Using Rutty's book as a guide, I visited a number of the wells and enquired on the spot about the use of the waters at present. Rutty made mention of a number of wells containing purging waters which was in use in the city of Dublin. These were in the neighbourhood of Francis Street, the Coombe and Thomas Court, and he mentions five of these wells in Francis Street. These were at the Burn's Arms, the Pump, the Plough, Vernon's Head and the Wheat Sheaf. These wells are now almost completely forgotten, but one man was able to tell me about Parkes' Joiner's shop opposite the old Weavers' Hall in the Coombe, where there was a well where people were welcome to drink the spa water. It was said to help cases of rheumatism and was used to cure hangovers. Rutty mentioned other wells in the neighbourhood at Ballydowd, Howth, St. Margaret's, and Templeogue, but these are no longer used and even the Lucan well, which was long famous, is now used much less than formerly.

I visited the spa well at Swanlinbar in County Cavan during the present summer (1971). It had not changed since I went there over twenty years ago to get some water for my mother, who said it made her much better. It still had the 5mell of rotten eggs, perceptible from several yards, and the path to the well from the road was still used. This well was very famous during the eighteenth century and Rutty devoted more than forty pages of his book to its wonderful powers to cure almost every disease, even including a case or two of leprosy. When people walked to Lough Derg on pilgrimage, the custom was to stop at the well and drink the water before proceeding on the journey.

Rutty also mentioned a number of spa wells in the neighbourhood of Drumsna in County Leitrim. I went there recently and found that two of them are still known; one is at MacManus's Cross on the road between Jamestown and Carrick on Shannon. The water of this well is still used to cure worms in children and in horses. The other is on the land owned by Mr. Bernard Garvey, near Drumsna. It is little used, but is believed to cure worms and is also good for aches and pains. I was interested to hear that the people o~ Drumsna do not want to talk about spa water, except to Complain about it. All the local water is spa water and they cannot get a suitable supply of fresh water for the little town.

Around Slieve an Iarainn in County Leitrim there are many spa wells; I examined the maps of the district in the 0rdnance Office and found at least twenty such wells entered on the maps. People still know where they are, but few Pe0ple now drink the waters. This decline in their use may be due to the fall in the population of the mountainous district of County Leitrim

It would seem that the use of spa water is now no longer used in folk medicine, but as an illustration of its importance I will end with a quotation from Rutty's book about the Chalybeate waters of a well near Wexford. This is from a letter written to Rutty by Peter Sweetman, Physician at Wexford:

It would be endless to enumerate all the disorders in which these salutary waters are drank: the cholorosis, obstructed and immoderate menstrua, bilious and nervous colicks, the Gohorrhoea Simplex, Fluor Albus, Barrenness, Jaundice, cachexy, the Hypochondriac disease, Gravel, loss of appetite and scurvy, are diseases mostly relieved and often cured by the long protracted use of these waters.

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From Irish Folk Medicine by Patrick Logan
Appletree Press