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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Ritual site - holy well

Doonaltan, County Sligo, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Ritual site - holy well, Doonaltan, County Sligo, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Doonaltan
County
Sligo
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
54.27016, -8.89774
SMR number
SL011-058002-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1904 · Sheet 4. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the Ballymeeny River, beneath a small waterfall, in the base of a steep-sided, wooded ravine. It consists of a natural river pool (diam. c. 10m) known as ‘Dabhach Fharannain or the vat or keeve of Farannan’, said to have been used by St Farannan for the baptism of pilgrims and for ‘personal mortification’ (O’Rorke 1889, 413). Adjacent to the pool at SE is a bedrock slab used as an altar (SL011-058001-). Another holy well (SL011-057----) is located on the steep W slope of the ravine c. 40m to NW. On the ridge top bordering the E side of the ravine, c. 20m to SE, there is a cairn (SL011-058----), traditionally said to be the saint’s grave.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 2 July 2013

References

O'Rorke, T. 1889 (Reprint 1986) The history of Sligo: town and county, 2 vols. Dublin. J. Duffy and Co. Ltd.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Ritual site - holy well in Sligo All County Sligo records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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