What is recorded here

Tobercouran is a circular drystone spring well dedicated to St Couran, hiding on a Galway slope beside an old burial ground. Six narrow steps descend through darkness to water a half-metre below the lowest stone, while broken pillar fragments bearing the name SAINT COURNA still lie scattered around the shaft. The place smells of wet earth and forgotten prayer, inviting anyone reckless enough to climb down for a drink of sacred, unknown life.

Some 80m ESE of a burial ground (GA123-069----), on a SE-facing slope. This spring well, dedicated to St Couran, is delimited by a circular drystone-lined well shaft (1.12m N-S; 1.16m E-W; D 1.45-1.7m). Six steps (Wth 0.38m; D 0.26m) at WSW lead down to the water. From the top of the lowest step there is a drop of 0.5m to the base of the well. A kerb of small upright stones (H 0.16; L 0.35m; Wth 0.03m) extends around its perimeter. An uninscribed upright slab was visible few metres N of the well. Six broken and inscribed stone fragments were found in and around it, five of them fitted together to form a pillar-like slab (approx. L 0.78m; Wth 0.15m; T 0.07m) bearing the following dedication, beneath an IHS monogram, SAINT COURNA. Further lettering beneath this was difficult to decipher. Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 18 April 2023

Dedicated to St Couran, an early Irish Christian saint traditionally associated with healing and water cures, the well at Tobercouran may have been a site of pilgrimage and ritual washing for ailments, particularly skin conditions. Little is known of St Couran's life, but such wells often reflect a fusion of pre-Christian water worship and Christian devotion.

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