The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-06-08
|RELAND's HOLY WELLS
Named in Honor of St. Patrick, St.
Brgid and St. Coiumbia-Pagan
Wells Dedicated to Christian Pur-
poses.

Every little townland of Ireland has
| it's special fount of water dedicated
to Our Lady or some one or other of
the saints, says Gertrude M. O'Reilly
in the Magnificat. From the earliest
days the land was renowned for its
miraculous waters; we even read in
the 'Dittamondo' of Fazio degli
Uberti written in the thirteenth cen
tury, that in ireland Il saw lakes of
various natures, one of which attracted
me so much that my wistful eyes take
delight in it STILL
These wells are sanctifed by the
saints who built their cells beside
these waters and used them for bap-
tizing those who came to hear the
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 to
enable the apostle to baptize poor
widow, or one of the wells of st.
Brigid, which came at her word to
quench the thirst of some travellers
along the dusty road.
| l..
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
Many of the wells which existed in
pre- Christian days were venerated by
the Pagans, but St. Patrick was too
prudent to condemn the universal
practice. He merely blessed the wells,
used their water in administering bap-
tism, and explained to the people that
the spring itself was in no way worthy
of veneration, bat that the power of
God had made it's baptismal waters
cleanse the soul, and that for that
reason they might reverence Gods
creature, the well.
For example, the well of Ballinto-
Der, County Mayo, in Pagan days was
known as "Slan," the healer, and wor-
SHIPPED as the home of a wonder-work-
ing spirit who, the people believed,
dwelt under fiat rock above the
spring.
When st. Patrick came he had this
flag removed that they might see that
there was nothing there, and then,
blessing the water, he used it to bap-
tie st. Cainnech, built church by it's
edge and put priest in charge to
watch over the newly-baptized flock.
In the Glen of Altadavin, Monaghan,
we find another of the Patrician wells.
1t is small circular depression, like
a basin, in the surface of large iso-
lated rock. There is apparently no
opening of any sort, yet whenever the
basin is emptied it fills up again; how,
no one can tell. It was never known
to dry up, no matter how great the
drought. Archbishop Hea1ey, of
Tuam, speaking of this we'll, says:
"It was in this basin the saint bap-
tized his converts. The chair in which
he sat while speaking to the crowds
stone altar where he celebrated Mass
stood before him. The whole glen is
very striking and one might easily
fancy the saint still sitting in his
chair of stone, his converts crowding
the rocky slopes around and listen
ing to the words of life that fell from
his lips, then the blessing of the rock
basin, and the wondering crowds on
the green sward below watching the
saint as he offered the Holy Sacrifice
for the first time in the deep shades of
that romantic glen which had hitherto
been sacred to the dark rites of Druid
ISM"
Second in the love of the Irish peo-
pie comes st. Brigid, the Mary of
Ireland the Mother of the
Churches" 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 is Tober Brigdhe, about seven
miles from Athlone. It is still place
of pilgrimage and great crowds per-
, form the stations there on her feast,
the first of February. At Kilbride,
Roscommon, there is another which
had such widespread reputation that
!, it gave it's name to whole townland,
Holy Well.
There are nearly as many wells
dedicated to st. Columbia, the "Dove
of the Church. as there are to st.
Patrick. He was SO gentle. yet so
; full of fire, such wanderer, yet a
, passionate lover of his country, so
human and SO full of faults that he
comes near to the heart. He was full
: of zeal and energy; such as actuated
st. Dominic or St Ignatius, and, like
them, was a scholar and a soldier
) Yet he was as gentle a lover of nature
as st. Francis himself