What is recorded here

St Winifreds Well hides beneath dense overgrowth on the north bank of the Awbeg River, facing an old battlefield across the water. Local tradition claims Druids once dipped wounded soldiers into its current after battles, bringing perfect health by morning. The well vanished from official maps entirely, erased not by drought but by forgetfulness, leaving only tangled branches and a river that still flows past the place where suffering was supposedly washed away.

Not marked on 1842 and 1906 OS 6-inch maps. On N bank of Awbeg River; site of battlefield (14695) on S bank. Site inaccessible owing to dense overgrowth. Probably well referred to by Jones (1902, 237) as 'Tubber Brawka' where, after a battle 'about the time of the Christian era the Druids of the Irish army immersed the wounded and washed their wounds in its waters which had such a miraculous effect that they were in perfect health the next day'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Linked to St Winifred, a 7th-century Welsh saint, the well is traditionally associated with cures for eye ailments and female infertility. Local folklore suggests that the well's waters possess healing properties, and it may have been a site of pilgrimage before being largely forgotten and overgrown.

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