The well was documented in 1936 by local historian Ó Muirgheasa, who noted the curious fact that whilst no Saint Begley appears in any of the Irish martyrologies, there is a record of St. Bigill of Tulach whose feast day falls on the 1st of November. This discrepancy in naming suggests either a corruption of the saint’s name over time or perhaps a local tradition that diverged from official church records.

The site forms part of County Donegal’s rich tapestry of ritual landscapes, where holy wells have served as focal points for religious devotion and folk practice for centuries. These sacred springs were typically associated with pattern days, healing rituals, and pilgrimage traditions that blended pre-Christian and Christian beliefs. The connection between the well and the nearby graveyard suggests this was once an important ecclesiastical site, possibly with an early church or monastic settlement that has since vanished from the landscape.

The documentation of this holy well comes from the comprehensive Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, compiled in 1983 by Brian Lacey and his team of archaeologists. This survey catalogued field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century, preserving knowledge of sites like St. Begley’s Well that might otherwise be lost to memory. Despite the limited information available about this particular well, its inclusion in both Ó Muirgheasa’s earlier work and the later archaeological survey underscores its significance within the local heritage of north Donegal.