The Nore River valley plays a pivotal role in the life of Kilkenny City, Bennettsbridge and much of the surrounding county.
This well is located on the Canal Walk on the bank of the River Nore and describing it is a bit complicated. In August 2018 a local told me that this was a holy well dedicated to St Bridget (that could apply to most of the wells in Ireland but on the following day another person told me that it was nothing more than a natural spring or well and to be honest I was more inclined to believe the second person.
I visited the area again in July 2021 and September 2022. In 2018 a dog-walker told me that it is known as “Crow’s Well” but at the time I believed that she may have been incorrect as my understanding is that Crow’s Well Lock is at Fennessey’s Mill. However, I was unable to locate a well at Fennessy’s Mill [Archersgrove Mill] when I visited in September 2022. However, I recently discovered that Crow’s well was identified as Spa Well on some old maps and that the well, at Fennessey’s Mill, is so overgrown with briars and bushes that it is almost impossible to locate it. However, information provided by the dog-walker was much more useful than that provided by others.
According to the the local council Crow’s Well Canal Lock is at Archersgrove
For some reason the Spelling is St Ann’s rather than St Anne’s.
When I visited in the past I have noticed people referring to this structure, which attracts children and dogs, as the fairy house.
St Anne’s Park was named after the existing holy well there in 1837 by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness.
The well site has a protective hood of stones, and lies just beyond the old lake of the park, with its Roman temple, and below the Watchtower folly, near the main coastal entrance.
The well itself dried up in the 1950s, and although Dublin City Council made several attempts to relocate the source, it remains dry as of 2022. The site is still respected, and was visited in 2000 by a formal joint procession of worshippers from the Raheny parishes of the Roman Catholic Church and Church of Ireland. The site was cleaned of soil and vegetation by a specialist contractor in early 2018, the original well opening located, and a safety grille, also keeping leaves out, was fitted over the former outlet.
St. Ann’s Well was reputed to provide virtues to pilgrims, and many came to drink or bathe in its waters. There is no altar associated with the Well at St. Anne‟s, nor are there records available as to any pilgrimage circles or other such features. The location of the Well is sheltered by trees, and historically it would have been easily accessible from the Clontarf Road.
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