What is recorded here

St Erneens Well is a ritual holy well on a north-facing Galway slope, marked by a drystone circle, a capped spring and rags tied to nearby ash and hawthorn trees. It still smells of prayer, patience and small desperate hopes. People may have come there in rain or fever, asking the water to carry what they could not carry themselves.

On a N-facing slope in pastureland. This natural spring well is known as ‘St Erneen’s well’. It is enclosed by a circular drystone-built wall with a gap (Wth 0.9m), now blocked with wooden fencing, opening to the N. It is capped with a circular stone (diam. 1.32m), which has a central hole (diam. 0.36m). Rags are tied to a nearby ash tree to the NE and a hawthorn tree to the S. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 2, 9). Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 19 December 2022

St Erneen’s Well is associated with the early Irish saint Erneach, venerated for his healing miracles, particularly for curing eye ailments and skin conditions. The site reflects a tradition of holy wells linked to Christian saints that developed in early medieval Ireland, often incorporating pre-Christian sacred sites.

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