St Kevins Keeve

Holy well marked on all editions of the OS 6-inch maps as 'St. Kevin's Keeve'. Described by Healy (1972, 150) as ‘St. Kevin's Keeve (bath) is located on the Glendasan River just below the old disused dam. It is a natural pool approximately four by two metre and one metre deep. The site of St. Kevin's Bush (WI023-047----) is on the northern bank directly above the Keeve. The bush (WI023-047---) no longer exists but there is still a semi-circular bank twelve metres across partly cut out of the hill slope and partly built of large boulders and stones. Within the curve of this bank is a line of dry stone walling. St. Kevin's Road (WI023-001-----) lies on the north side of this feature. The pool in the bed of the river described by Healy is depicted on the 25-inch OS map. According to Lynch (1994, 638) the 1930s Irish Folklore Commission manuscripts recorded that a 'well which St Kevin blessed and in which he left a cure. Long ago on the 3rd of June every year people used to pray at this well and to be cured of disease. When leaving the well they used to tie a piece of cloth a a tree over the well. This tree went by the name of St Kevin's tree' (IFC S 917: 327). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2012

Linked to St Kevin, a 6th-century Irish saint associated with numerous holy wells and sites across Ireland, the well at Brockagh is traditionally connected to healing rituals, particularly for skin ailments and general bodily purification. The term "Keeve" may refer to a stone basin or pool used for ritual bathing, a common feature at many early Christian holy sites.