What is recorded here

Two small wells and a crucifixion slab still mark the grave of St Brendan in County Galway. A circular drystone wall and a square mortared wall hold the dried springs, while a stone-lined channel runs beneath one entrance. The place has been worked and remembered for generations, keeping the saint’s name alive in galway soil.

Some 50m N of a CBG (GA032-006----). Marked on 1st ed. of OS 6-inch map as 'St. Brendan's Grave and Well'. On inspection in July 1984, two holy wells were recorded here: (a, GA032-043----) a natural spring, dried up at the time of visit, enclosed by a circular drystone wall (D 1.15m) with an entrance at W, and (b, GA032-043001-) 1m to S, another dried-up spring well enclosed by a square mortared wall (L/Wth 2.5m) with an entrance at SE. A stone-lined overflow channel ran beneath the entrance. The 3rd ed. of OS 6-inch map (1931) depicted a circular pathway surrounding the wells, no visible surface of it trace survived. Some 7m to the W, a 17/18th-C inscribed limestone slab (GA032-043002-), depicting a crucifixion, reputedly marked the grave of St Brendan. The wells and slab subsequently underwent some works up by a local group. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 108-9) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Updated by: Olive Alcock Date of revised upload: 26 June 2023

St. Brendan's Grave and Well is associated with St. Brendan the Navigator, a 6th-century Irish monk and saint known for his legendary voyages. The site reflects a tradition of holy wells linked to healing and pilgrimage, common in early Christian Ireland.

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