century pointed doorway of cut limestone. The largely reconstructed plaque (KK008-037001-), mentioned above, is incorporated in the stone walling surrounding the well structure and yew grove, SW of the well and depicts St. Michael flying the lands holding a flag and a book.

References

  • Date of revised upload: 11 September 2018

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

Folklore and traditions

More holy wells nearby

Also recorded nearby

Named sites within 5 km with only a short entry in the Archaeological Survey.

  • Priest's WellRitual site - holy well · Baunballinlough · 2.3 km · official record

    At the edge of a valley floor, in rolling pasture. This is indicated on a Grand Jury Map as a holy well. When inspected in 1987 the well was in use as cattle pump and was capped with concrete.

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      Around St Michael's Well

      Other heritage nearby

      Recorded within 5 km

      Walks and trails

      • Urlingford Islands Walking TrailWalking Trail · 5.9 km · nearest point 5.0 km
      • Gathabawn LoopWalking Trail · 11.3 km · nearest point 9.4 km
      • Gathabawn Short LoopWalking Trail · 4.1 km · nearest point 9.5 km

      Outdoors, towns and places to stay

      • CapponellanForests · 15 km
      • Coolacurragh Wood Nature ReserveNature reserves · 12 km
      • Grantstown Wood and Grantstown Lough Nature ReserveNature reserves · 13 km
      • Clomanatagh CastleHistoric stays · 11 km

      Other attractions nearby

      Excavations nearby

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