Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

This well is marked on the 1840-41 and 1915 OS maps as 'Toberreendoney' (Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh - well of the king of Sunday). Situation and Description: This was originally a small well at the side of the road which leads down to 'Ladies strand', Ballybunnion. However, all that remains today is a trickle of water; the County Council closed up the well about 25 years ago. Rounds/Legends/Offerings: (a) A trout lives in it. (b) The well moved from the other side of the road when clothes were washed in it.

Folklore collected from Ballybunnion School recorded the following tradition abut Sunday's Well: 'Situated in Doon West in Doon Glenn on bottom of cliff about one hundred yards from the shore. This well is supposed to have been profaned on a Saturday night. It is supposed that about one hundred years ago a woman washed clothes in the holy well and that on the following Sunday morning the well was at the opposite side of the road or pathway hence the name Sunday's Well. No rounds are paid since then. The rounds were paid around the well as it is now situated. If the story of the well moving is right rounds were paid in front of the well not round it though as circle the original well a slightly longer but almost identical journey should be made. The well is now used for domestic purposes. The water of this well is always almost ice cold. There is no bush of any description near this well. It is said there is a small trout in this well' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0401, Page 002;https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4666574/4663206).

Ó Danachair (1958, 160) recorded the following details about this well; 'A small well at the side of the road which leads down to the "Ladies' Strand", Ballybunion. Not visited now but known to have been a holy well formerly. Legends: A holy trout lives in the well. The well moved from the other side of the road when clothes were washed in it'.

The above description is derived from C. Toal, ‘North Kerry Archaeological Survey’. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority (1995), no. 888. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Revised by: Caimin O’Brien

Date of revised upload: 17 May 2022

References

Toal, C. 1995 North Kerry Archaeological Survey. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority.

Ó Danachair, C. 1958 The Holy Wells of North County Kerry. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 88, 153-63.