A living pilgrimage site
On the last Sunday of July, people still walk out from Sligo before dawn for 6am Mass at Tobernalt. The open-air Mass here resumed in 1921 and has been missed only once since – in 1922, when the Civil War stopped it – and the Bishop of Elphin often says it. The rest of the year the well is a quieter thing: a spring rising from the base of a cliff at the south foot of Carns Hill, a stone-lined basin reached by a few uneven steps, a modest altar with a replica penal cross, and a mature tree hung with ribbons and rosary beads left as petitions.
One thing to know before you cup your hands: a sign at the basin asks you not to drink the water. That has never dented the old faith in it. The spring was held to cure sore eyes and ‘madness’, and local lore even credited it with sharpening the skills of footballers. People tie a rag or a bead to the tree and make their round of the well instead, the clootie custom, still done daily.
Tobernalt is Tobar an Aillt, ‘well of the cliff’, which is exactly what it is. It sits in woodland above the western shore of Lough Gill, about 10 km south-east of Sligo town, with two neolithic cairns on Carns Hill above it. The spot was a gathering place long before the first Christian bell was rung in Ireland.
History
The spring predates Christianity in the area, and local tradition has St Patrick using it for baptisms in the 5th century. A large stone by the basin is said to carry his fingerprints and to hold healing power of its own, though centuries of weather have softened any mark.
The well earned its place in Sligo’s memory during the Penal era, when open Catholic worship was banned and Mass was said in secret at rocks like this one. The stone altar here, the mass rock, served exactly that purpose, and the iron cross beside the modern shrine remembers it. The first public Mass after the Penal Laws was recorded in 1921, and the Garland Sunday tradition has run almost unbroken ever since.
What to expect
The whole visit is small and takes only as long as you give it. If you have twenty minutes on an ordinary day, the walk down to the basin, a look at the healing stone and the prayer tree, and a few minutes by the water is the lot. The well does not need more. Gentle woodland paths run on toward the Lough Gill shore if you want to stretch it out, uneven underfoot in places.
Garland Sunday is when the place changes. The dawn Mass is followed by a day of devotions, and it stays local rather than touristy: families, older neighbours and bilberry-picking on the hill, which is why the day is also called Bilberry Sunday.
A note on manners: do not climb the altar or disturb offerings on the tree, keep voices down for anyone at prayer, and take your litter with you.
Getting there
By car from Sligo town, head south-east on the R287 (Holywell Road) for roughly 10 km; the well is signposted on the right with a small lay-by. The free car park holds about ten vehicles and no more, so on Garland Sunday arrive well before dawn or you will not get in. Many people park in town and walk out.
The path down to the basin is uneven stone steps on a slope and is not wheelchair accessible. Leashed dogs are welcome. The site is open-air, unstaffed and open at all hours, with no toilets, shop or drinking water. For parish enquiries or Mass times, email carraroe@holywellsligo.com or call 071 916 2136.
Nearby
- Dooney Rock – a short lakeshore walk on Lough Gill with views to the Dartry Mountains.
- Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery – one of Ireland’s largest and oldest groups of Neolithic tombs, a short drive away.
- Carrowkeel – a remote passage-tomb complex with a winter-solstice alignment.
- Benbulben Forest Walk – a woodland loop under Benbulben’s flat-topped cliff.
Weekday mornings you will usually have the well to yourself; save Garland Sunday for when you want the crowd and the Mass, not the quiet.