When it was eventually lifted, it revealed a deep well with carefully stone-lined walls, sealed and forgotten, waiting in the dark.

The site sits within the townland associated with Lisnacreev, a name that translates from the Irish Lios na gGraobh as "ringfort of the bushes". A ringfort is a roughly circular enclosure, typically defined by an earthen bank or stone wall, that served as a farmstead or settlement during the early medieval period in Ireland. The discovery of the well was reported by a Miss Hickson in 1883 to 1884, who noted the circumstances of its uncovering: the flat stone had been found at some depth, and its removal exposed the lined shaft beneath. The precise origin of the well, its age, and its relationship to any surrounding settlement remain unclear from what was recorded, but the stone-lined construction suggests deliberate, skilled work rather than a natural feature. Wells of this kind sometimes served practical household purposes within ringfort enclosures, and sometimes carried ritual or votive significance, though nothing in what Hickson observed pins this one firmly to either role.