First referenced in a pictorial map dated around 1651i,ii<\/sup>, St. Augustine\u2019s Well is located on the shoreline of Lough Atalia. The well was documented in James Hardiman\u2019s notes in the mid-1800s regarding an \u201cextraordinary cure\u201d which occurred at the site in 1673 and while there is uncertainty as to it is still located in its original site, a well using the name \u201cSt. Augustine\u2019s Well\u201d has been preserved along the shoreline and is still in use to this day. This article will go into brief detail on debates as to the location of the well, a miraculous cure which is supposed to have occurred there, and the conservation efforts made in recent years to preserve the location.<\/p>\n Some disagreement exists as to whether the well currently using the name \u201cSt Augustine\u2019s Well\u201d is the original location. With different documents, maps and texts making differing claimsiii<\/sup>, this confusion as to the location is in part, a consequence of there having been originally three wells in close proximity to each other. At present, only one well is visitable of the three that initially existed with doubts as to whether St. Augustine\u2019s Well was located in relation to the hills of \u201cLogan\u2019s Map\u201d of 1818iv,v<\/sup>.<\/p>\n According to James Hardiman\u2019s notes, examinations were conducted of witnesses including both members of the clergy and laypeople of the town which affirm that a \u201cspeedy amendment\u201d had happened to then fourteen-year-old boy, Patricke Lynche (\/Patrick Lynch) at the well on the 11th<\/sup> of June in 1673. Faced with a vomiting disease which was believed by physicians of the time to be fatal, Lynche was supposed to have seen the \u201cLord Jesus Christ and his blessed mother and a multitude of brave winged birdes\u201dvi,vii<\/sup>. Following on from this, it is said that he drank from the well three times a day for nine days before being cured of the disease. In his notes, he had addressed that the investigative commission established had altered the language to remove the mystical from their investigation. They (the commission) would water down the testimonies of witnesses using words such as \u201camendment\u201d and \u201cextraodinaire\u201d in the place of testimonies referencing the well being both a \u201ccure\u201d and \u201cmiraculous\u201dviii<\/sup>.<\/p>\nThe Current Location of the Well<\/h6>\n
The Cure at the Well<\/h6>\n
Recent Conservation Efforts<\/h6>\n