St Patrick well
St Patrick’s well is located In Clonmel, County Tipperary.
The Well pre-dates Christian times by a considerable period, clearly only being referred to as belonging to St Patrick since he or the local church converted the local people to Christianity.
“The Celtic pre-Christian period.
There is a lot of evidence to show that in ancient Ireland well worship was widely practised. Many if not all of Ireland’s holy wells of later Christian times had been objects of pagan veneration, and regarded as sacred, centuries before the advent of Christianity. In fact many Irish place names which have their origins dating from pre-Christian times are derived from wells. One of those sacred springs Tipra Arann in the present Barony of Clanwilliam around Tipperary Town, gave its name to County Tipperary. In the Bronze Age there seems to have been no temples constructed for the purposes of worship. Pagan rites were performed in the open air. Those were places of popular assembly as well as centres for pagan worship and sacrifices.”
Sacrifices ? There is no evidence of this so I think the writer of the page is talking about offerings. Items of personal value placed into the well as a thank you to the water gods.
“St Patrick and his disciples on their travels throughout the country took advantage of those assemblies to preach the Gospel and to baptise the new converts. To St. Patrick coming from lands within the former Roman Empire some of those Celtic customs must have appeared strange. Well worship was re-orientated and transformed into a Christian context. In due course, from being places where pagan rites had been performed, the wells became places of Christian worship. There was a tradition which has died out that people visited St Patrick’s Well before sunrise on the first day of May – a date which coincides with the Celtic Festival of Bealtaine.”
I find the idea of Holy wells in the early Christian period to be fascinating, It appears, as covered above to be a clear attempt by the church to override the previous worship of water gods and to move this worship over to the new God that the modern christian church now worships.
Nigel Borrington 
Well worshiping and water gods… it sure is fascinating Nigel. Lovely photos but I really like the last one 🙂
May 14, 2013 at 12:22 pm
Hello Norma
Yes I love these places, very special history and feeling when you visit ….
Thank you Norma 🙂
May 14, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Great post Nigel. Fabulous images – really beautiful, and very interesting information. : ))
May 14, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Thank you Anne 🙂
May 14, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Especially like the moving water in the last shot, all wonderful, Nigel
May 14, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Thank you Scott, 🙂
May 14, 2013 at 5:51 pm
Fascinating. It’s nice to know places this ancient still exist………and wonderful to read about them with your lovely photos. If organized religion valued nature as much as the pagans did, the world would be a more peaceful place :-).
May 14, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Hello Sharon…
That’s a great old wave length your mind is on today, Brilliant!. Absolutely YES! Sharon 🙂
That’s everything I hope to get over when I have post images relating to what I feel are Pagan/Natural issues and beliefs and why I feel that Landscape and Nature photography can be used to reflect these natural belief’s that I and many others have. I am not against anyone taking any path but I feel that Nature itself takes use down a path that screams out to us everyday, its not written in any book and nature itself is the Teacher.
I am not one to say much but I am over the MOON with you comment, thank you !
Re Peace well, It all makes you wonder doesn’t it!!!
May 14, 2013 at 6:14 pm
🙂 🙂 I’m so happy to hear this, Nigel!.
May 14, 2013 at 7:27 pm
🙂
May 14, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Gorgeous images of such a tranquil place! I appreciate the history and stories behind the images, too. As you know, I am a firm believer in God and the Creation account, and I have found that getting back to nature reveals so much about His creative genius and love for us and helps in communing with Him. Thank you for the work you do! 🙂
May 15, 2013 at 6:06 pm
Thank you Rene.
Lovely comments and feelings behind them 🙂
Nigel
May 15, 2013 at 6:20 pm