Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a shelf on the W side of the deep ravine of the S-N Radcliffern stream at the N foothills of the Comeragh Mountains, with a wide view out N-E which is dominated by Slievenamon to the NE. It is accessed by a steep path with steps from a gate leading onto a N-S laneway c. 40m to the ENE. Described as a holy well in 1839 by John O'Donovan (O'Flanagan 1929, 53), it is known locally as the Rag Well but there is no record of a pattern. The well, located at the point where a stone-lined underground stream emerges (Wth 1m) and runs off to the ENE, is in a circular enclosure (int. diam. 4.7m) defined by a low masonry wall (Wth 0.5m; H 0.6m) with an entrance (Wth 0.3-0.4m) at SSE. The rag tree (WA001-013001-), a whitethorn bush festooned with cloths, is just to the E.

O'Flanagan, M. (Compiler) (1929) Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Waterford collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1841. Typescript. Bray.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 27 October 2011. Compiled by: Michael Moore