A carved head in Saint Mary's Church
Gowran is a little picturesque village in County Kilkenny
with a race course nearby. It was at one time the royal residency of the Kings
of Ossory before the Norman invasions. The town has the remains of a fourteenth
century castle that was built by James Butler, the third Earl of Ormonde and
Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church dating from the fourteenth century and now a
National Monument of Ireland.
Saint Mary's Collegiate Church
Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church was served by a collection of
clerics who lived in a house beside the church (the house is no longer
there). The church had a long,
wide aisled nave and a long chancel and contains many important tombs of
various dignitaries and knights with elaborate carvings. Many of the upper
portions of the church, including the nave battlements and tower, were added
much later. The nave used to be a Church of Ireland parish, but has now been
converted into a visitors centre.
Saint Peter on a tomb in Saint Mary's Church
The holy well is on the far side of the village near the
race course. Nobody knows the dedication of this well, even though it is
mentioned in a number of books and marked on various old maps of the village
and area. At one time it was labeled ‘Bastionfort Well’ and at other times it
simply had the label ‘Spring’; however, older records mark it simply as ‘Holy
Well’. In most cases were the dedication has been forgotten holy wells are
simply called ‘Holy Well’ or ‘Trinity Well’. It is possible that if there had
been an association with St Mary’s that this well would have carried the
dedication of the Blessed Virgin, but there is no supporting evidence for this.
Despite a lack of evidence I have labeled this well as ‘Our Lady’s Well’ in
honour of the Virgin. It could be that I am trumping some poor forgotten saint,
but hopefully they won’t mind too much!
The holy well
The well is surrounded by a waist-high concrete wall and is
in-filled with many rocks. It sits in the middle of a field and has a small
gate to the front of the well housing. It’s waters are cold and clear and run
into a channel out the back of the well housing, over a stone slab and into an
underground culvert of ancient structure that drains into a nearby stream.
Quite why this well is drained into an underground culvert is something of a
mystery as the lay of the land would mean the well would naturally drain into
the nearby stream. Whatever the case may be, this well is holding its secrets
and likely will for a very long time. It is nevertheless a beautiful well in a
beautiful spot.
The holy well
It is entirely right to call you blessed, you who gave birth
to God, ever blessed and most innocent the Mother of our God. We praise and
extol you, true Mother of God more worthy of honour than the cherubim, greater
in glory than the seraphim – the bearer of the eternal Word.
Antiphon from the Byzantine Book of Hours.
The overflow into the underground culvert
How to find it:
As you approach the village of Gowran from the side with
Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church and enter the village, on the main road out to
the right is a field surrounded by whitewashed posts. In the centre of this
field is the whitewashed structure of the well house.
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