Trinity Well

Situated in the centre of Lambay Island (Reachrainn) in the parish of Portraine.  Knockbane with hilltop cairn (DU009-001002-) 230m to the N,  Tinian Hill 500m to the E,  Lambay Church (DU009-001007- ), graveyard and castle site  (DU009-001006-) 700m to the W.  A  spring well, annotated 'Trinity Well' on the OSi historic maps, is the only source of freshwater on Lambay Island. In 1786 the Post-Chaise Companion recorded that ; 'on Trinity Sunday, every year, there is a great concourse of people from the adjacent shores, where they visit a curious well and spring of fine water, dedicated to the Holy Trinity' (Wilson 1786, 305).  Anne Plumptre wrote in 1814-15 that; 'There is a well on the island dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which is very much visited on Trinity Sunday' (Plumptre 1817, 80).  Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar (Healy 1975, 22; Ó Danachair 1958, 81; Coghlan 1946, 157-159; Scantlebury 1945, 81). The well is fenced off and covered in vegetation. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Trinity Well on Lambay Island is associated with early Christian tradition and may have been a site of pilgrimage. Local folklore suggests it was once visited for its supposed healing properties, particularly for ailments of the eyes and general well-being.