Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in a thicket of blackthorn in rough wet pasture, bordered to SW by a field drain.
This holy well is named ‘Tober Kevna’ on the 1838 and 1919 OS 6-inch maps. A drystone wall (Wth 0.5m; H 0.8m) encloses a roughly circular space (2.5m NE–SW; 2.8m NW–SE), which is roughly paved with flat stone slabs. In the centre of the paving is a roughly square hole (max. dim. 0.5m; D 0.4m) which must have been source of the spring, but was dry at the time of visit. A gap (Wth 0.8m) in the enclosing wall at SW allows access to the well.
Immediately adjacent at SE, and partly obscured by overgrowth, are two roughly-built cairns/penitential stations. The most southerly (MA080-014004-) is circular in plan with a pillar-like appearance (diam. 0.8m; H 1.1m). Immediately to N of this, the second cairn (MA080-014003) appears to have been of a similar size and appearance but is now partly tumbled. There is no visible trace of a cross (MA080-014002-) which is shown immediately to S of the well on the 1838 OS 6-inch map, and is indicated as ‘Cross (Site of)’ on the 1919 edition.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 25 November 2021