Dear Maddy
I'm very interested that you're looking into St Sunday's Wells - it was
a subject I avoided because I couldn't work out what it was all about!
I'm not familiar with Athene Reiss's book - what does she say the story
behind St Sunday was?
The English examples are Newcastle-under-Lyme, where there was a 'St
Sondayes Well' recorded in 1608 but connected with a chantry altar of St
Sunday in St Giles's Church noted in 1493; and Willenhall, where a well
that cured eye and skin complaints was provided with a building by a Dr
Richard Wilkes in 1726 or 1728 depending on the source. This called it
'St Sunday's Well' but I think there's a question mark over the age of
this name.
However there are lots in Ireland where they are usually called Sunday's
Wells or Tobareendoney, from Tobar Ri an Domhnaigh, Well of the King of
Sunday, meaning Jesus. Some were visited on Sunday mornings, but not
all, and in Limerick the name was often an alternative for a dedication
to the Virgin Mary. I don't have information from all the Irish surveys
that were carried out, but from what I do have there were 13 wells with
this name in Limerick, 4 in the Dingle Peninsula, 9 in north Kerry, and
one each in Mayo, Antrim and Armagh. There were none in Carlow and
Meath. The one in Dublin is the most famous and the only one recorded
particularly early, in 1610. Carroll reckons this could have derived
originally from St Dominic, but there's no evidence to back that up
(local church dedicated to Dominic, etc.) from Dublin or anywhere else.
I don't know of any Sunday wells in Scotland apart from those already
mentioned, in Wales apart from Kidwelly, and none at all in the Isle of
Man or Cornwall.
Hope this all illuminates!
James Rattue
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