Meet the man clearing cans and syringes from a holy well on the Northside
Michael O'Riordan says Lady's Well is a historic and cultural gem that's in need of some TLC.
It’s the city centre green space that most people don’t even know exists: at Lady’s Well in Blackpool, there’s an incredible view of Shandon, trees, scrub and green space, and an ancient spring that probably once supplied the area’s water.
But right now, it’s covered in smashed glass, graffiti, discarded cans and even needles.
Northsider Michael O’Riordan set out to find the well, which gives its name to the nearby former Murphy’s brewery, several weeks ago and is now volunteering time on weekday mornings to clearing the area of debris.
A Northside waterfall?
This week, Michael has unearthed the source of the water which flows into a manmade well on the site: a spring which emerges from the ground, forms a waterfall on a mossy limestone rockface and then flows into a manmade channel which emerges into a ceremonial well, now covered with a metal grille and full of litter.
The water source was covered with debris and vines, but Michael has now cleared it so it is visible.
“It needs more exploring, but I think the source is about 10 feet behind the waterfall,” he said.
A brief history of the well, including warnings of its deterioration, was written by Richard Scriven in 2013.
It seems that the well did not have a religious function prior to the 1980s but rather a practical one as a local water source, but it was home to a grotto containing a statue of the Virgin Mary: the grotto is now closed and covered in graffiti.
If cleaned up, cared for and used, Lady’s Well could be a fantastic amenity for city nature-lovers, and has the potential to be used as community gardens or a memorial, Michael believes.
However, the route into the well is underused and off-putting due to the evidence of drinking and drug use, he said.
“Last month I decided to go and find the well,” Michael told Tripe + Drisheen Monday morning as he prepared to continue his solo clean-up.
“I’ve been in Bell’s field a million times and I was up there with my daughter and I looked down and saw this and said, ‘that’s the well! It’s been here the whole time.’ When you’re passing, it’s not a place you’d walk into, which is a pity. Everyone uses that view from Bell’s Field above us as being the iconic shot of Cork city, but in my opinion, the view from here is even better.”
“You have all the cans and glass bottles, heroin needles in the water, burned out wheelie bins,” he said. “It’s disgusting, but it doesn’t surprise me any more. If you kick up a fuss the council might come in, but it will just happen again. What needs to happen is that it needs to be brought back into use.”
“People could use it as a community garden, or anything really. I was thinking it might be nice to use it as a memorial, maybe for people who can’t make it to the grave of a loved one that was far away. Just to make it a spot that people would come to, and use in some way.”
Reverse vandalism
Michael has experience of community clean-ups at Popham’s Park in Farranree, close to his home, where he began to gather litter in 2020 in response to antisocial behaviour and vandalism in the park.
“I’ve two kids. Doing this is my way of protesting. And it helps, rather than just complaining all the time. Because I do all the letter-writing and emails and everything and they usually get ignored, so I got frustrated and started doing it myself.”
In his experience, clean-ups act as a deterrent to litterbugs and vandals. If an amenity is in poor condition, it “sends the message that no-one cares about the place,” he said.
Working alone can be a self-conscious experience, he said.
“I was worried about doing it because I was worried I’d get complaints or that people would come and hassle me, but then I realised, people are coming here to destroy the place, and all I’m doing is reverse vandalism. What’s the worse that could happen?”
“I do an hour in the morning. The more the better. It’s a lot of work, but it doesn’t scare me: it’s very enjoyable. Even if its just me for an hour a week, slowly it will come back to life.”
so brilliant well done Michael <3