Toberinneenboy, Tobar Iníon Baoith or Inghean Baoith, Drumumna

James Feeney

James Feeney

Toberinneenboy, Tobar Iníon Baoith or Inghean Baoith, Drumumna

James Feeney

Toberinneenboy, Tobar Inion Baoith, Castletown

James Feeney

Toberinneenboy, Tobar Iníon Baoith or Inghean Baoith, Drumumna

James Feeney

Townland: Drumumna, Inchicronan

Description of Holy Well and Landscape Setting

This holy well lies approximately 1.5 km north of Crusheen Village, on the east side of the R458. It is located just inside the gate of a private grazing field. The well was beneath a mass of briar bushes which have since been cleared. There was a small quantity of water in well at the time of the research visit. It is likely that nearby streams feed into the well. It is lined with stones, and is approximately one metre in diameter and about the same in depth.

Saint and Feast Day Associated with Holy Well

Iníon Baoith means ‘The daughter of Baoith’. Possibly named Fionnmhaith, she was daughter of the Cinél Baoith chieftain of Mid-Clare. John O’Donovan and Eugene O’Curry, working for the Ordnance Survey in 1839, reported that the feast day of Inneenboy or Iníon Baoith is the 29th December. Visits to the well appear to have ceased in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Natural Heritage around the Holy Well

The well lies in a field of mixed grasses and bushes. The ground here is damp, but not excessively wet in season.

Heritage Attractions Nearby

The well site is close to the village of Crusheen. The Burren is to the north-west.

Additional Information

John O’Donovan, Ordnance Survey Letters, 1839:
‘Inghean Bhaoith is best known as the ancient patron saint of the parish of Killinaboy (Ceall Inghine Baoith) and devotion to her is evident in the many wells named after her in this area and where her cult was widespread. There are at least seventeen holy wells dedicated to Inghean Bhaoith located mainly in the central parts of Clare, including two in the parish of Doora/Barefield, at Dulick and Doora. Despite the widespread devotion to this saint she remains an obscure figure and even the etymological derivation of the name Inghean Bhaoith is far from certain. The name is usually translated as “Daughter of Baoith”. It may also have been a word referring to her vocation as groups of holy women or nuns were designated “Ingena” and figured prominently in the early centuries of the church in Ireland.’