Wells of County Galway
St Anne’s Holy Well
St Anne’s Holy Well is in the townland of Booleynanollagh (also referred to as Aughanass, sometimes spelled Ahanass) in the county of Galway. Located near a stream, St Anne’s Holy Well is sunken into the ground, with stone steps leading to the entrance to provide access. Positioned at the head of the well is a wooden shrine to St Anne, which also contains a painted statue of St Anne. Near the well, there is also a children’s burial ground marked by a large, white cross.
The well is known for curing illnesses, primarily sore eyes.
The most common votive offering left at St Anne’s holy well are rages tied to nearby bushes.
“St Anne’s Holy Well.” Woodford Galway.
Cunniffe, Christy. “St Anne’s Well.” Galway Community Archaeology. Last modified June 26, 2016.
St Augustine’s Well
St Augustine’s Well (also called Tobar Agaistín) is located in Lough Atalia (also called Loch an tSáile) on the eastern edge of County Galway.
St. Augustine’s well was restored in 2000 by the Galway Civic Trust. It sits on the edge of the lake and is hexagonal in shape with a low wall around the edges. The well becomes inundated by tides twice a day.
The well is famous among pilgrims for many cures, particularly regarding ailments of the eyes and ears.
The main days for devotion at the well are the last Sunday in July or the first Sunday in August. Máire MacNeill suggests the possibility that the well may have been associated with the Lughnasa festival.
There are often small offerings of coins found in the bottom of the well.
Originally this well was one of a group of three, but the northern and southern wells no longer survive. The Galway Archaeological Inventory states all three wells were dedicated originally to St Augustine but Máire MacNeill refers to the northern and southern wells as being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and John the Baptist.
MacNeill, M. 2007. The festival of Lughnasa: a study of the survival of the Celtic festival of the beginning of harvest. Dublin: Folklore of Ireland Council.
Nugent, Louise. “Miracles and Violence: St Augustine’s well in the 17th century,” Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland (blog), May 26, 2012.
O'DOWD, PEADAR. "HOLY WELLS OF GALWAY CITY." Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 60 (2008): 136-53.
St Brigid's Well
St Brigid’s well is located in Bohercom townland. It's fenced in by a stone wall about four feet high. The stone fence can be entered through a metal gate. At the head of the well is a small painted statue of St Brigid.
The well is known for at least one eye cure.
Ribbons are often tied to a nearby bush.
Galway Community Heritage Office, St Brigid’s Well, March 13, 2018.
St Colman's Well
St Colman’s well, located in Corker, is enclosed by a concrete wall about two feet high and access is gained by going through a metal gate. The well itself is housed inside an elaborate structure. Inside the well structure is a statue of St Colman.
The well is known for its general curative properties when people apply the water to themselves, but it is especially known for curing eyes--see
The first thing people do is go into the well house and pray. Next, they go outside the house and walk around the well seven times while repeating a prayer. After this, they make the circuit of the cross near the well five times while reciting a prayer. You may research a more elaborate description of the prayer rounds).
Cunniffe, Christy. “St Colman’s Well, Croker.” Galway Community Archaeology. Last modified November 12, 2017.
St Colman Mac Duagh, “Pilgrimage Itinerary.”
Mrs. Nolan, “Cill Tártáin School’s Collection,” Vol. 0047, pg. 43-45. DUCHAS Archives, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0047, National Folklore Collection, UCD.
St Cuan's Well
St Cuan's Well is located in Cornamucklagh in the middle of a grassy field and circled by a low wall built up by stones. In the wall, there is a small opening which allows access to the well water. There are small steps inside the well, which lead to the head of the spring, and a large drainage ditch around the site.
The well is known for its general curative properties.
St Cuan’s Day is the 15th of October and people celebrate it by doing stations for various intentions, such as wanting a cure for an illness or ailment. The priest of the nearby parish recites the rosary there annually.
There used to be a rag tree on the edge of the well, but after it fell people no longer left offerings.
During the penal times, people visiting the well would use the surrounding ditch as a footpath whenever it snowed in order to avoid leaving footprints across the field (see Megalithomania).
Carty, Margaret, “Cluain Braec School’s Collection,” Vol. 0044, pg. 99-102. DUCHAS Archives,
FourWinds, Tom, “St Cuan’s Well,” Megalithomania, Aug, pg. 29, 2004.
