Chair and well fabled for 'healing powers' gets protected status

An ancient site steeped in myth in County Tyrone and still believed by some to possess healing powers has been granted protected status.

Located on the outskirts of Augher, St Patrick's Chair and Well - known also as the Druids Chair and Well or St Brigid's Well - is one of a number of monuments across Northern Ireland to receive a historic listing this week.

While its exact history remains something of a mystery, local folklore holds that it was once a venue for pagan rituals, before later becoming a sacred place for Christians after being visited by an ageing Saint Patrick in the fifth century AD.

"Droves continue to come, some for fun, others seeking a cure for all kinds of ills," local historian Mary McGee said.

The site, in a glen outside Augher, comprises a large 2m throne-shaped block of sandstone, beneath which is a well - a depression in another rock - that is said to never run dry.

"Legend has it that the site was once a place where ancient druids would perform all sorts of nefarious practices. Everything from sacrifices to witchcraft," said Mary McGee, who grew up "a stone's throw" from the chair and well.

Such Celtic customs are said to have continued until St Patrick, accompanied by St Macartan of nearby Clogher, persuaded the local pagans of the virtues of Christianity.

"To show their appreciation to St Patrick, who was quite old by the time he arrived in Augher, the local people built him a chair from stone," said Mary.

"The well, so the story goes, was a gift left by St Patrick before he moved on."

Local folklore says it has healing powers and the water which gathers there is particularly famous for curing warts.

Mary's father, Mick McKenna, still lives in the family home which is just a few hundred yards from the historic site.

"It's great that the chair and well have been given this protected status. It's a very important thing for local people," he said.

The 92-year-old has fond memories of a festival that used to take place every July known as Heather Sunday, when local people would congregate for games, food, music and dance.

In a manner that mirrors the history of St Patrick's Stone and Well, it is thought the festival had pagan origins before later being adopted into the Christian calendar.

The importance of the chair and well for local people endures to this day with nearby primary school pupils visiting every year.

Principal of St Patrick's Primary School, Gemma Quinn, said the children usually have a picnic and learn about the history of the well.

"We tell them about the pagans, about St Patrick, and about why our school has the name that it does. It's very special," she said.

Gemma said she encourages each child to take a seat on the stone chair and make a wish like she remembers doing as a child.

"I love seeing them do it. Maybe in another twenty or thirty years, their children will do the same," she added.

"And on through the generations that tradition will travel."

St Patrick's Chair and Well was only one of a number of sites in Northern Ireland to receive Scheduled Historic Monument status this week.

It is granted to recognise and preserve significant sites of human interaction with the landscape over the last 10,000 years.

There are more than 2,000 Scheduled Historic Monuments in Northern Ireland, including many prehistoric sites, forts, churches, castles, maritime sites and also more recent industrial and defence heritage.

The remains of the docks at Lisahally in Londonderry also received protected status this week, recognising its strategic importance in World War Two.

German U-boats officially surrendered there at the end of the war in 1945.

Bert Whoriskey, 96, who witnessed the surrender, said it was one of the most exciting days of his life.

"Us as young fellas ,the way we looked at it was, we were fighting the Germans for six years and now we were going to see real Germans you know," he said.

"It was at the back of our house.

"The surrender took place on a battleship that had come in along with them and that's where all the 'big noises', as we said, came for the surrender."

Military historian Richard Doherty said Lisahally was "absolutely crucial" to the Allies war effort.

"There were anything up to 140, perhaps even more, ocean-going warships based here for the majority of the second world war," he said.

"That's bigger than all the other main escort bases put together. That's Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast."

Other sites added to the protected places and monuments list include a battle garden at Kilwarlin Moravian Church, near Hillsborough, and a number of granite milestones on the old Enniskillen to Dublin coach road.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons welcomed the listing of the new sites, saying "the structures we have protected this week represent a microcosm of our rich heritage".

"I am pleased that my department has taken steps to identify and protect these unique aspects of Northern Ireland's rich and varied historic environment," he added.