Documented by the folklorist Ó Muirgheasa in 1936, this sacred site was dedicated to St. Comgall, whose feast day falls on the 4th of September. The saint held particular significance as the patron of the nearby monastery of Both Conais, linking the well to a broader network of religious sites that once dotted the Gleneely landscape.

The well’s story took a darker turn when a local family made the decision to close it, filling in or otherwise sealing off what had been a communal spiritual resource. According to Ó Muirgheasa’s account, this act of desecration brought its own consequences; the family responsible “never prospered afterwards”, a fate that would have resonated deeply with communities where such sites were woven into the fabric of daily life and seasonal ritual. This tale of misfortune serves as a cautionary reminder of how seriously these sacred spaces were regarded by rural Irish communities.

Today, the site stands as a poignant example of Ireland’s vanishing ritual landscape, where countless holy wells, pattern days, and pilgrimage routes have been lost to time, agricultural improvement, or simple neglect. The documentation compiled by researchers like Caimin O’Brien helps preserve the memory of these places, even when the physical sites themselves have been erased from the land. The well at Carrowmore joins numerous other lost sacred sites across Donegal, each with its own story of devotion, tradition, and sometimes, as in this case, transgression and retribution.