Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
16.08.26, 3.00pm: Fr. Moore’s Well
Introduction:
It was a Spring day, last February, when Betty O’Shea first contacted me about ‘Fr. Moore’s Well’ and the strong desire to honour it in this bicentenary year of Fr. John Moore’s death. She had the full support of Fr. Willie. I think Betty had some hunch on this summers weather, because she had originally hoped to have the celebration on March 12th, but thought the weather might not be climatic then for the event! It’s great to welcome the many who have gathered this splendid afternoon.
I have passed by this way many times, this is my first time to visit the well. And how appropriate to have this bicentenary celebration during National Heritage Week 2026, which began yesterday. I begin this week here at ‘Fr. Moore’s Well’ in Rathbride and finish it next Saturday in a Famine Graveyard at Robinstown.
The theme for National Heritage Week 2026 is ‘Heritage at Risk’ and all the events that I’m involved in this week, will highlight heritage that needs our support, our attention, our protection. The local committee here have set up a ‘gofundme’ page to address the immediate need for new gates to the well, wall repairs, road resurfacing and erecting a path to Fr. Moore’s house and that’s probably only the start of their plans! All essential to ensure that ‘Fr. Moore’s Well’ and the rituals associated with it, will be here long after our time.
Gathering in prayer around the well, around this sacred place, as many have done before us, we call to mind our sins, and pray for God’s love and mercy …
- Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy:
A Thiarna, déan trócaire
- Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth:
A Chríost, déan trócaire
- Bí linn i gcónaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way.
A Thiarna, déan Trócaire
Homily:
We associate wells with scripture passages. There is Jacob’s well near Shechem. It’s the well where Jesus met the woman who came to draw water in the midday sun as recounted in John‘s gospel. There are many wells spoken about in the Book of Genesis, didn’t Joseph’s brothers throw him into an empty well, until they thought the better of it and sold him off to a group of Ishmaelite traders. But I want to return to Jacob’s Well. Fifty years ago a Spiritan priest Adrian Van Kaam wrote probably the best exegesis or commentary on this passage from John 4:4-42. While it’s a Caananite woman and her plight that occupies the mind of todays gospel[1], I will come back to that encounter of Jesus with the woman at the well, weaving a poem written by an American poet Krista Besselman throughout this homily.
“When our past has cast a shadow
Even sunshine can’t dispel,
There is One who knows and loves us
Who will met us at the well”[2].
It’s estimated that there are 3000 holy wells, tobar beannaithe, across Ireland. Each has a devotion, a tradition, a heritage unique to itself. I think of the great devotion to St. Moling on Pattern Day every July as people visit St. Molings Well in St. Mullins, at the other end of the diocese in South Carlow. I think of St. Fintan’s Well near Raheen in Laois where the faithful gather around June 15th. And of course St. Brigid’s Well in Kildare, a place of great pilgrimage every February 1st and indeed all year around. I come from Slane in County Meath and yesterday, August 15th, is known locally as ‘Lady Well Day’ as pilgrims make the journey to the holy well there on the castle grounds. Pilgrims walk in the footsteps of music fans who have been on the same castle grounds on other occasions to enjoy Springsteen, Madonna, Queen, the Rolling Stones and too many more to mention.
“When our first love’s far behind us
And we’re shocked how far we fell,
Look how far He’s come to save us.
Look! He’s waiting at the well”[3].
But what makes this well, ‘Fr. Moore’s Well’ special? I’m told that barely a week goes by that someone comes away from the well, healed physically or spiritually. Of course others will question the authenticity of such healing, but talk to the one who has been healed. They know their pain and they are the ones who experience the healing. Perhaps it’s the water, maybe it’s the hat, or just being here in this holy place. I think of our own Fr. Liam Lawton’s composition: ¯ “This is holy ground / In this holy place / where God’s love is found / we come to seek his face”.
“When we’re shackled with a secret,
Like a captive in a cell,
There is One who knows completely
And will free us at the well”[4].
Water is very transformative, very healing, it allows us to tell our story. The water flows as our narrative unfolds. It remains a miracle how life-giving water can issue from the dry earth. It’s no wonder that wells, springs, fountains, have long been seen as holy places, sacred places. Water also is part of religious ablutions in scripture, as the one being healed[5] is often invited to wash in the water. And so we arrive at the healing powers water offers. Letting go, the flow of the water, reminds us things move on, nothing remains static, but God’s purifying love for each one of us.
