St Mary’s Well is in the town itself, conveniently near the central car park. It is an unexpected sight amidst the bustle of Killarney but has a bit of a forgotten air, emphasised by the stern black railings all around it.

The wellhouse is jaunty enough – substantial, circular and whitewashed with a conical top painted BVM blue. It was built in 1850, according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, the roof being added later in the twentieth century. Steps lead down into the well itself, now barred and inaccessible.

A plaque on the nearby wall gives a little information. The well is said to date from 1302 and was part of a larger religious complex which included the original church that gave Killarney its name: Cill Airne – Church of the Sloes. This was on the site of what is now  St Mary’s C of I Church which was built in 1870. The well was originally used for baptisms and was also believed to hold a cure for sore throats and sore eyes as this extract from the Schools’ Folklore Collection describes:

St Mary’s well is situated behind the new town hall. It was called after the Catholic Church near it which is now a Protestant Church. … It is there for five hundred years. It opens on the 15th August. It is said there is no bottom to it. If anyone had a sore throat if they would drink the water (they would) become better. When the well is opened the people go in and say the rounds. (012:0455)

It was a site of pilgrimage and the annual Feast Day was held on the 15th August, Feast of the Assumption. I believe the well is still opened on this day. The 25th March, Feast of the Annunciation, was also a popular day for visitation. Rounds were as follows:

…  On the 15th of August every year rounds are made. The prayers prescribed for these rounds are the five decades of the rosary. Five rounds are made and a decade of the rosary is said for each round. When the rounds are finished the people bathe their faces or their eyes with the water and drink some of it and take some home. (012:0455)

Although you can no longer access the well itself there is a tap nearby so that water can still be obtained.

The well was also said to contain a blessed trout. These are two rather strange stories associated with it:

There was once a man who was very wicked. He had a son who was very wicked too. One day the man went to the well. He said he would not pray. He saw a fish below. He put his hand down to catch the fish. He slipped and fell in and his son saw him and jumped in to save his father but he could not and fell in and was drowned too. A long time ago there was a trout in the well, Anyone who saw the trout was cured of their illness. A man said he would catch the trout. he brought a net and when the trout appeared he caught him. When he was pulling up the net his hand fell dead to his side. When he tried to stand up he could not, his legs and hand were paralysed. The trout changed into a stone and remained a stone forever. It can still be seen at the edge of the well.