The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-07-16
SOME BLESSED
WELLS OF IRELAND
The Land Was Renowned From
Earliest Times For it's Miracu-
lous Waters.
Many Remarkable Cures Were Effec-
ted at Wells Blessed by
Irish Saints.
Pilgrimages Are Still Made to the
Wells of St. Patrick and
St. Bridget.

Every little townland of Ireland has
its special font of water dedicated tu
Our Lady or some one or other of the
Saints, says Gertrude M. O'ReillN, in
the Magnificent" From the earliest
days the land was renowned for it's
miraculous waters; we even read ii:
written in the thirteenth century, that
in Ireland Il saw lakes of various ma
lures one of which attracted me so
much that my wistful eyes take de-
light in it still.'
st. Patriek's We'll in Dublin.
These wells were sanctified by the
Saints who built their cells beside
these waters and used them for bap-
tizing those who came to hear tho
word of God. Many Of these springs
owe their origin to prayer, as, for ex-
ample, st. Patrick's we'll in Dublin.
which sprang forth from the rock IT,
enable the Apostle to baptize a poor
widow, or one of the wells of st. Bri-
gid, which came at her word toquenct
the thirst of some travellers along the
dusty road
st. Brigid was a hospitable sain&,
full of kindly charity for all, and many
wells bearing her name recall exam
pies Of her simple friendliness One
in the territory Of Teffia brings to
mind how one Easter she sat there
| washing the feet of the old men and
the feeble folk who came to the
church, and the chronicle adds:
"Those who were sick and manned
among them were straightway healed"
Another time she and her nuns were
driving down the road and saw a poor
family trudging along carrying loads
of wood. She and the nuns at once
got out, gave her chariot to the fam
lily and sat down by the way to wait
till some passerby would give them "a
lift" on their i1omeward journey. They
waited a while in vain, till, at last,
the Saint, wearied OF inaction, with
her religious companions started to
dig for spring by the road. 1t was
a bleak, exposed part of the country
so the Saint thought we'll would be
great benefit to the wayfarers. Aft
er q while the water came and there
it is to the present day, the fruit of
a Saints labor and humanity-surely
a reasonable object for veneration and
respect; and so it is in hundreds of
other cases all through the island.
Tho Famous Wells Of St. Briaid.
Second in the love of the Irish peo-
pie comes st. Brigid, the MARY of
Ireland" the Mother of the Churches, y
the "Glory of the Gael" She founded
many churches, and close to all we
find the holy we'll bearing her name
and held in reverence by her people
Perhaps the most famous of these il
Tober Brigdhe about seven miles from
Athlone. It is still a place of pilgrim
age and great crowds perform the
station there on her feast, the first OF
February. At Kilbride, Roscommon
there is another which had such Z
widespread reputation that it gave it,
name to a whole townland, Holy Well
Almost every day in the year there
is a station" being held at one holy
we'll or another and every diocesan
and parochial Saint has his or he,
special spring. where his or her mem.
ory is fondly cherished, though otter
the ages have dimmed the, story of tn.
life and only the name remains. The
great number of places where one finds
a ''Tober Muire" (Mary's WelD tell O,
the veneration' of our people for tho
Mother Of God. Most famous of al
is the well near Athenry, where a sta.
ton is still held on. the eve of the AS
sumption, and to which many miracle,
are accredited.
St. Ausustins's WeIl, Galway.
In Galway we find st. Augustine:
! well on the east side of the city nea,
/ the old Augustinian church, where tn,
8 most wonderful and authenticated
cures take place. One in 1878 is at
Tested on oath 'by the man himself
- M ii 4 ~,