holy well
Blessed water source
A holy well is a spring or water source believed to have sacred or healing properties, typically associated with a saint or pre-Christian deity.
Found throughout Ireland, Britain, and parts of Europe, these sites often feature stone structures and are destinations for pilgrimage or ritual: Pilgrims still tie cloth strips to the trees around the holy well.
Many holy wells blend Christian tradition with older pagan veneration of water sources.
- sacred springReligiously significant water source
- springRecoiling metal spiral
- cureTreatment that heals
- prayerAddress to deity
- shrineSacred devotional place
blessing · sanctuary · pilgrimage · oral history · Celtic tradition · legend · remedy · anointing · ritual bathing · grotto · Brigid · purification · relic · aquifer · deity · fairy · baptism · tradition
- Irish HeritageTara, Book of Kells, Celtic cross, round tower, dolmen
- IrelandDublin, Cork, Irish, leprechaun, Galway
- springscoil spring, compression spring, mainspring, clock spring, watch spring
- Gaelic Irelandhigh king, Book of Kells, Tara, druid, chieftain
- British ReligionAnglican, Church of Scotland, Archbishop of Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey
- Healing Watershealing water, healing spring, mineral water, spa water, mineral spring
holy wellmunicipal water supply
Government-provided drinking water
sewer · drainage ditch · stagnant pool · wastewater · puddle
holy wellborehole
Drilled underground passage
tap · water pump · cistern · reservoir · drinking fountain