Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

On a low-lying area of limestone karst with low hills to the NE and SE, and a turlough to the NW. Gluain Phadraig is listed in a 15th century document (O'Donovan 1843, 83). There is a modern five-sided well (RO044-013001-) (int. dims 1m N-S; 1m E-W; D 0.7m) with a masonry revetting wall (T 0.5m) which is flush with the external ground surface and approached by one step from the SE, but the original well may be the pond (diam. c. 15m) c. 30m to the NW. About 30m to the E of the pond is Gluain Phadraig, a bullaun basin (RO044-013002-) (diam. 0.23m; D 0.3m) in the limestone bedrock which is surrounded by a penitential cairn (RO044-013004-) (dims 6.2m N-S; 3.4m E-W) retained by drystone walling (H 0.2-0.8m) and open to the W. On the cairn overlooking the bullaun is the damaged head of a latin cross (RO044-013003-) (Wth 0.33m; H 0.23m; T 0.14m). The pond and cairn are within a rectangular enclosure (dims 55m E-W; 52m N-S) which was built in the 1920s and is defined by a drystone wall and hedge. The W boundary was replaced by a masonry wall in 1996 when the well was revamped and an altar built 5m S of the cairn. A pattern was held on the last Sunday in July until the 1960s at least, which suggests that it had a Lughnasa connection.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 24 August 2010

References

O'Donovan, J. (ed. and trans.) 1843 The tribes and customs of Hy-Many, commonly called O'Kelly's country, now first published from the Book of Lecan, a manuscript in the library of the Royal Irish Academy. Dublin.