The Blessed Well of St. Dagan

Asenath Nicholson
1847
Chapter VII (3) | Start of Chapter

A large stone, with a wooden cross fixed in it, stands at the head of this well, and a beautiful tree waves over the whole. St. Dagan, we are told, blessed this water some hundred years ago; and so efficacious has it been, that cripples, who came on crutches, have gone away leaping and praising St. Dagan, and the blind have been made to see. So infatuated have been its devotees, that the bishop has thought it expedient to prohibit its resort, as being a place where miracles are no more to be expected. So unmindful was I of its healing virtues, that I actually turned away without tasting its waters.

Ireland’s Welome to the Stranger is one of the best accounts of Irish social conditions, customs, quirks and habits that you could wish for. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, was an American widow who travelled extensively in Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine and meticulously observed the Irish peasantry at work and play, as well as noting their living conditions and diet. The book is also available from Kindle.