Ritual site - holy well, Three Trees, Co. Donegal
Near the village of Three Trees, about a mile from Quigley's Point in County Donegal, lies a curious remnant of Ireland's religious past.
Ritual site - holy well, Three Trees, Co. Donegal
The site, simply marked as ‘Graveyard’ on Ordnance Survey maps, consists of a circular area surrounded by the weathered remains of an earthen bank. Set on cultivated land that slopes eastward towards Lough Foyle, this modest enclosure speaks to centuries of local devotion and pilgrimage.
Just 100 metres to the west stands Tobar Patrick, a holy well dedicated to St. Patrick that continues to draw pilgrims throughout the year. The folklorist Ó Muirgheasa documented the site in 1936, noting that visitors came to the well in all seasons, maintaining a tradition that likely stretches back many generations. The proximity of the graveyard to the holy well suggests these sites formed part of a larger sacred landscape, where the faithful would have come to pray, seek healing, and bury their dead.
While the earthen bank that defines the graveyard has been worn down by time and agriculture, its circular form hints at the site’s antiquity. Such enclosed burial grounds, often associated with early Christian settlements or ancient ritual sites, are scattered across the Irish countryside. The enduring pilgrimage tradition at the nearby well indicates this corner of Donegal has retained its spiritual significance well into modern times, even as the land around it has been turned to farming.





