Almost 1500 years separate Fr McLaughlin’s Well from St Patrick’s Well in their origins, for our tradition is that St Patrick stopped at the well in Magherakeel to quench his thirst while on his way to Lough Derg. He blessed the well and since then it has been a place of pilgrimage for the people of the district.

Within living memory, St Patrick’s Well has been much frequented. During the Nineteen Twenties and Thirties, the McFadden family of Magherakeel used to look after the well. Mary McFadden, Paddy’s mother, used to clean it for St Patrick’s Day. Paddy heard his mother tell that a man and woman came to the well one time on a horse and cart, the man had lost power of his right arm. The woman said, “We’re at the Well now.” “Thanks be to God”, the man said, and blessed himself. He had got the power back in his arm.