Tubberorum

 

Tubberorum Lane is off Ludlow Street, between

No. 4, Reilly, Solicitors, and No. 5, McGrane, Butcher.

At the bottom of the lane there was a well which gave its name to the lane.  “Tobar” is the Irish for well.

It is not clear what the origin of the full name Tubberorum is.

It may come from an Old Irish word Uaran which means “a fountain of pure water”.

Legend has it that when St. Patrick was on his missionary tour of the country he and his comapnions stopped at this well for a drink.
Oran was a charioteer who filled the water vessels and tended his noble passengers.

The well was called Tubberoran, the well of Oran and down through the years the pronunciation may have slipped into that of Tubberorum.

Drawing by Patrick Reel

Tubberorum was the main source of water for the people of Navan from medieval times to the 19th cent

Michael Collier (died 1859), a highwayman, used this well not only for water when he was on the dry from poteen but also as a hiding place.  As Navan’s Robin Hood, he used to rob carriages to and from Dublin and hide under the well until the fuss has died down.  His ill gained goods were distributed among the poor.

Eventually he was captured and sentenced to death.  While awaiting death in Trim Gaol
he escaped dramatically.  When finally recaptured he gave vital information about his associates and was given the option of serving in the army and when released spent some of his time living in a room in Tubberorum Lane.

The well supplied water to the old town of Navan being the only substantial one inside the town wall.  The well was restored by the Town Commissioners in 1858 as the inscription on the pillar of the well points out.  When the waterworks were built in the 1890s the well fell into disrepair.