What is recorded here

St. Columbkilles Holy Wells sit in the northeast corner of a Galway churchyard, two small walled basins joined together beneath brambles and trees. One is oval, the other angular, both shallow enough to touch yet deep enough to hide their bottom in shadow. Children were buried a short distance east, suggesting the water served life and death alike. The arrangement still implies a place where people came to ask, remember, or be cleansed before leaving the living world behind.

Located in the NE corner of a graveyard (GA105-029002-) associated with a church (GA105-029001-). Holy wells named ‘St. Columbkille’s Holy Wells’ on the OS 6-inch maps consist of two conjoined wells. The most northerly one (GA105-029003-) is oval in plan (L 1.36m; Wth 1.15m; D 1.2m) and defined by a low wall. The southerly well (GA105-029004-) is subrectanular in plan (L 1m; Wth 0.8m; D 0.9m) and is also defined by a wall. Both are overgrown with brambles and trees. A children’s burial ground lies c. 10m to the E. (McCaffrey 1952, 254) Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 27 January 2020

St. Columbkille’s Holy Wells at Boherduff are associated with the 6th-century Irish saint Columba, known for his role in Christianizing Scotland and parts of Ireland. The wells, depicted on historical maps as two conjoined sources, were likely used for ritual washing and healing, with traditions linking them to physical and spiritual purification.

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