St Patrick's Chair and Well

Overview

St Patrick’s Chair and Well sits in the woods of Altadaven Glen, just outside Augher in County Tyrone. The centrepiece is a two-metre block of sandstone shaped like a high-backed throne; a short walk away is a bullaun well, a bowl-shaped hollow in the rock that fills with water and is said never to dry out. Also known as the Druid’s Chair and Well, or St Brigid’s Well, it’s a small, free, open-all-year stop – a couple of stones in a quiet wood – worth it for the folklore and the walk in, not for grandeur. In December 2025 it was granted Scheduled Historic Monument status, part of a batch of Northern Ireland sites listed that week.

Name, landscape and history

Altadaven is generally taken to mean ‘demon cliff’ or ‘cliff of the demons’, and local folklore credits St Patrick with driving demons off the cliff edge into the valley below. The land was once part of the Favour Royal Demesne, a ‘favour’ granted to Sir Thomas Ridgeway, Treasurer of Ireland, in the early 1600s. The surrounding woodland was replanted with native species in the early 2000s under the People’s Millennium Forest scheme.

The glen carries older marks than any of this. Prehistoric cup-marks survive on rocks near the chair, evidence that the site mattered long before any Christian dedication – the usual pattern of a pagan or druidic ritual place later taken over and Christianised, here linked to St Patrick and St Macartan.

Legends and folklore

The chair is a wishing seat. Sit in it and make a silent wish, the tradition goes, and it will come true – some say within days, some within the year – as long as you tell no one what you wished for. The well below is a healing well, its water traditionally used against warts and other skin ailments.

Two rag-trees near the well still carry cloth strips and small tokens, an old practice of tying an offering to a tree for healing or luck. Locals historically kept Heather Sunday (also called Blaeberry Sunday) here in July, gathering bilberries and holding games, music and dancing – a custom widely thought to have pagan roots. For a closer look before you go, the Voices from the Dawn website hosts a virtual-reality tour that reconstructs the chair, well and landscape.

Getting there and access

The site lies along the Ulster Way long-distance path, so it makes a natural break for walkers crossing the province. There’s a 12.4 km loop from Aughnacloy that follows the Ulster Way and the Sliabh Beagh Way to reach it, if you want a proper walk rather than a quick stop.

• By car: from the A5 near Augher, follow signs toward Altadaven; a small roadside lay-by near the forest entrance gives limited parking. Don’t block farm gates or field entrances.
• On foot: buses serve Aughnacloy, from where the loop can be walked following the Ulster Way markers.
• Navigation: signage in the glen is minimal. Save the coordinates (54.391478 N, –7.080856 W) or the location on your phone before you set off.

What to see

• The stone chair – wide enough to sit in comfortably. Make your silent wish, then keep it to yourself.
• The holy well – the bullaun holds rainwater locals say never fully dries. The water isn’t safe to drink; visitors leave coins or cloth strips instead.
• The rag-trees – two trees by the well draped with fabric tokens left by earlier visitors; add your own if you follow the custom.
• The views – on a clear day the glen opens onto the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains.

Practical information

Close any gates you open, keep to the track, and place any offering on the rag-trees rather than dropping it into the well. For the best light and easiest footing, aim for a dry mid-morning – and keep a coin or a strip of cloth in your pocket if you want to leave something at the well.