Discovery of ‘significant’ ancient well in Beamore

A HISTORICAL well that could have links to a nearby ancient monastic site was discovered recently is said to be "hugely significant for the Beamore area."

The natural spring well on the Beamore Road outside Drogheda was unearthed recently and flagged by local farmer Oliver McAvinia while work to address drainage issues in the area was being carried out.

This 'find' will be no surprise to Beamore residents who have always known of the well's existence.

One such individual is chairman of the Kilsharvin Community Council and Old Drogheda Society President, John McCullen.

"We always called it Langan's Well because Langan lived in the house across from it," said the local historian.

"Then another family bought Langan's. The farmer there would be milking cows on the other side of the road, the same side as the well as he used to wash the cans and put his churns into the well to keep them cold," he added.

"When the neighbours were looking at it recently, some of them thought it might be related to something the Cistercians did down here because the dig that we did for the Beaubec Monastery would only be around 200 yards away.

"We have engaged with Brendan Matthews, a community historian and Kieran Campbell who is an archaeologist and then we made an application on the suggestion of Elaine McGinty to the Heritage section in Meath Co Council for funding to carry out research."

John always passionately believed that ruins on his land were of great archaeological importance and was finally proven correct when an archaeological dig at the site revealed a treasure chest of finds, including a medieval grain dryer, animal bones, pottery and the structural remains of the 13th century de Bello Becco (Beaubec).

An initial archaeological dig carried out in 1997 revealed artefacts dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries and a more detailed excavation took place over the summers of 2019, 2020 and 2021, by local archaeologist Geraldine Stout, showed that the Beamore area was a hive of industry in medieval times with a community of monks working the land and building a monastery. Carbon dating on some artefacts found in the area showed they dated back as far as 2,200 BC, a period contemporary with Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.

It was John's aunt who had a keen interest in history who spurred on his curiosity about the site.

"There was a stone building there with a red sand stone arched window which usually suggests a church and also suggests 13th century period," he said.

"We did a dig in 1996 for a week and we found 13th century medieval pottery," John added.

"My aunt always said don't take stones from that building because they are holy stones because mass was said there.

"She obviously had some clue somewhere because she was a great reader. We used to play hide and seek in the ruins growing up and we called it the gate house or the castle."

Labour Cllr Elaine McGinty says she is hopeful that more can be learned about the well and its possible links to the monastic settlement at Beaubec.

"A farmer who always knew of its existence due to local knowledge being passed down from generation to generation contacted me about this," said McGinty.

"We have applied for a grant to Meath Co Council for a heritage grant application to get a historian on board to carry out some research to find more about it," she added.

"If we are going to do anything with this, we need to understand the history," said McGinty who serves on the Heritage Strategic Policy Plan for Co Meath. The whole area is due to be developed so we urgently need to understand it.

The Labour Cllr said the find was "hugely significant for the Beamore region."

"This whole area is linked to the River Boyne and Monastic settlements. There is a massive move on to understand and protect this heritage that is vitally important not to Ireland but to Europe and the world.

"There's a massive renewal of interest from people in heritage and our environment and particularly in Meath there is something special about all of these areas and we don't fully understand yet how they are connected."

‘Beaubec – Excavations of a French Cistercian Grange in the Boyne Valley’ by Dr. Matthew Stout and Dr Geraldine Stout which documents the excavation of the lands at Beaubec, is available to buy in a number of locations including The Hill of Tara, Millmount and Drogheda Tourist Office.