That small distinction matters. The vast majority of holy wells and ancient water sources across Ireland are dedicated to saints, real or semi-legendary, their names worn smooth by centuries of pattern days and folk devotion. A well named for a William Connolly sits outside that tradition, or at least sits at an angle to it, and that alone makes it worth pausing over.

The association with a named individual rather than a sacred patron suggests either a secular origin or a local memory strong enough to displace the usual hagiographic labelling. Wells in Ireland were recorded as monuments for a range of reasons, from prehistoric ritual use to more recent practical or ceremonial functions, and the name attached to a well was often the last surviving thread connecting it to a particular person, family, or event. Who William Connolly was, and what his connection to this spot in Galway might have been, remains unclear from what survives. The townland name, Caherweelder, contains the Irish element "caher", referring to a stone fort or enclosure, which suggests the landscape here has layers of use reaching back well before any modern record.

For now, this well exists more as a named point on a map than as a fully documented place. That is not uncommon for smaller monuments in rural Ireland, and it does not diminish the quiet interest of finding a well that remembers a man rather than a martyr.