What is recorded here

St Brendans Grave & Well holds two dried springs and a crucifixion slab in County Galway, marked on old maps as a holy place. The circular drystone well and square mortared well still stand beside the inscribed limestone, though water no longer flows when last seen. A local group later worked the site, suggesting people still valued the memory enough to tend what remains.

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.

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