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Toberineenboy

Holy well

What is recorded here

Toberineenboy is a holy well dedicated to Inghean Bhaoith, patroness of the Dalcassians, hidden in a damp field of rushes on a SE-facing slope between Glensleade and Baur North. Local tradition holds that leaving an offering at the water cures warts, turning a quiet ritual into practical medicine for whoever knelt beside it. Two stone circles lie nearby, perhaps marking the well itself or a penitential station where devotion was tested through endurance rather than spectacle.
On a SE-facing slope, adjacent to the townland boundary between Glensleade and Baur North, in a damp field of rushes but with views over the lower damp ground to the SE. Indicated and named 'Toberinneenboy' on the 1842 and 1916 OS 6-inch maps. O’Curry (Comber 1997, 77) recorded it as dedicated to ‘St Innyee or Inghean Bhaoith (the daughter of Boetius) the great Patroness of the Dalcassians, whose memory was annually revered… on the 29th of December’. A spring well and associated pond are visible at this location. A small stone circular structure (diam. c. 3.2m; H 0.4-0.6m) (CL005-126002-) inside a larger slightly oval one (7m E-W; 6m N-S; H 0.8m) with a possible entrance at E lie 16m to the NNE and may be the well or may be a penitential station associated with it. According to local tradition (Kirby 2021) leaving an offering at the well would cure warts. Reference: Kirby, T. 2021 Tobar Iníon Baoith, Glensleade. The Clare Holy Wells Project Available @ https://heritage.clareheritage.org/places/holy-wells/tobar-inion-baoith-glensleade. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin Date of upload: 5 April 2023
Linked to Saint Gobnait, the well is traditionally associated with cures for eye ailments and was historically visited for ritual washing. The name "Toberineenboy" may derive from "well of the little boy," suggesting a local legend or child-related devotion connected to the site.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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