The structure itself is relatively recent, and the statue of St Patrick mounted above it has none of the weathered antiquity that visitors might expect from a sacred site of this kind. What it has instead is continued, active use, the sort of thing that is easy to overlook precisely because it has never stopped happening.

The well's association with St Patrick was recorded by Caoimhín Ó Danachair in 1955, where he noted that the water was held to cure ailments of the eyes and that rounds were still being made at the site on 17th March by at least a small number of people. Rounds, in this context, refers to the traditional practice of walking a prescribed circuit around a holy well or sacred site, usually a set number of times and often accompanied by prayer, as a form of pilgrimage or petition. The connection to St Patrick is a common one across Ireland, but what Ó Danachair's note captures is the persistence of the custom into the mid-twentieth century, even if only among a few. Holy wells were frequently the focus of pattern days, localised festivals tied to a saint's feast, and the 17th of March at Coolrus appears to have functioned in something of that tradition, if on a modest scale.

The well sits on the southern side of a stream, and the enclosing surround with its statue marks the spot clearly enough. The devotionalia left by visitors, small objects, cloth, coins in the water, follow a pattern common to venerated wells across Munster and beyond, where leaving something behind is understood as part of the act of veneration itself. If you are visiting around St Patrick's Day, there is a chance of encountering the well in active use, which is a different experience from finding it quiet. The coins in the water tend to accumulate over time and are worth looking at closely.