<< Our Photo Pages >> St Moninna's Holy Well (Killevy) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Ireland (Northern) in Co. Down
Submitted by Sunny100 on Monday, 31 January 2011 Page Views: 10247
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Moninna's Holy Well (Killevy) Alternative Name: St Darerca's Well, St Bline's WellCountry: Ireland (Northern) County: Co. Down Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Newry Nearest Village: Ballard
Map Ref: J010226
Latitude: 54.142554N Longitude: 6.455252W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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St Moninna's holy well is a pre-Christian spring on the eastern slope of Slieve Gullion above the churchyard of Killevy (Cill Sleibhe Cuilinn - Church of the Mountain). Here St Moninna, Darerca or Bline, 432-518, lies buried beneath a granite slab, and also in the churchyard three churches (dating from the 10th-15th centuries) stand back to back, two of them being attached. We know that Moninna was the daughter of king Machta and the sister of St Enda but, though some claim her to have been related to St Patrick or his sister - this has not been fully established.
The well made famous by the saint is to be found up a path leading up the lower slope of Slieve Gullion mountain west of Killevy graveyard. Lost for many years it was re-discovered by Father Donnelly in 1880. He then cleared the site and restored it for pilgrims as a well-shrine. In 1928 a wooden structure was built over the well; this has three decorative upper opening sections and a lower square opening covering the well basin. The structure is topped with a cross and painted white; in the middle a statue of St Mary the Virgin looks down.
The site is now in a good state of repair and regularly used for pilgrimages and on the saint's feastday 6th July. An inscription on the well structure reads 'Tobhar Naoimh Blathnaidh'. Miraculous cures have apparently been attributed to the water for such ailments as eye problems and sickness of the body.
Back down the hill at Killevy at the north side of the churchyard a large granite slab-stone measuring 7ft long by 5ft wide is reputedly the burial stone of St Moninna. The stone may be part of a prehistoric monument ? Here in the year before her death the saint founded a nunnery. She had earlier been a follower of St Ibar and St Bridget and was perhaps educated at Whithorn, southwest Scotland. The nunnery at Killevy continued until 1542 and even endured a Viking raid in 923. Today, only three ruined churches remain here, the most recent 15th century church could be a remnant of the former nunnery.
A wedge-shaped stone with a cross carved onto it stands against the east wall of the oldest of the three churches (10th century) but the stone is most likely to be medieval in date. There is a medieval font still standing within the ruin.
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.