The historic St Cronan’s Well is to be located within open space in the new council development off the Rathbeale Rd, council officials have confirmed.
While the site of the holy well will be preserved, it is not clear if measures will be taken to preserve the water source or how the development will impact it.
The masterplan for the area, which is between the Lioscian, Cianlea estates and Swords Community College, has not yet been revealed however officials two weeks ago confirmed that they are taking into account the well and three other archaeological features in the area.
An official from Fingal County Council said:
“We have had extensive Archaeological input into the masterplan for this site and it has been designed such that the location of the well and three other important archaeological features will be in the planned open space of the housing scheme.”
The plan for the land is happening in two phases with the first phase due before the council in May and it is aimed to deliver between 200 and 250 units, depending on the design. The second phase will come later but the council has said that they are aiming for between 500 and 600 units in total on the site, which stretches from the back for Swords Manor to the Rathbeale Rd.
Cllr Ian Carey said:
“Since it was revealed in documents several months ago that the council would be moving forward at pace on this site to deliver housing, I have been pushing officials to align as close as they can with the old Local Area Plan. That included a large open space around St Cronan’s Well, connecting in to the Lioscian, Cianlea open space creating a larger park for the whole community. I’m hopeful that given the response that this will remain within the plan.
“In recent weeks, I was contacted by a member of the community highlighting the historic nature of the holy well and where details of it have been documented down the centuries. I brought this information to the Director of Housing and was given assurances relating to the well. However, it is still unclear what impact the housing will have on the water source. Right now the Holy Well looks little more than a pond and would be difficult to identify if it wasn’t for the small waterway leading from it towards the ruins of Glasmore Abbey.
“It deserves to be given special attention, as do the ruins of Glasmore Abbey. We need to do everything we can to preserve historic sites around Swords, there is no reason why we can’t develop homes and respect our history at the same time.
“Water and holy wells are so significant to Swords they gave the town its name. It is a crying shame how we have not sought to make wells more of a feature of the town and its unique history.
