This sacred spring, marked as Toberenny on the Ordnance Survey 6-inch maps, continues to draw pilgrims who perform the traditional turas, a devotional circuit of prayer stations. A modern altar and turas station stand nearby, testament to the site’s enduring spiritual significance in local religious practice.

The well’s identity poses an intriguing historical puzzle. In 1936, the folklorist Ó Muirgheasa documented a holy well in the area, noting that ‘people yet come from Doe and Rosgull to make the turas at it’. He recorded this well as being located in ‘Barne’s townland’ and believed to be dedicated to St. Columcille, but questions remain about whether this refers to the Toberenny well in Barnes Lower or to a separate holy well that may have existed in the neighbouring townland of Barnes Upper.

The archaeological record, compiled during the comprehensive Archaeological Survey of County Donegal in 1983, preserves the physical and cultural landscape of these ritual sites. Whether one well or two, the site represents centuries of continuous veneration, where local communities have maintained their devotional practices despite the passage of time. The persistence of pilgrimage from surrounding parishes like Doe and Rosgull speaks to the well’s importance as a focal point for regional religious tradition, connecting modern worshippers with their ancestors through shared acts of faith at this natural spring.