Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

In scrub on a steep E-facing slope immediately W of the Kilshanny-Smithstown Road, on the northern outskirts of Kilshanny village, c. 150m W of the Cooleen River. Indicated and named ‘Toberinneenboy’ on the 1840 and 1916 eds. OS 6-inch maps. Noted in the OS Letters (Comber 1997, 99) as ‘dedicated to Inghean-Bhaoith, Patroness of Kilnaboy’. While the well was ‘seldom frequented’ in the 1830s, its water was still reputed to ‘be good for the cure of sore eyes’ (ibid.). Lenihan (1997, 56) found no memory of its dedication to ‘Iníne Baoith’ or evidence for devotion at the site, although it was still known as ‘the blessed well’. He reported that the well was used to water cattle in dry weather. On inspection in 1998 a spring emerging from the base of a rocky outcrop was noted. The water gushes from the rock into a small pool (diam. c. 0.55m), from where it is piped to a stone and a concrete trough.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Eve Campbell

Date of upload: 28 June 2023

Reference:
Lenihan, E. 1997, The holy wells of Kilshanny Parish. The Other Clare 21, 55–6.

References

Comber, M. (ed.) 1997 The antiquities of County Clare: John O’Donovan and Eugene Curry: Ordnance Survey Letters 1839. Clasp Press. Ennis.