Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in a grove on the N shore of Killone Lake, 125m NE of Killone Augustinian nunnery (CL041-062001-). The well, dedicated to St. John, is just inside the W entrance to a subrectangular walled enclosure (29m E-W; 17-20m N-S). The well comprises a masonry wall aligned NNE-SSW built under rock outcrop. An entrance or doorway through the wall (H 0.75m; Wth 0.53m; T 0.42m) leads to a step down to the silted floor of a D-shaped lintelled chamber (H 1.64m). An iron girder supports the lintels. A 19th-century crucifixion plaque (Wth 0.55m; H 0.8m) on the external N wall of the chamber is inscribed ‘Erected to the Glory of God, in Honour of St. John’. The outcrop is surmounted by a statue of St. John the Baptist. Immediately W of the chamber is a shrine with two shelves holding a statue of the Child of Prague and other religious items. C. 7m to the S is a rectangular depression (1.85m E-W; 1.7m N-S; D 0.8-1.1m) walled on all sides with drystone walling. The top course of the wall rises over ground level (max. H 0.2m; Wth c. 1m). There are steps down from the W and a tree grows out from the side. This may have been a washing area associated with the adjacent covered feature and is locally known as the ‘tank’. A stone altar (CL041-062004-) lies c. 5m to the W. The well is still visited on June 23rd, the eve of the feast of St. John.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 7 November 2016