Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

In rough pasture, at the base of W-facing slope, on the SW side of Dernish Island. The shoreline is c. 20m to W, bordered by a vertical scarp (H 2m) which drops from the land to a stony shore.
This holy well is not shown on the 1837 OS 6-inch map; it is indicated as ‘Tober Patrick’ on the 1912 edition. It consists of a spring well, which rises, at the base of the slope in a small subcircular hollow (diam. c. 1m), amidst a random scatter of large stones and boulders. There is no evidence of walling or a formal structure enclosing the well. It is partly engulfed in overgrowth. From here, the water flows as a stream in a shallow, stony gully towards the shore. At the shoreline, c. 20m SW of the holy well, where the stream crosses the vertical land-edge scarp (H c. 2m), there is a setting of three large upright slabs at the top of the scarp, and at the base of the scarp, on the shoreline, a 2m wide channel is faced with boulders. The purpose of these features is unclear; they appear to be relatively late in date, and it is unclear if they relate in any way to use of the spring as a holy well. There is a fulacht fia (SL002-055----) 8m to WNW of the holy well.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 31 July 2017