The following information is from the Township of Greater Madawaska website (see the information highlighted in bold type below for information specific to the Holy Well):
"Early days in Mount St. Patrick and Dacre
By Bill Graham, Editor: The Madawaska Highlander
The first settlers to appear in what would become the Parish of Mount St. Patrick probably arrived in the 1830s. No one knows for certain because these settlers could be considered squatters since there was no land registry until the 1850s. Some were certainly shanty men who lumbered the pines of what would become Brougham Township. Some of these men took land and brought their families to the area. Others were genuine immigrants who in this case arrived from Ireland.
One account left in a history by Father Tom Hunt, who was a third generation resident of Mount St. Patrick born 1895, says that his own family, arrived with sixteen other Irish families in the early 1800s. They arrived at the Mountain "coming in the back door by way of Perth." It wasn't long before Mount St. Patrick was almost entirely undiluted Irish Catholic.
The Catholic Church played a central role in the history of this community. In the first years there was no church but the people were served by visiting missionary priests. These men would move between many far-flung communities of Catholics in the days when there were no real roads and often only the rivers and creeks provided a means of travel.
Among the first of these pioneer priests was Father John McNulty. He arrived from Ireland in 1842 and was supposed to be headquartered in Renfrew and visit Springtown, Eganville, Douglas and Osceola from there, but instead chose to centre his activities around what is now Mount St. Patrick because he had family living there who had arrived during the 1830s. His family originated from the Dioceses of Tuam in County Mayo (Ireland), which is the location of the original Mount St. Patrick.
By the 1850s the building of settlement roads was a priority of the government of Upper Canada. One of these roads was the Ottawa-Opeongo Road, which began at Farrell's Landing on the Ottawa River near Renfrew and passed within a few kilometres of the present site of Mount St. Patrick. It was in the village that Crown Land Agent T.P. French decided to set up his headquarters.
In September 1855, T.P. French took up residence at the John Brady Hotel in Mount St. Patrick, which placed him 16 miles from Renfrew and 2 miles from the Opeongo Road. His duties as Crown Land Agent included promoting settlement through advertising, giving the settlers aid and advice and ensuring that their obligations were fulfilled, supervising road improvements, selling Crown lands and reporting on progress. Today T.P. French is especially noted for his marketing abilities and his creative writing. His prospectus, which described the terms for gaining "indisputable title" to 100 acres of land for free, were circulated throughout Europe. He was eloquent, believable and engaging, but often the reality did not measure up to his prose.
Regardless, many came to settle and whether disappointed or not French contributed to the growing importance of Mount St. Patrick during this period. Another important factor was the building of a stone church in the village in 1869. This is the church that exists to this day. Before this date there was a chapel of log construction located near the McNulty farm high up on the mountain. For reasons of accessibility the local place of worship was moved to the village.
Over the generations parish priests strongly influenced the life of the community. After Father McNulty left the parish in 1852 a number of priests served the community and outlying areas until the arrival of the next influential priest-leader of the community in the form of Father John McCormac.
Father McCormac arrived in Canada in the same year as his ordination in Ireland in 1865 at the age of 24 years. He arrived in Mount St. Patrick in January 1867 and was parish priest until his untimely death in 1874 at the age of 33 years. He oversaw the building of the present church in 1869 and was responsible for the Holy Well, which remains a notable landmark in Renfrew County. Holy wells are a part of an ancient tradition in Ireland that goes back to the Celts. Certain pools and springs were thought to have spiritual power. Father McCormac found what he believed was such a spring near Constant Creek, which he blessed as a holy well, in the Irish tradition. Ironically, it was in this same Constant Creek that Father McCormac died by drowning in 1874 while fishing."
-- Source