What is recorded here

Tobermaclaney was a holy well beside Carrick martello tower in County Dublin, mapping in 1837 and flowing into two small pools before reaching the sea. The pier built for the tower disturbed its water, and the well disappeared beneath the beach road-siding. It may have given clean drinking water, marked a boundary or fed a local ritual, but the stones and men who changed the coast took that meaning with them.

Annotated 'Tobermaclaney' on the 1837 ed. OSi 6-inch map where it is shown standing within a small square-shaped field 12m SW of Carrick martello tower (DU012-040----). No surface remains visible, now underneath road-siding along the beach (Ó Danachair 1958, 79). Building of a pier associated with the martello tower disturbed the well. An 1830 Ordnance recorded the water of the well ran down the hill to form two small pools beside the tower and then ran into the sea beside the curved stone pier (Bolton et al. 2012, 157). See attached photos (01/02) taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, courtesy of and © National Folklore Collection, UCD. The Photographic Collection, F024.06.00378 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/46726; F024.06.00379 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/46727 Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 13 April 2023

Linked to St. Laney, Tobermaclaney well was traditionally associated with cures for skin ailments and was visited for ritual washing. The site's name and location suggest it was once a significant pilgrimage site, though its exact history and surviving traditions are now obscure.

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