St. Dominic’s Holy Well
St. Dominic’s Holy Well is located in the townland of Esker in Galway.
St. Dominic’s holy well is next to a Redemptorist monastery. The well itself is surrounded by stone masonry and the steps leading down into the well are covered by a green gate. Outside the well is stone trough which is filled with water from the well. On the main pilgrimage days in January, additional troughs of the well water are placed near the well.
While St. Dominic’s holy well is not associated with a specific cure, its water is known to have special powers of protection and is often taken by farmers to their farmyards and animals.
The traditional time for visiting St Dominic’s well is any time from 12 midday on the 5th of of January until midnight on the 6th of January. Very few people venture here during the rest of the year” (Nugent, 2015). During the day on January 5th, there is a procession from the monastery to the well and additional troughs are filled with water from the well and placed around while a priest blesses the waters. Pilgrims then fill containers with waters from the troughs to take home and spread on their farms or fields.
There are coins left in the bottom of the permanent stone trough outside the well.
One local tradition (or legend) that was here in Esker when the Redemptorists came here in 1901, tells of how, somewhere in the 1600′s when the Dominicans had to flee from their Abbey in Athenry, they left their pet dog behind them. The following day, – or so the story goes – the dog arrived out and found the Dominicans hiding nearby, and the dog had in its mouth the ritual or Book of Blessings, opened at the page for the blessing of wells! It is said that the Dominicans then decided that this was a sign to them to invoke God’s blessing on the local well, at the foot of Dominic’s Hill.
Nugent, Louise. “A pilgrimage for farmers : the blessing of water at St Dominic’s holy well at Esker, Co Galway,” Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland (blog), Jan. 7, 2015.
“Preserving an Ancient Practice at St. Dominic’s Holy Well.” Connacht Tribune. January 19, 2015.
“St. Dominic’s Well – Blessing: Friday Jan 5th, Saturday Jan 6th, 2018,” Redemptorists Esker.
St Dympna's Well
St Dympna's Well is in Killeenadeema East, Loughrea on a rural road beside a few houses. It is looked after locally and is visited regularly by locals and visitors.
Visit the Old School Records for information about pilgrimage rituals.
Material and other items are tied to the trees.
St Enda's Well
St Enda's Well, also known as Tobar Éinne or Tobar Eanna, is on the island of Innisheer.
St Feinich's Holy Well
The well is on Omey Island near Connemara. Access to the well is based on the opening and closing of the sea on the shore of Omey Island. The well itself is on a grassy shore and is encircled by stacked stones about three feet high. At the head of the spring there is a large wooden cross where visitors place their offerings.
The well is known for its general curative properties for a manner of physical ailments.
Hoffstot, Darlyn Brewer. “Where Legends Outnumber People.” The New York Times. Aug. 1, 1999.
Our Lady's Well
Our Lady's Well (Sometimes called Lady's Well) is in Athenry.
Kennedy, Monsie, “Lady’s Well, Athenry,” Athenry Historic Archive
St Peter's Well
St Peter’s well is located in Cuilmore, and it is enclosed in a stone well house with pitched roof and a metal gate covering the entrance. Stairs lead down into the well for access to water.
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, Saint Peter’s Well.
St Sourney’s Well
St Sourney’s (or Soorney's) Well is located in Drumacoo townland, and it is encircled by a stone wall built up to about three feet in a large funnel shape. There is an entryway down into the well.
Well of the King of Sunday
The Well of the King of Sunday is in Tubber. The well complex is off the main road through Tubber on the border with Co. Clare and is behind some disused agricultural buildings, through two cattle gates, and enclosed with a low stone wall. "Done up" since 2007, the well is landscaped with an easily-walked graveled paths between stations. The well is enclosed in an older circular stone impoundment--the stones of which have now been cemented and is surrounded by gravel. Along one path is a rectangular stone house with domed roof around which the well water flows and in which is a statue of Our Lady. On another path is a cover for officiates at open-air masses and a shrine structure where votives are deposited.
Cures are obtained by praying the rosary on three consecutive visits.
Unusually shaped stones, silk flower arrangements, religious statues are generally retained when the site is cleaned. These remain on the stone "shrine house." Other votives such as rosary beads and scapulars are left on trees near the well and along the path behind the rectangular shrine with the statue of Our Lady.
