Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Holy well described by O'Hare (2000, 61) as; 'The OSNB (1841 Aglish 31) records the presence of a holy well entitled Toberreendoney from Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh (Well of the King of Sunday), near the north-east boundary of this townland. It is located on a north facing slope in a field of pasture and consists of a water-filled depression c. 0.6m deep. A number of stones lie scattered about the site. At the time of this visit, a statue of Our Lady lay beneath a young tree growing on the south-east side of the depression. A local boy, who acted as guide for the author, recalled a legend concerning a youth who is said to have removed rosary beads from the well. That very night his leg became swollen and the beads appeared out of it. According to Mr. Michael Culloty of Toornanoulagh, the people of the area decided that this was a holy well when a local woman found that water which she had removed from it would not boil. The well then became a place of pilgrimage. People came to pray and seek cures and left behind offerings of statues, medals and glass ornaments. Some people however, believed that the best results were to be obtained by throwing silver into the well. This belief could be exploited by the unscrupulous, as illustrated by the legend recounted by Mr. Culloty, of a woman who owned a pub in Firies village. One day, on the way to the well, she took a damaged half-crown from the till as her offering. Upon her return a short time after, she was puzzled to see the same half-crown once again in her till. Her suspicions were aroused upon noticing a local man, who lived near the well, drinking a pint at the counter. On subsequent visits to the well the woman is said to have left her money in the till, declaring that she did not believe in getting paid for drink with her own money!'.
Revisited by Connie Murphy on 14-11-2002. Well depression is 1.8m N-S; 1m E-W; D 0.6m. According to local information rounds were made at this holy well in the past. The custom has died out.

Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork.

See attached photograph courtesy of Amanda Clarke

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 28 April 2022

References

O'Hare, P. 2000 Holy wells and other sites of pilgrimage within a portion of East Kerry. Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 29, 55-98.

OSNB - Ordnance Survey Name Books. Pro-forma books arranged by Civil Parish for recording townland and other name-forms and compiled in the course of the OS 6-inch survey 1824-1841. The name books also include minor names and incidental references to antiquities. National Archives of Ireland.