St. Patrick's Well, Clonmel

St. Patrick's Well is located in the Marlfield area, about 3.6 km (2.2 mi) west of Clonmel town centre.

Traditional history links the site with Saint Patrick, who proselytised Ireland in the 5th century.[2] It is mentioned in a 10th-century Life of Declan of Ardmore, so it was active at that time. From the 12th to 16th centuries, St. Patrick's Well belonged to nearby Inislounaght Abbey.[3] The crudeness of the stone cross has led to the belief that it is early.[4]

In 1617, Nicholas Fagan, Abbot of Inislounaght was buried at St. Patrick's. The earliest reference to pilgrimage at the site was as late as 1619, when Pope Paul V granted a plenary indulgence to all pilgrims visiting St Patrick's Church, provided they went to confession, took the Eucharist and visited the church on Pentecost or St. Patrick's Day, any time from Vespers to sunset.[3]

The Ordnance Survey letters, written by John Donovan who visited the site in the 1840s, say "it is still esteemed holy and visited by pilgrims far and near for the cure of disease especially headaches."[3]

In 1914 Power described the well as a "great basin filled to the brim with bubbling crystal water.., close by it in the march is a stunted, rude and early celtic cross which marks a penitential station." Early 20th century photographs of the well show it surrounded by a low circular enclosing wall with a large ash tree growing out of the side.[5] The remodelling of the site began in 1956 with the addition of the statue of St Patrick. In the late 1960s, the local St. Patrick's Day Society had the site remodelled; funding was provided by Sam Yorty, Mayor of Los Angeles, whose mother was from Clonmel. Additional funding came from Armand Hammer and the Irish-Israeli Society.[3]