The Irish name preserved on ordnance maps is more precise: Tobernagloghderg, meaning the well of the red stones, a name that points to the iron-rich geology of the outcropping rock face above it. That reddish mineral colouration, leaching into the spring water and staining the stones around it, is likely what gave the site its character across centuries of use.

The name appears consistently on the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps in both the first edition of 1840 and the revised edition of 1906, suggesting it was well established in local usage long before either survey was made. Holy wells, a common feature of the Irish landscape, were traditionally sites of religious devotion, pattern days, and votive offerings. This one, however, appears to have drifted away from any such use. Today there is no evidence of religious practice around it, no rags tied to branches, no small offerings. Instead, a concrete cover has been fitted over the well, a pump inserted into it, and then the whole arrangement abandoned. A scatter of discarded items lies nearby. The spring itself continues quietly, draining into a small stream that runs south-east to join the River Moyle.