This shallow, irregularly shaped pool may appear unremarkable at first glance, with mossy growths fringing its edges, but its religious importance has endured for centuries. The well sits within a remarkable archaeological landscape that includes a restored cashel, three concentric earthen banks, remnants of an ancient road, and what was once a cairn or tumulus, all collectively designated as National Monument number 140.

Local tradition holds that St. Patrick himself blessed these waters, though the well fell into obscurity for many years. According to accounts from the 1930s, it was rediscovered and ceremonially reopened sometime in the nineteenth century by priests from nearby Derry City. The site attracted regular pilgrims, particularly on Sundays during summer months, when visitors would come to pray beside the well and drink its water. In keeping with Irish holy well traditions, pilgrims would tie small strips of cloth to the surrounding vegetation as votive offerings, a practice that created a distinctive festooned appearance around the site.

The well’s sanctity was fiercely protected by local belief; one story tells of a resident who contaminated the water and subsequently suffered what was considered divine retribution. Writing in 1936, the scholar Ó Muirgheasa noted with some surprise that despite the well’s proximity to the famous Grianán of Aileach and its continued use by pilgrims, it had been overlooked in contemporary archaeological accounts of the area. Today, the well remains part of this extraordinary ritual landscape, where prehistoric monuments and Christian sacred sites have coexisted for over a millennium, creating one of Ireland’s most historically layered archaeological complexes.