Greg Daly
Kerry County Council lacked necessary state approval to carry out the partial demolition of an ancient holy well in Tralee, the council has admitted.
Sundays Well at Lisloose, Tralee, which dates back to pre-Christian times, is believed by some to be the original “pure crystal fountain” famously mentioned in the song The Rose of Tralee. Now located in a green area by a housing estate, the partial destruction was first highlighted on social media by the Historical Tralee Society.
According to a council spokesperson, the work, which was halted following protests of local history enthusiast Neilus O’Shea, was begun in an attempt to “improve public safety” in a “busy residential area”.
The work entailed the installation of a grill over the well to remove the risk posed to people who might fall or climb in, as well as to prevent litter and other items from being thrown into the well.
Approval
During the works, the spokesperson continued, stones from a vaulted arch, built just decades ago, were removed to be replaced using lime mortar. No archaeological consultation took place before the work, despite approval from the National Monuments Service being needed as the well is recognised as being of “archaeological significance”.
Among those who objected to the work was local solicitor and Sinn Féin councillor Pa Daly, who asked at a meeting of Tralee Municipal District, “Who the hell authorised the work?” continuing, “Even ISIS wouldn’t have done this.”
Since criticised for the having trivialised the actions of the so-called Islamic State, Mr Daly maintained that he had not been comparing Kerry County Council to the Jihadist group.
“IS have a history of taking down old historic structures they don’t like. This is a holy well – it doesn’t have any images they’d object to,” he said when interviewed by Newstalk, adding, “I wasn’t talking about people being blown up.”