What is recorded here

Toberkeelan was a living holy well in Mayo pasture when the 1838 survey named it, but by 1917 it had become only a site, reduced to a shallow damp depression beside a modern drain. The ridge may have given up clean water for washing, drinking or prayer before the well was forgotten. Its disappearance is not a loss of fact but a change in human attention, the kind that leaves a place behind while it still holds shape and memory.

In pasture, located at the base of a NE-facing ridge slope. This holy well is indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map, where it is named ‘Toberkeelan’. It appears to have fallen out of use by the time of the 1917 edition, where is annotated ‘Toberkeelan (Site of)’. The remains consist of a shallow damp depression immediately to W of a modern drain. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 11 March 2022

Toberkeelan is associated with St. Keelan (or Caelan), a lesser-known early Irish saint often linked to healing wells. The well was likely visited for its supposed curative properties, particularly for ailments of the eyes and skin, as was common with many holy wells dedicated to saints of similar names in Ireland.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.