Swords

PUBLIC ACCESS SOMEWHAT RESTRICTED

I am a bit worried that this well will not not survive.

About sixty or fifty years ago my father suggested that there were at least 3,000 holy wells in Ireland and he claims to have seen most of them. I should mention that because of his job my father had visited almost every town and village in Ireland and during the summer holidays he would bring us along with him and I should mention that my youngest brother was a world class “are we there yet” expert. My brother is still the same. It should be noted that, according to my father, we had holy wells and in the US they had alien abductions and Area 51 but at the time we had no idea as to what he meant and, to be honest, we did not care as many of the places we visited were less than interesting.

St. Colmcille is said to have founded the Holy Well on the Well Road in Swords. Legend has it that he took a Giant Step from the Round Tower and landed at the spot to where the Well is.

It had many uses for the people of Swords before the steel door was closed and a gate leading to the steps were placed there many years ago. It was said that the water was holy so people took small amounts home to bless their houses. Another use was when the water pumps ran dry during the summer months the local people went to the well with their buckets and brought the water home. As with most wells the water was chrystal clear and ice cold to drink.