What is recorded here

Killtown is not a town at all but a small place where Philip’s well still gives water and identity. It may have been Kealy’s well before becoming a pilgrimage site, and a fatal incident may have stopped the patron. The names changed while the function continued: a source of water became a source of story, memory and belonging.

The OS Letters (1839) (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 45-6), refer to, ‘a holy well called Tobar Philip (Tober Philip) where there was a ‘Patron’ held until about sixty years ago. It was discontinued in consequence of a man named Byrne having been killed there’, the location is given as Kiltown townland, ‘about one eighth of a mile [c. 200m] north west’ of a small burial ground (KK005-054002-). Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 162) describes the location of the well as being, ‘A few fields north of the churchyard’ and states that, ‘it is called “Kealy’s well” from the present owner; it was formerly known as Thubber Philib, or Philip’s well, probably for a similar reason. It was much frequented by pilgrims on the 14th Sept., the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross’. A lime kiln is indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch c. 200m NW of the burial ground, but no well. The precise location of the holy well is unknown. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 17 May 2017

This holy well, known as Tobar Philip, was associated with Saint Philip and historically marked by an annual patron festival that was discontinued in the early 19th century. The well reflects a broader tradition of early Christian pilgrimage sites in Ireland, often linked to local saints and seasonal rituals.

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