What is recorded here

Leim an Asail, the Ass's Leap, is a vanished stone at a Mayo holy well where the knee marks of St. Patrick's riding ass were once said to show. The name still belongs to the water, but the stone has disappeared from the place where it should stand. What remains is a leap of imagination, dropping a divine animal into an ordinary well and forcing the world to widen around the hole.

At a holy well (MA022-042001-). This stone is listed in the SMR (1991) and RMP (1997) as a bullaun stone based on a reference in the 1838 OS Letters, which records that ‘There is, not far from Crosspatrick, to the left of the road leading by it, from Killala to Ballina, a stone at a well in which are, it is said, the impressions of the knees of the ass that St. Patrick rode on… From this circumstances it is called Leím an Asail –the Ass’s leap.' (O’Flanagan 1927, vol. 2, 229). There is no visible trace of the stone at the holy well. The nature of this stone and its exact location remains uncertain. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 6 June 2019

Likely dating to the early Christian period, the bullaun stone is associated with the holy well and may have been used for ritual purposes, such as the anointing of the sick. Such stones often feature in local folklore as sites of healing and spiritual significance.

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.