The rounded stones, smoothed by the sea before being fitted into place, give the structure an unusual texture, one that speaks to whoever built it making deliberate use of what the shore had to offer. A stone altar stands to its south-east, completing what is, in effect, a modest open-air devotional complex in a setting more associated with tides and weather than with formal religious practice.

Holy wells occupy a distinctive place in the Irish landscape, functioning as sites of popular religious observance that often predate Christianity but were absorbed into it, typically acquiring a patron saint and an associated feast day. This well is visited each year on the 15th of August, the feast of the Assumption of Mary, a date that draws pilgrims to holy wells across Ireland. The practice of visiting on a fixed calendar date, often accompanied by prescribed rounds or prayers, is known as a pattern, from the Irish word for patron. The combination of the domed stone cover, the coursed interior lining, and the dedicated altar suggests a site that has been maintained and adapted over time, even if the record of who built or tended it remains unclear.