“When we’re hurt by long rejection
Bitter looks and angry yells
We find pardon and acceptance
Offered freely at the well”[6].
John Moore was born in Rathbride in 1779. He matriculated to enter the Seminary in Maynooth in 1799 and was ordained on 26th May 1804[7]. He was appointed here to Allen parish. He seems to have served most of his priesthood here, although it wasn’t always a harmonius time. John Lawlor was Parish Priest during his entire time here, appointed to the parish in 1802 and dying in 1830, four years after Fr. Moore. Fr. John Moore lived with his mother in a tatched house a short distance from the well. Local gentry reported him to Bishop James Doyle, better known as JKL. Accompanied by Fr. Patrick Brennan PP of Kildare and other clergy, JKL asked Fr. Moore to desist from his kind of ministry in Allen parish. Fr. Moore held his ground, respectfully but firmly. He lit two candles by blowing on them, having read from scripture for a while. JKL departed, telling Fr. Moore “to continue your good work”. It was interesting that it was in June 1823, three years before Fr. Moore’s death, that JKL would write a Pastoral to the faithful of the diocese regarding a miraculous cure, twelve days earlier, through the intercession of the Dean of Bamberg[8]. It was the cure of a woman, named Maria Lalor, of a speech impediment, which for over six years she had suffered. So JKL believed in these kind of supernatural events, and we are certain that he crossed paths with Fr. Moore.
“When we’ve drunk the living water
But we feel like empty shells,
We are overdue a visit
To the Healer at the well”[9].
While John 4 brings us the account of the Woman at the Well, its from Matthew 15 that this afternoons gospel is taken. It tells of the Canaanite woman, the first woman to speak in Matthews gospel. She, an outsider, has come to Jesus, she has come not for heself, but for her daughter. It’s a powerful message of healing. The disciples are uncomfortable with her antics. I love the line: “give her what she wants, because she is shouting after us”[10], not because she deserves it, not because she cares deeply about her daughter but because they are embarrassed by her shouting. For them, the woman is an inconvenience. This comes out of their smallness, their impoverishment. Two weeks ago they wanted to send the crowds away and yet Jesus found it within himself to feed “the 5,000 men, to say nothing of women or children”[11]. The disciples are slow to learn the signs.
“When we can’t afford perfection
But find grace a harder sell,
If we’re ready to accept it,
There is freedom at the well”[12].
I began by speaking of the number of holy wells, its estimated there are 3,000 tobar beannaithe across the country. Someone asked me does the priest bless the water at the particular well, the water is blessed by the fact of so many coming and believing in its curative qualities. Relics get us up close with the one who has a reputation for holiness; there is only one relic of Fr. John Moore and that’s his hat, not just an ordinary hat, but a silk chimney-pot hat! Nothing else remains, but folklore, tradition and custom. When we are in pain, whether it’s a migrane or some other ache, like the Canaanite woman we too will understandably cry: “Lord, help me”[13].
“When we’re busy and exhausted,
Sit beside Him for a spell.
There’s an open invitation
Come and join Him at the well”[14].
National Heritage Week allows us a week to celebrate places off the beaten track, places where signposting can be dubious or even suspect. We do that this afternoon here in Rathbride. That a priest who died at the tender age of 47 back in 1826 should have us gathering two hundred years later is itself a feat. I commend the local committee and encourage what you do to keep the story of Fr. John Moore alive in these parts. A little like the persistence of the Canaanite woman, today your prayers are answered!
“When we find such love and mercy
It’s our joy to run and tell.
Come and bring the others with you,
Come, be women at the well”[15].
[1] Mt.15:21-28
[2] Besselman, Krista, ‘Woman at the Well’, 2015
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
[5] 2K5-13; Jn.5:1-15; Jn.9:7
[6] Besselman, Krista, ‘Woman at the Well’, 2015.
[7] Hamell, Patrick J., ‘Maynooth Students and Ordinations Index 1795-1895’, 1982, Student #6391, pg.174
[8] Comerford, Fr. Michael, Dioceses of Kildare & Leighlin, Volume 1, 1883, pg. 99.
[9] Besselman, Krista, ‘Woman at the Well’, 2015.
[10] Mt.15:23
[11] Mt.14:21
[12] Besselman, Krista, ‘Woman at the Well’, 2015.
[13] Mt.15:25
[14] Besselman, Krista, ‘Woman at the Well’, 2015.
[15] ibid