Bibliography on Holy Wells

An Chomhairle Oidhreachta/ The Heritage Council. Our ancient landscapes: Holy wells in Ireland. https://www.heritagecouncil.ie/content/files/Holy-Wells-of-Ireland.pdf . Author: Tamlyn McHugh, published 2023. This is an extensive site about holy wells in Ireland: their origins, names, rituals, worship, healing, folklore, biodiversity, and care.

Primary Sources:

Holy Wells of Ireland, by County in Dúchas.ie. 1,884 stories with transcriptions of many hand-written accounts.  https://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=holy+wells .

Secondary Sources:

The Ancient Pre-Christian Holy Wells of Ireland, https://oldmooresalmanac.com/holy-wells-of-ireland/ .

Barron, Carol, and Tiziana Soverno. “Snails, Water in a Stone, and Holy Wells: An Examination of Wart Cures from the Irish Schools’ Folklore Collection, 1937–38.” Folklore, Vol. 131, 2020, Issue 4 (2020), pp. 386-412.

Bennett, Isabel. “The Archaeology of County Kerry.” Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Dec., 1987), pp. 48-51.

Black, William George. “Holy Wells in Scotland.” The Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. 2, No. 6 (Jun., 1884), pp. 173-175.

Bord, Janet. Sacred waters: Holy wells and water lore in Britain and Ireland. Granada, 1985.

Branigan, Gary. Ancient and Holy Wells of Dublin. Dublin: THP Ireland, 2012.

Bridges, Linda McKinnish. “The Holy Well: Place of Presences and Presence of Place.” Baptist History and Heritage, vol. 53, no. 1, spring 2018, pp. 43+. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id

Brenneman, Walter L. Jr. “The circle and the cross: Loric and sacred space in the holy wells of Ireland.” In Dwelling, Place and Environment. Edited by D. Seamon and R. Mugerauer. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 1985. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-010-9251-7_9

Brenneman, W.L. (1985). The circle and the cross: Loric and sacred space in the holy wells of Ireland. In: Seamon, D., Mugerauer, R. (eds) Dwelling, Place and Environment. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9251-7_9.

Carroll, Michael P. Irish Pilgrimage: Holy Wells and Popular Catholic Devotion. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 1999

Casella, Eleanor Conlin. “Rag, Stone, Water: A Material Study of Holy Wells in Contemporary Ireland.” In The Historical Archaeology of Shadow and Intimate Economies. Edited by James A. Nyman, Kevin R. Fogle, and Mary C. Beaudry. Gainsville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2019.

Chamberlain, Gary. “From Holy Water to Holy Waters.” Water Resources IMPACT, Vol. 14, No. 2, Religion, Culture, and Water (March 2012), pp. 6-9.

Conlon, Larry. “The Holy Wells of County Louth.” County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 24, No. 3 (1999), pp. 329-356.

Clarke, Amanda, Holy Wells of Cork and Kerry, https://holywellscorkandkerry.com/

Cordner, W.S. “The Cult of the Holy Well.” Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Third Series, Vol. 9 (1946), pp. 24-30.

Delap, M. J. “Some Holy Wells in Valencia & Portmagee.” Kerry Archaeological Magazine,

Vol. 1, No. 7 (Oct., 1911), pp. 403-414.

Fergus. “Tobernalt Holy Well, Sligo History.” 08/02/2017. https://www.theirishplace.com/heritage/holy-wells/tobernalt-holy-well-sligo-history/ .

Fergus. “Ireland’s Wonderful Holy Wells.” https://www.theirishplace.com/heritage/holy-wells/irelands-wonderful-holy-wells/ .

Foley, Ronan. “Performing health in place: The holy well as a therapeutic assemblage.” Health & Place,17 (2011), pp. 470–479.

Foley, Ronan. “Small health pilgrimages: Place and practice at the holy well.” Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 14:1, 44-62, DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2012.756410.

Foley, Ronan. “Indigenous Narratives of Health: (Re)Placing Folk-Medicine within Irish Health Histories.” Journal of Medical Humanities, Vol. 36 (2015), pp. 5-18.

Gribben, Arthur. Holy Wells & Sacred Water Sources in Britain & Ireland: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Haggerty, Bridget. “The Holy Wells of Ireland.” https://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ALandmks/HolyWells.html.

