What is recorded here

Church Well in County Galway keeps a misleading name, mapping as sacred when locals remember it as ordinary. That gap between legend and memory still puzzles, forcing us to ask whether clarity belongs in the marker or the archive.

In a hollow in pastureland, some 50m to the N of Dooros burial ground (GA132-013001-). Although named 'Church Well' on the 1838 edition and 1948 revision of the OS 6-inch map, suggesting some religious significance, according to the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 2, 516), the well was not regarded as a holy well. On inspection in December 1983 the area was flooded and no visible trace of any structure could be seen. A revisit in March 1992 confirmed that locally it was believed to be a secular well and not a holy one. Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 10 January 2020

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.