What is recorded here

Toberbrickan is a holy well in County Galway where modern offerings still cluster on a flat stone above a dry spring. The water emerges from the base of a large rock behind a low D-shaped drystone wall, four metres south of a church. People may have brought gifts there for centuries, trusting the rock to give back life when the season turned.

Some 4m S of a church (GA065-007001-). Known locally as Tobar Bhriocáin (pers. comm. T. Robinson), this well is a natural spring, dry at time of visit, which emerges from the base of a large rock. It is delimited by a low D-shaped drystone wall, and a large number of modern offerings are visible on a flat stone above the well. (Killanin 1947, 125-6) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I - West Galway'. Compiled by Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

Linked to Saint Breacán, an early Irish monk and hermit, the well was traditionally visited for cures related to skin ailments and general healing. Local tradition holds that the saint once lived in a nearby cave and that the spring’s waters possess purifying properties.

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