Hardy, Philip Dixon. The Holy Wells of Ireland. Dublin: Dublin: Hardy, & Walker, 1840.  Reprint, Forgotten Books, 2018. Also https://archive.org/details/holywellsofirela00hard.

Hartnett, P. J. “The Holy Wells of East Muskerry.” Béaloideas, Iml. 10, Uimh 1/2 (Jun.-Dec., 1940), pp. 101-113.

Healy, Elizabeth. In Search of Ireland’s Holy Wells. New York: Wolfhound Press, 2002.

Healy, J. “The Holy Wells of Ireland.” The Irish Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 128 (Feb., 1884), pp. 85-98.

Hogan, John. “Patron Days and Holy Wells in Ossory.” The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1873), pp. 261-281.

“Holy Wells in Ireland.” https://emeraldisle.ie/holy-wells-in-ireland .

“Holy Wells of Ireland.” https://www.holywell.seomraranga.com/holywellsireland.htm .

Hope, R. C. “Holy Wells of Ireland: their Legends and Superstitions.” The Antiquary, Vol. 36 (Mar. 1900): 78-80.

“Irish Holy Wells.” Library Ireland. https://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/II-VI-11.php

Kelly, Eamonn P. “Antiquities from Irish Holy Wells and Their Wider Context.” Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Summer, 2002), pp. 24-28.

Kelly, Eamon, The Holy Well: An Evening of Storytelling. Irish American Book Company, 1998.

Kelly, James. “‘Drinking The Waters’: Balneotherapeutic Medicine in Ireland, 1660-1850.” Studia Hibernica, No. 35 (2008-2009), pp. 99-146.

Logan, Patrick. Holy Wells of Ireland. ‎Wyomissing, PA: Dufour Editions, 1980.

Mallery, Silas John. “Rite Springs Eternal: Religious Confluence in the Origins of Irish Holy Wells.” Dissertation University of Minnesota, 2010.

Mallery, Silas John. “The Marriage Well at Teltown: holy well ritual at royal cult sites and the rite of temporary marriage.” European Review of History: Revue européenne d’histoire  Vol. 18, Issue 2 (2011), pp. 175-197.

Marnell, Cian. “Healing Wells of Kiltartan,” Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 51 (1999), pp. 182-188.

McCormick, Finbar. “Struell Wells: pagan past and Christian present.” The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 139 (2009), pp. 45-62.

Misstear, Bruce Dudley. “A Hydrogeological Study of Irish Holy wells.” Doctoral dissertation. Trinity College Dublin, School of Engineering, 2021.

Misstear, Bruce, Laurence Gill, Cora McKenna, Ronan Foley “Where does the water come from?: A hydrogeological characterisation of Irish holy wells.” In Sacred Waters. Edited by Celeste Ray. New York: Routledge, 2020.

Murphy, D, and M. Savage. “Wells.” Journal of the Poyntzpass and District Local History
Society, No. 4 (Nov., 1990), pp. 43-52.

S. “On Holy Wells.” The Catholic Layman, Vol. 5, No. 53 (May 16, 1856), pp. 57-58.

O’Brien, Suzanne J. Crawford. “Talking Place: Ritual and Reciprocity at Holy Wells and Mass Stones in the Republic of Ireland.” Journal of Ritual Studies, Vol. 22, No. 1 (2008), pp. 1-20.

O’Brien, Suzanne J. Crawford. “Well, water, rock: holy wells, mass rocks and reconciling identity in the republic of Ireland,” Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, Vol. 4, 2008, Issue 3 (2015), pp. 326-348.

O Cadhla, Stiofan. The Holy Well Tradition: The Pattern of St. Declan, Ardmore, County Waterford 1800-2000. (Maynooth Studies in Local History, Number 45) Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2002.

Ó Danachair, Caoimhín. “The Holy Wells of Co. Limerick.” The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 85, No. 2 (1955), pp. 193-217.

Ó Danachair, Caoimhín. “The Holy Wells of Corkaguiney, Co. Kerry.” The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 90, No. 1 (1960), pp. 67-78.

O Dowd, Peadar. “Holy Wells of Galway City.” Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 60 (2008), pp. 136-153.

