‘Tobercouran’

Some 80m ESE of a burial ground (GA123-069----), on a SE-facing slope. This spring well, dedicated to St Couran, is delimited by a circular drystone-lined well shaft (1.12m N-S; 1.16m E-W; D 1.45-1.7m). Six steps (Wth 0.38m; D 0.26m) at WSW lead down to the water. From the top of the lowest step there is a drop of 0.5m to the base of the well. A kerb of small upright stones (H 0.16; L 0.35m; Wth 0.03m) extends around its perimeter. An uninscribed upright slab was visible few metres N of the well. Six broken and inscribed stone fragments were found in and around it, five of them fitted together to form a pillar-like slab (approx. L 0.78m; Wth 0.15m; T 0.07m) bearing the following dedication, beneath an IHS monogram, SAINT COURNA. Further lettering beneath this was difficult to decipher. Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 18 April 2023

Dedicated to St Couran, an early Irish Christian saint traditionally associated with healing and water cures, the well at Tobercouran may have been a site of pilgrimage and ritual washing for ailments, particularly skin conditions. Little is known of St Couran's life, but such wells often reflect a fusion of pre-Christian water worship and Christian devotion.