Lady Well

In 1958 the well had dried up and showed only as a hollow in a field where it was marked by a whitethorn bush. The site is no longer venerated (Ó Danachair 1958, 77). Within a level field of pasture. See attached photos taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, courtesy of and © National Folklore Collection, UCD. The Photographic Collection, F024.06.00383 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/16743 and F024.06.00384 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/35496. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 14 April 2023

The Lady Well at Cloghran was traditionally associated with a local Marian devotion, as suggested by its name, and may have been a site of pilgrimage or prayer. The presence of a whitethorn bush, often linked to both Christian and pre-Christian traditions in Ireland, hints at a possible fusion of older ritual practices with later Catholic veneration.