This stone-lined rectangular depression, now nearly filled in, marks what was once a significant ritual site in the townland of Cill Fhathnaid (also known as Killaned or Kilanaid). The well lies within a stone’s throw of where Cashel National School once stood, surrounded by fair pasture that has changed little over the centuries.

The site’s religious significance extends well beyond the well itself. According to local tradition and historical accounts from the 1930s, a chapel dedicated to St. Athnaid once stood nearby, though it had already been levelled to the ground by the time antiquarian John O’Donovan documented the area. The saint’s identity remains somewhat mysterious; scholars suggest it could be either Aedhnat, daughter of Raichen, whose feast day falls on 9th November, or Fiadhnat, commemorated on both 29th November and 4th January. Near the well, visitors would have found St. Athnait’s Cell and Roilig, creating a small complex of religious sites that drew pilgrims for centuries.

The practice of performing ‘turns’ or ritual circuits around the well, mentioned in O’Donovan’s notes, speaks to the enduring folk traditions that persisted here well into the modern era. Seamus Ó Muirgheasa’s 1936 description preserved these details just as such practices were beginning to fade from living memory. Today, while the well may be largely filled in and the chapel long gone, the site remains an evocative reminder of Ireland’s layered sacred landscape, where pre-Christian wells were adopted and sanctified by early saints, becoming focal points for community worship and healing rituals that lasted over a millennium.