Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ritual site - holy well
Gragan East, County Clare, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Gragan East
- County
- Clare
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Tobergahard
- Latest-edition OS map
- Tobergahard (1916)
- Coordinates
- 53.08308, -9.16531
- SMR number
- CL005-093----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1753 "Mappa geographica Regni Hiberniae" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Near the base of a steep NW-facing rock face under dense hazel scrub, just off the R480. Indicated and named 'Tobergahard' on both the first edition (1842) and later, Cassini edition (1916) of the OS 6-inch map.
A small, natural spring emerging from the limestone pavement is surrounded by a rough stone wall. The well is still venerated and devotional objects, including a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, were recorded during a recent research visit by The Clare Holy Wells Project (Kirby 2021). According to local tradition (National Folklore Collection, Schools, UCD, vol. 0616, p 24) the water was used as a cure for eye complaints.
References:
Kirby, T. 2021 Tobergahard Holy Well, Gragan East. The Clare Holy Wells Project. Accessed 16 January 2023; Available @ https://heritage.clareheritage.org/places/holy-wells/tobargahard-holy-well-gragan-east.
The National Folklore collection, UCD: The Schools Collection (A collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s.) Accessed 16 January 2023; Available @ https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922365/4874568
Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Ros Ó Maoldúin
Date of upload: 16 January 2023
Nearby in the register
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - cashelunder 1 mi
- House - indeterminate dateunder 1 mi
- House - indeterminate dateunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.