Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Folklore collected from Knockaderry School about 'Tobar na Croidhe'; 'There is also a well in Upper Killeagh, called Tobar na Croidhe. It was said there was a cure in the water if it was taken before sunrise or after a sunset. A white trout was often seen in the water. My grandmother told me that she drew a gallon of water from the well. She put the water over the fire to boil. The kettle of water was over the fire for a long time and it never boiled. She took off the lid and she saw the white trout in the kettle. Father J.K Fitzgerald was in a house near by and she told him, he told her, "take the water and the trout back again and put them into the well' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0460, Pages 161-2; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4742070/4732505).

Holy well described by O'Hare (2000, 68) as; 'Situated on a south facing slope in a field of pasture, the well measures c. 1m in diameter and is c. 0.6m deep. It consists of a natural spring which bubbles continuously to the surface. A drain leads from it on the south-west. At one time, the well supplied the water needs of four houses and more recently, of two. It is believed locally that rounds were made at the well at one time. According to Mr. Michael Culloty, when seeking a cure for a patient people would take water away from the well in a bottle, Howeyer, if the patient died, one of the relatives would bring the bottle back to the well
and break it at the site The presence of this well is not recorded on either edition of the OS maps'.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 29 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.