Tobernanarbe, Tobarnaneeve, Calluragh

Townland: Calluragh, Ballinruan

Description of Holy Well and Landscape Setting

This holy well is located in an area of very dense briar scrub. Access to the well was achieved in the past by crossing open fields, which are now overgrown. A local informant said that the well sits in a boggy hollow covered by a small concrete shrine with a broken statue inside. On a nearby slab is a ‘footprint’ said to have been left in the stone by a saint. This description is consistent with the one offered in ‘The Parish of Inchicronan’,1993, by Thomas Coffey. Coffey also adds the tale of the monks of Kilmacduagh, who were returning from a visit to Quinn in single file and passed by the well. When the Abbott arrived at Kilmacduagh, he found he had left his prayer book in Quinn. Word was passed back down the line and the last monk in the line, who was just leaving Quinn brought the book with him!

Saint and Feast Day Associated with Holy Well

Nothing is known of the practice at this holy well. The saint associated with this well, along with the feast day and any cures have fallen out of memory and do not appear in historical records. T.J Westropp , writing in the early 1900s reported that the well was abandoned since the 1830s.