Tobernacoragh — Inishmurray

Located 15 m north of an enclosure (SL001-010001-), below a sharp break in slope. This holy well is named ‘Tobernacoragh’ (Tobar na Corach or ‘Well of the Fair Wind’) on the 1837 and 1912 OS 6-inch maps. This is a National Monument (no. 117) in state ownership. A small and rather disorderly heap of stones (2 m east/west by 3 m north/south, overall) surrounds a small wet hollow (no standing water in August 1998) with an irregular, narrow outflow channel winding seaward through long grass and weeds. The mound supports a couple of large slabs which span the wet hollow and are evidently remnants of a lintelled roof. Wakeman depicted this as a small corbelled structure and his accompanying description indicates that it was once less dilapidated and more free-flowing (1893, 124): ‘It is protected by a building, of the bee-hive class, formed of large stones laid without mortar. From it extends, northward, a kind of stone-lined channel, flagged over at its ends, and having an open space at its centre. This channel, which seems to have been excavated through clay and rock to a depth of about two feet six inches [0.76m] below the natural surface, is twenty feet [6m] in length ... A scarcely-ever-ceasing flow of bright sparkling water passes from the well through the channel.’ The stones no longer comprise an immediately recognisable structure. The well is partly choked with weeds and grass, including dead vegetation. Folk traditions associated with the well are recounted by various authorities and include a ritual to calm stormy seas. The above description is derived from the results of a survey of the archaeological monuments on Inishmurray undertaken in 1997-1999 and published in: Jerry O’Sullivan and Tomás Ó Carragáin 2008 Inishmurrary. Monks and pilgrims in an Atlantic landscape. Volume 1: Archaeological Survey and Excavations 1997-2000. Cork. The Collins Press.