A Holy Well
31st May 1938
Long ago there was a holy well in Galway with a wall round it.
One day a woman washed her feet in it, and the following morning it had changed down to the town of Balla.
That morning a man was up early, and there was a man beside him and he said to him; Tá baile ann sin shíos. The two men went down as far as the wall and found the well inside it.
On the eve of lady day every year, people used to come and perform stations round it. It is supposed that Balla got its name from the wall.
A good while after there was a girl lodging in a house in Balla and she was told to bring water for the tea and to put it in the kettle.
She brought water from the blessed well. It was down a long time on the fire and it wasn't boiling. At last someone asked her where she got the water and she told them where she got it. The woman of the house then threw out the water.
“INFORMANT: Mary McDonnell, Age 77, Prison, Balla Co. Mayo”