Ancient Dromore well now a sight for sore eyes

IRELAND is famous for its quirky mythical cures – but how many of them truly have legs to stand on?

From legends like the toothache tree to the rag-covered shrines dotting the countryside, these old beliefs run deep in our culture. So much so, there are even people said to carry certain cures. And right here on our Dromore doorstep lies one such site, hidden beneath overgrowth below an abandoned church.

Today, very little is visible of this so-called ‘eyewell’ – a small basin filled by a natural spring, nestled beneath the ruins. But a closer look reveals clues to its mystical past: Rags tied by past visitors and a weathered statue of Mary, marking the basin’s sacred status.

But how does a myth like this begin… and grow strong enough to survive into the modern day?

The legend of the well’s healing power dates back to the 1700s, when a man named Robert Stephenson was passing through Dromore with his ailing horse.

The animal had been suffering with deteriorating eyesight and needed to be led by its owner. As they neared the edge of town, Stephenson spotted a spring flowing on a hill below the church. Hoping for a miracle, he cupped some of the water and bathed the horse’s eyes.

And thus a miracle was delivered, and the horse is said to have fully regained its sight.

Word of the miraculous event spread, and from then on the spring gained a reputation for healing vision.

Over the years, the well – known as Tobar na Súl (‘The Well for the Eyes’) – drew pilgrims from across Ireland and beyond, all seeking relief for their own eye conditions.

Whilst few take this pilgrimage today, does the same water still contain curative properties?

In 1986 it would seem so, as an anonymous pilgrim wrote to the Ulster Herald to give thanks to the people of Dromore, after her vision was cured after just three visits to the eyewell.

However, two years later, a feature by local man Charlie Gormley in the our newspaper cast doubt over the well’s condition.

As part of a wider article on the Dromore area, he reported that the once-sacred spring had dried up – the cause unknown.

Whether it ever flowed again is unclear. The basin today may be little more than a catchment for bog-standard rainwater.

A mythical site largely forgotten, perhaps, but not entirely gone.