Toberaheena Well, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

Toberaheena Well is located in a small park at the junction of the Marlfield and Cahir roads on the outskirts of Clonmel. The park features a holy well with a modern stone hood and a small stream, crossed by a stone bridge. There are large weeping willows and hawthorn trees around the stream and paths have been cut through long grass in the park. The area has recently been tidied up by C-Saw Tipperary (community suicide awareness workers), who have installed flower beds, benches and areas for reflection. It is now a lovely place to sit, listen to the birds and water and relax.

The well at Toberaheena is a recorded monument on the Archaeological Survey of Ireland (archaeology.ie): TS083-014. It is recorded as a Holy well – ritual site. Holy wells can be found all over Ireland and are often associated with a particular saint and many wells are said to have curative properties. There are at least two other known holy wells located within 2km of the Toberaheena well. Any information about an association of a saint with this well has been now been lost. The name Toberaheena is commonly thought to mean Friday’s well (Tober na hAoine) although records on logainm.ie suggest that some think it could translate to ‘well of the mill stream’. In 1938, Eileen Breen collected information about the well from Mrs Biddy Hally as part of the Schools Folklore Collection (duchas.ie) – a project of the National Folklore Collection. She recorded that people washed their clothes in the well on Friday’s and used the water for cooking. Perhaps the use of the well on Friday led to it being named Toberaheena.