Inishowen Heritage Trail

Holy wells are places of popular religious devotion where people come to pray and leave simple offerings. Holy wells invariably tend to date from pre-Christian times, during which they served as a form of natural religion in which the well was held to be sacred

In some places, rags, handkerchiefs or clothes are tied to the trees above or around the well. In many instances the piece of cloth was red as it was believed that the colour red would resist the power of evil spirits. The idea about this custom is that as the rag rots away, so too does the illness.