St Patricks Well

At the base of a low E-facing rock ledge in a hazel thicket. Named ‘St Patrick’s Well’ on the 1842 and 1920 eds. of the OS 6-inch map, and ‘Bullán Phádraic’ on Robinson’s (1977) map. Listed as ‘Bullaun stone’ in the RMP (1996) – and also listed there under another number (CL010-108006-). This holy well is in an irregular-shaped natural bedrock hollow (0.8m E-W; 0.2m N-S; D 0.2m) which is only partly visible. Westropp (1902, 190) considered this holy well to be a bullaun which was used as a holy well. There may have been a local belief that the water from this holy well cured leprosy (the townland name possibly deriving from Poll na Lobhar, ‘Leper’s Pool/Hole’) (Swinfen 1992, 140). During an inspection in 1999 votive offerings at the holy well included money, glass, a candle and a statue of Mary. There are two other small hollows in the rock on either side of the well. To the E is a large ash tree within an oval enclosure defined by a drystone wall. This may be the same tree described as blessed in a National Folklore Collection record dating to the 1930s (Kirby 2021). The following image has been uploaded: CL010-108006-_01.jpg View of well from E Reference: Kirby, T. 2021 Bullán Phádraig, Saint Patrick's Well, Poulnalour. The Clare Holy Wells Project. Available @ Bullán Phádraig, Saint Patrick's Well, Poulnalour - County Clare Heritage Office Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 31 May 2023

St Patrick’s Well at Poulnalour is associated with the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick, and may have been a site of early Christian pilgrimage or ritual. The name 'Bullán Phádraic' (St Patrick’s basin) suggests a possible bullaun stone or holy well tradition, often linked to healing cures and the symbolic use of water in Christian and pre-Christian practices.