Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Described by Ó Muirgheasa in 1936 as 'there is a Holy Well and graveyard on Rathlin O'Byrne Island. A faithful few still perform the turus there. The well is variously attributed to St. Naal, St. Ciaran, and St. Assicus of Elphin. St. Ciaran's ruined chapel is at Malinbeg, opposite the island, where up to sixty years ago the people of Malinbeg used to practise devotions. Some call it Tobar Rahlan. Others of the local people say they heard this well called Tobar Assicus, but whether this came from modern books or from old tradition is uncertain' (Ó Muirgheasa 1936, 150; No. 29) The well has been described by Herity (1995, 90) as follows: ‘This is a trapezoidal structure standing with the entrance in the narrow end which faces north. Its walling is of similar construction and material to the oratory and houses, now standing to a height of 1.30m. Its north-east face is oriented 35 degrees east of north. The north-east side is open and 1.47m wide; the south-west, incorporated into the boundary wall flanking the edge of the larger enclosure behind, is 2.65m wide. Both north-west and south-east sides are 2.75m long. The well-house partakes of the same broad coursed building style as the buildings of the inner enclosure: both side-walls, particularly the inner faces of each for a distance of 1.40m from the entrance facade, use regular flat slabs. By contrast much of the stone used in the rear end, which is incorporated in the enclosure wall, is medium-sized rounded boulders, up to 40cm maximum dimension. The well-house is roofed with flat slabs of schist, on top of which is a low mound of beach pebbles of granite. A cross-slab of schist (06a) [DG089-018008-], 75cm in height and bearing a simple Latin cross on both faces, stands erect in the roof in a U-notched stone, 06b, of the same material. North of this is a cross-inscribed schist slab (07) [DG089-018009-] discovered in 1985. Immediately outside the enclosure, beside the north-east corner of the well-house, stands a gabled cross-slab (05) [DG089-018007-], decorated on both faces, 52cm high. North-east of here, 3.10m away, is a second well, on the outer edge of the line of the enclosure wall.’

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 2 February 2014

References

Herity, M. 1995 Two Island Hermitages in the Atlantic: Rathlin O'Birne, Donegal, and Caher Island, Mayo. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 125, 85-128.

Walsh, P. 1983 The monastic settlement on Rathlin O'Birne Island, County Donegal. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 113, 53-66.

Ó Muirgheasa, E. 1936 The holy wells of: Donegal. Béaloideas 7, No. 2, 143-62. Corrigenda 7, No. 2, 247, 1937.