O Giollain, Diarmuid. “Revisiting the Holy Well.” Irish-American Cultural Institute, Vol. 40: 1 & 2 (Errach/Samhradh/ Spring/Summer, 2005), pp. 11-41. 10.1353/eir.2005.0010. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/184495 .

Ó Muirgheasa, Énrí. “The Holy Wells of Donegal,” Béaloideas, Iml. 6, Uimh 2 (Dec., 1936), pp. 143-162.

O’Sullivan, Muiris and Liam Downey. “Holy Wells.” Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring, 2006), pp. 35-37.

O’Toole, Edward. “The Holy Wells of County Carlow.” Béaloideas, Iml. 4, Uimh 1 (1933), pp. 3-23.

Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland. Category Archives: Holy Well. Extensive discussion and photographs of many holy well. https://pilgrimagemedievalireland.com/category/holy-well/.

Rachard, Anna. Fish Stone Water: The Holy Wells of Ireland. Photographer, Liam O’Callaghan.  Santa Rosa, CA: Atrium, 2002.

Rattue, James. The Living Stream: Holy Wells in Historical Context. Woodbridge, U.K.: Boydell Press, 1995.

Ray, Celeste. ‎The Origins of Ireland’s Holy Wells. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2014.

Ray, Celeste. “Holy Wells and Sacred Springs,” In Sacred Waters: A Cross-Cultural Compendium of Hallowed Springs and Holy Wells. Edited by Celeste Ray. New York: Routledge, 2020.

Ray, Celeste. “Flora, Fauna and Curative Waters: Ireland’s holy wells as sites of biocultural diversity.” In Sacred Waters: A Cross-Cultural Compendium of Hallowed Springs and Holy Wells. Edited by Celeste Ray. New York: Routledge, 2020.

Ray, Celeste. “Sacred wells across the Longue Duree,” In Historical Ecologies, Heterarchies and Transten1poral Landscapes. Edited by Celeste Ray and Manuel Fernandez-Gotz. New York: Routledge, 2019.

Ray, Celeste. “Paying the Rounds at Ireland’s Holy Wells.” Anthropos, Bd. 110, H. 2. (2015), pp. 415-432.

Ray, Celeste. “Beholding the Speckled Salmon: Folk Liturgies and Narratives of Ireland’s
Holy Wells.” In Landscapes Beyond Land: Routes, Aesthetics, Narratives. Edited by Arnar Árnason, Nicolas Ellison, Jo Vergunst, and Andrew Whitehouse. New York: Berghahn Books, 2012.

Ray, Celeste. “Ireland’s Holy Wells, County by County.” https://ihwcbc.omeka.net/ .

Reddiough, James. “Holy wells places of pilgrimage a step back in time with James Reddiough.” https://irish-memories.com/holy-wells-places-pilgrimage-step-back-time-james-reddiough/.

Rosemann, Philipp W. “The Holy Well as a Window onto Irish Life—Pre-Christian, Christian, and Post-Christian.” The Furrow, Vol. 71, 3 & 4 (2020), pp. 131-136.

Scriven, Thomas. “Touching the sacred: sensing spirituality at Irish holy wells.” Journal of Cultural Geography, Vol. 36, Issue 3 (2019), pp. 271-290. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2019.1632404.

Scriven, Richard, and Vicky Langan. “Audio and ludic engagements with spiritual heritage at an Irish holy well.” Vol. 27, Issue 3 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/147447401989.

“St Colmán’s holy well at Oughtmama Co Clare.” https://pilgrimagemedievalireland.com/2015/11/15/st-colmans-holy-well-at-oughtmama-co-clare/.

Szövérffy, Joseph. “The Well of the Holy Women: Some St. Columba Traditions in the West of Ireland.” The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 68, No. 268 (Apr.- Jun., 1955), pp. 111-122.

Tanner, Marcus. Ireland’s Holy Wars: The Struggle for a Nation’s Soul, 1500-2000. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2003.

Thunder, John M. “The Holy Wells of Meath.” The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Vol. 7, No. 68/69 (Oct., 1886 – Jan., 1887), pp. 655-658.

Varner, Gary R. Sacred Wells: A Study in the History, Meaning, and Mythology of Holy Wells and Waters. ‎New York: Algora Publishing, 2009. https://books.google.com/books .