Lady's Well, Danesfort
Built heritage
Evidence of ancient settlement within Ballyda townland includes a number of ring ditch and enclosure sites.
There is also a holy well site in the townland. This well, known as Lady's Well (Irish: Tobar Mhuire), is included in the Record of Monuments and Places as record number "KK023-075----". As of the late 20th century, a pattern was still celebrated at this well on 15 August each year, to mark the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Several folkloric tales about Lady's Well are recorded in the Dúchas.ie "Schools' Collection". These include a number of stories which refer to apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the well. Several stories reflect common themes in the folklore of holy wells generally, such as that water collected from the well will not boil or that stones in the well are spotted with blood. The origin of the blood at Lady's Well is given as coming from a priest who was killed there by soldiers while saying mass. In one account, the leaves of nearby hawthorn bushes are also covered in spots of blood. One account tells of a woman whose eyes were cured after bathing her eyes in the well's water.
See also
References
- ^ "Baile Dháith / Ballyda". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Database. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "Ballyda Townland, Co. Kilkenny". townlands.ie. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "CD158 - Kilkenny Population by Private Households, Occupied and Vacancy Rate by Townlands, CensusYear and Statistic". Census 2011. Central Statistics Office. April 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2020 – via data.gov.ie.
Ballyda, Danesfort, Co. Kilkenny [..] 70
- ^ Recorded Monuments Protected under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994 - County Kilkenny. Dublin: National Monuments and Historic Properties Service. 1996.
- ^ "KK023-075---- : Ritual site - holy well : BALLYDA". Historic Environment Viewer. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
According to the OS Letters (1839), 'There is a holy well called Lady's Well in the Townland of Ballyda, much venerated still and frequented on the 15th of August
- ^ O'Kelly, Owen (1985). The Place-Names of County Kilkenny (PDF). p. 180 – via kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie.
Ballyda [..] Tobar Mhuire, Our Lady's Well, still frequented on the 15th of August for devotional purposes is west of a large rath
- ^ "Holy Wells". duchas.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Holy Wells". duchas.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Our Holy Wells". duchas.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Ó Dálaigh, Pádraigh (2018). The Holy Wells of County Kilkenny in terms of documentary coverage, location, ritual practice and onomastic concept, vol. I (Thesis). p. 109, 110.
It was believed locally, for example, that the water of certain wells could not be boiled for domestic purposes [..] red-stained stones situated at or beside holy wells were often believed to be the blood stains of martyr-like clerical persons
- ^ "Holy Wells". duchas.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "A Story of the Penal Days". duchas.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Penal Days". duchas.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2024.