Saint Columbkill's Well, Inistioge

{{Short description|Holy well in Inistioge, County Kilkenny, Ireland}}

File:Inistioge Saint Columbkille's Well.png

Saint Columbkille's Well, also known as St Colombkille's Well or simply Columbkille's Well ({{langx|ga|Tobar Naomh Colmcille}}),Information board :File:Information board for St Colmcille's Well.jpg {{better source|reason=Sources should be verifiable. Per WP:VER. And perhaps a bit more authoritative/reliable than a road-side poster or panel. Which, to be fair, could say anything at all. See, for example, the :Fr. Pat Noise plaque |date=July 2024}} is a holy well in Inistioge, County Kilkenny in Ireland. Dedicated to Saint Colomba, it is included in the Record of Monuments and Places as record number "KK032-017011-".{{cite web |title=KK032-017011- : Ritual site - holy well |url=https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CKK032-017011- |website=Historic Environment Viewer |access-date=3 July 2024}}

The holy well is located above Hatchery Lane and accessible via a flight of steps from Hatchery Lane in Inistioge. In John G. A. Prim's Nooks and Corners of the County Kilkenny (1848), the well's location is described as: "opposite the Moat the track of a tiny streamlet leads up the hill-side to the Holy Well of St. Columb".{{cite book |last1=Ó Dálaigh |first1=Pádraig |title=The holy wells of County Kilkenny in terms of documentary coverage, location, ritual practice and onomastic concept, volumes I and II |date=2018 |pages=167 (v1), 269 (v1), 447 (v2) }} An information panel at the start of Hatchery Lane states that it was the source of water for the monks in the Augustinian priory which was built in 1206.

Several architectural elements from the Augustinian priory were recycled in the construction of the well house, such as a font (KK032-017017-){{cite web |title=KK032-017017- : Font |url=https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CKK032-017017- |website=Historic Environment Viewer |publisher=National Monuments Service |access-date=3 July 2024}} and an architectural fragment (KK032-017018-).{{cite web |title=KK032-017018- : Architectural fragment |url=https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CKK032-017018- |website=Historic Environment Viewer |publisher=National Monuments Service |access-date=3 July 2024}} Some sources date these carved fragments, "salvaged" from the priory, to the 16th century,{{cite web|url = https://inistioge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Inistioge-Heritage-Trail-Guide.pdf | website = inistioge.ie | title = Inistioge Heritage Trail Guide | accessdate = 18 August 2024 | quote = 17. St. Colmcille's Well [..] The stone work of the well includes 16th Century carved stone panels which were probably salvaged from the Priory }}

The feast day of Saint Columbkill, 9 June, has historically been celebrated at the well.

Folklore

The holy well has several mentions in the Dúchas.ie "Schools' Collection". One account states that the well was dedicated to Colm Cille because "he visited it one time and blessed it",{{cite web |title=Holy Wells |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758551/4754110/4929178 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}} while another suggests that he visited the well several times.{{cite web |title=Story |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758552/4754177/4929899 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}} Some accounts describes the well as being decorated with candles and flowers each year, while another states that "Saint Colmcilles head and an Angel is carved on a stone" at the well.{{cite web |title=Holy Wells |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758551/4754112/4929191 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}}

Several accounts refer to the well's water as having healing powers, with one such account stating that it cured a local woman of a rheumatic finger.{{cite web |title=Holy Wells |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758551/4754111/4929182 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Story |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758552/4754161/4929783 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}}

According to these accounts, the residents of Hatchery Lane used the water for domestic purposes and also refer to fish (possibly trout) living in the well. Of these fish, one account states that "it was in 1863 not long before it was blessed by another priest and a fish was put in it". At least two accounts state that well was blessed by a Father William Martin in 1863.{{cite web |title=History |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758552/4754172/4929879 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Story |url=https://duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758552/4754177/4929899 |website=duchas.ie |access-date=3 July 2024}}

Gallery

Information board for St Colmcille's Well.jpg|Information board

St Colombkille's Well.webm|Video of the approach of the well and architectural details

References

External links

[https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/inistioge-st-columbkills-well-low-poly-b0845424e49d40cfa4f04376c98ac7f5 3D model of the holy well on Sketchfab.com]

Columbkille