Tobercornan

On the roadside with higher rocky ground, the source of the spring, rising immediately to S. Indicated and named ‘Tobercornan’ on the 1842 and 1915 OS 6-inch maps and named ‘Pinnacle Well’ and ‘Tobar Chornáin’ on Robinson’s map of the Burren (1977). A partially quarried rock pool (1.5m N–S x 1.2m E–W; D 0.2m) fed by a natural spring and enclosed in a square 19th-century Gothic Revival single-bay wellhouse. The wellhouse is built from dressed limestone blocks and has projecting corner buttresses capped with pinnacles. The roof is of corbelled rubble stone with dressed stone gable copings (NIAH). The well is entered over a small blocking stone and through a pointed-arched doorway in N wall from where three steps lead down to water level. Cunningham (1980, 36) noted that the name could refer to the Irish word for Pennywort (a plant) or to a person named ‘Cornan’. The following images have been uploaded: CL002-010001-_01.jpg View from N CL002-010002-_02.jpg View from W Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin Date of upload: 1 December 2020

Linked to Saint Cornan, an early Irish saint associated with several sites in the midlands, the well is traditionally visited for its healing properties, particularly for eye ailments and general wellness. The name "Tobar Chornáin" (Well of Cornan) reflects its historical and devotional connection to the saint, with such wells often being sites of pilgrimage and seasonal rituals in pre-modern Ireland.