Well

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a gentle SE-facing slope of a peninsula on the NE side of Lough Egish. When the Franciscans finally left their friary in Monaghan town (MO009-060002-) c. 1690 they probably maintained a presence in the county, although evidence of them is elusive. A report on the state of Popery in 1731 states categorically there were no Franciscans in Monaghan, although they were represented at Chapters of the Order held in Dublin in 1717 and 1729 (McKenna 1922, vol. 1, 13-14). In 1775 a bequest was made to the Franciscans of Lough Egish, and a farmhouse at Lattonfasky was called the Friars Garden while the well was known as the Brothers’ Well (ibid. 1, 369. McKenna (ibid. 1, 356) further records that ‘within living memory’ the eccentric ex-friar named Martin, disowned by his Order and the Bishop, led a congregation at Lattonfasky, so a Franciscan presence was maintained at Lough Egish into the late nineteenth century.

The well is depicted only on the 1907 edition of the OS 6-inch map where it is described in gothic lettering as ‘Tober na Braher’ – the brothers’ well. The field in which it is situated is attached to a small farmstead that is the only dwelling on the peninsula depicted on the 1834 edition of the OS 6-inch map and was probably occupied by friars in the eighteenth century. The well is an oval structure (dims 1.5m x 0.9m) defined by a masonry wall (H 1.3m) and roofed with four lintels. There is an opening (Wth 0.5m) at W, but it is not a holy well.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 9 May 2018

References

McKenna, Rev. J. E. 1920 Parochial History of the Diocese of Clogher. 2 vols, Enniskillen, Author