This holy well earned its evocative name from its traditional use as a cure for eye ailments, drawing pilgrims who performed religious stations here until around 1860. The site holds particular significance in local folklore, with tales connecting it to Saint Colmcille, Ireland’s beloved missionary saint.

According to legend recorded by the folklorist Ó Muirgheasa in 1936, Colmcille once made a miraculous escape from his pursuers at this very spot. The saint is said to have leapt from the hill near the well all the way to a rock behind what is now Churchill Railway Station, where the impressions of his feet can supposedly still be seen in the stone. This dramatic tale of saintly athleticism adds a layer of mythical geography to the Donegal landscape, transforming natural features into markers of divine intervention.

Near these legendary footprints stand the remains of an old church, complete with a font carved directly into the rock face. Though religious stations ceased at Tobar na Súl over 160 years ago, the site remains a tangible link to centuries of folk belief and healing traditions. The combination of the holy well, the saint’s footprints, and the church ruins creates a rich archaeological and spiritual landscape at Stackarnagh, where the boundaries between history, faith, and folklore beautifully blur.