The holy well, known locally as Turas Boden, stood beside the Culdaff River until it was lost to development; a tank now occupies the spot where pilgrims once came to pray. Though the well itself no longer survives, its memory persists in local tradition and archaeological records, offering a glimpse into centuries of devotional practice in rural Ireland.

St. Buadan, whose feast day falls on 22 July, appears in early Irish martyrologies under various names including Mo Biu and Biteus. According to the Feilire of Aengus, an ancient Irish calendar of saints, he served as Abbot of Inis Cuscraigh in Ferann Duin and was recorded as the son of Comgall. The well dedicated to him became the focus of a turas, a traditional pilgrimage pattern where devotees would perform specific prayers and rituals whilst walking a prescribed route around the sacred site. When the antiquarian Ó Muirgheasa documented the site in 1936, the turas tradition had already ceased, though local memory of St. Buadan’s feast day remained strong.

The transformation of this holy well from active pilgrimage site to archaeological footnote reflects broader changes in Irish rural life and religious practice. Where once the faithful gathered by the Culdaff River to honour St. Buadan, modern infrastructure has claimed the space, leaving only those three steps as physical evidence of centuries of devotion. The site’s documentation in the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal ensures that whilst the well itself has vanished, its significance to the community and its place in Ireland’s rich tradition of holy wells and pilgrimages remains part of the historical record.