That small detail, recorded by Hogan in 1860 or 1861, gives the place a particular quality: a living thing, rooted and ancient, serving as the source of something considered sacred.

Holy wells are among the most persistent features of the Irish landscape, sites where pre-Christian veneration of water sources blended, over centuries, with Catholic devotional practice. This one in Brabstown was sufficiently established to appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1839, which means it was recognised as a named, meaningful landmark at the time of the survey. It was also the site of a pattern, the local term for a communal gathering held on a saint's feast day, combining prayer, procession around the well, and often music and socialising. The pattern here fell on the 15th of August, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, suggesting a dedication to Our Lady rather than, or perhaps alongside, Saint Margaret. By the time Carrigan wrote about it in 1905, the pattern was already described as something formerly held, meaning the tradition had lapsed before the early twentieth century.