That quiet obscurity is itself worth noting. Holy wells are among the oldest continuously venerated sites in Ireland, typically associated with a patron saint, a pattern day, and a set of ritual circuits known as rounds, in which a pilgrim walks a prescribed path around the well a fixed number of times while praying. Many such wells were absorbed into the Christian calendar while retaining far older layers of significance, and Clare alone contains dozens of them, ranging from elaborately kerbed and decorated structures to little more than a damp hollow beside a fieldstone.