Plaque honouring the keeper of St Columba's Well to be unveiled

The man, who for half a century was the keeper of St Columba’s Well in Derry, is to be honoured for his devotion and service.
A plaque commemorating the late Tommy Mitchell will be unveiled at 5.00pm on Tuesday, September 2, on the wall adjacent to the Bogside’s iconic holy well.

Also known as St Columcille, legend has it the well originated in 542 AD when a child was brought there to St Columba for Baptism. There being no water, St Columba made the sign of the cross on a stone, and water came out of it. The green and gold decorative pump on the site dates to 1897.

In 2021, for the 1,500th anniversary of the birth of St Columba, a display of wooden artwork was installed on the gable wall of one of The Wells’ houses depicting important events in his life.

Speaking to The Derry News, Tommy’s daughters, Agnes Doherty, Frances Brown and Bridie Doherty, recalled the great excitement and preparations in their childhood home in The Wells as the June 9 feast day of St Columba, the city’s revered patron saint, approached.

Tommy’s daughters, Agnes Doherty, Frances Brown and Bridie Doherty.

Bridie described her family as The Wells “born and bred”.

“We lived just below the pump,” she said. “My father’s mother and father were from Ramelton in County Donegal. My father was from Edenmore Street in Rosemount and my mother, Aggie Mitchell, was from the Brandywell - Southend Park.

“I remember there was always a committee which did up the pump away back years ago when we were only wanes.

“My father had great devotion to St Columba. No matter what went wrong with the well it was always my father they came to to get it fixed.

“Every June 9, for three days he used to open the cover on the well and he put the buckets down and brought the water up. People came from far and wide to get the water from the well because it was believed to cure disease. My father would have filled everyone’s bottle.

“That went on for three days. He took that on and he did it for 50 years. Nowadays on June 9 there is a procession down to the well from the Long Tower Church, St Columba’s Church and they say the Rosary at the well and it is lovely. They come from everywhere just to be there.

“But the possession didn’t always happen. Back in the day Bishop Daly always came down and said prayers with my father. The two of them were very close,” said Bridie, whose father always left bottles of holy water out for a few days after June 9 for people to lift.

“If he had needed to, he would have opened the well and got more water because he would never have turned anyone away,” she recollected.

“When we were wee, people in the area would have had great devotion to the well, they definitely had.

“Daddy is dead now nearly 30 years and our family is delighted the plaque in his memory has been put up on the wall beside the well, thanks to Fr Mongan (Administrator, Long Tower) and Eugene Brown, who is Frances’ brother-in-law.”

Bridie told how her father had got the Sacred Heart pictured made, complete with votive candles.

The plaque in The Wells to commemorate and honour the late Tommy Mitchell.

“He put them above the doors of all the houses in The Wells every June 9. The funny thing was they were all stored in our bathroom the rest of the year. Whenever we went in, they were all on the wall looking at you,” she smiled.

“Daddy always wanted The Wells gleaming for June 9. He went around all the houses and painted them before the big day.

“Later on he got St Columba lapel badges designed and made at his own expense. He did this for Bishop Daly because at the time St Eugene’s Cathedral was undergoing some renovations and they were collecting money. Daddy charged £1 for a badge and he gave all the proceeds to the Cathedral renovation fund. He never took a penny.

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“There was always a great sense of excitement around June 9 when they were wee. Away at the start the grown ups would have got together and had a wee sing-song but there would have been no drink.

“The Quigley’s in Howard street, they were all singers and the youngest one of them went to America and she had a great voice. They recorded her singing ‘St Columba’ and you would have heard it all over the place.

“We weren’t allowed to stay up. We were sent down to the house but we had a wee skylight window and we were all craning our necks trying to see out to see the bars,” said Bridie, who also reminisced about her father getting the gold paint for the pump from a man called Jackson who lived in The Fountain.

“Wasn’t that a great cross community effort?” said Bridie. “We have so many happy memories of the whole occasion”.