(Site of) Kilmilea Church — Great Island

This is an early ecclesiastical site and the parish church of Kilmokea. It has been identified as Inis Teimle, described in the sources as being between Uí Chennselaig and the Déisse, between the modern counties of Wexford and Waterford (Ní Dhonnchadha 2002). The church was founded in the early 8th century by Suadbar. Saints Findbarr and Barrfhinn (both names contain words for ‘fair’ and ‘top’) are also associated with it. They were sons of Aed with a pedigree back to the Deisse, from which the name Kilmokea – Cill mac (n)Aeda (the church of the sons of Aed) – derives. It was raided by the Vikings in 822 and 825, and again in 951, but the church may have been deserted by the time the Anglo-Norman occupation began in the 1170s. However, it did become the centre for the medieval parish and the name became attached to the parish. According to a Visitation by Thomas Ram, the Protestant bishop of Ferns, in 1615 the church and chancel of Insula Harvei were in repair (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 269). There is no holy well and there is no record of any form of veneration. The site is situated in a fold on the NE-facing slope of what was once the Great Island (dims c. 2.5km N-S; c. 800m E-W at S to 1.8km E-W at N) in the N-S River Barrow/Nore but the channel (Wth c. 500-600m) around the NE and E sides of the island is long silted up and reclaimed. There is one section of wall foundation (L 4.8m; T 0.9m) within a small D-shaped graveyard (dims. c. 32m E-W; c. 17-27m N-S) defined by masonry walls on the S side of an E-W road. A small circular font of conglomerate (ext. diam. 0.75m; int. diam. 0.48m; H 0.48m; D 0.23m), a crude granite cross-base (dims 1m x 0.6m) with a rectangular socket (dims 0.46 x 0.19m; D 0.1m) and what is possibly the smallest high cross in Ireland (H 0.55m; Wth at crux 0.31m; T 0.14m) are in the graveyard. The cross is of sandstone and the head is solid. There is rope-moulding around the edges of both large faces, each with its own cross, and rope-moulding surrounds individual panels that are filled with knot interlace. An inscription, possibly reading NDMNA, is at the top of one large side (Harbison 1992, vol. 1, 131, 363). The sheela-na-gig (WX039-088----) was found in the garden of Kilmokea House and is presumed to have come from the graveyard (Freitag 2004, 135). The graveyard is within a large ecclesiastical enclosure (dims. c. 330m N-S; c. 260m E-W) defined by an earthen bank best preserved (Wth 7m; ext. and int. H 2m) SW-W where it is separated by a berm (Wth 3-4m) from an outer fosse (Wth of top 10m; D 1.5m). There is a granite bullaun stone (dims 0.7m x 0.45m) with a single oval basin (dim. 0.45m x 0.33; D 0.1m) in the base of this section of the fosse. About a third of the interior is occupied by buildings or landscaped gardens and the rest is in pasture but the perimeter is either planted in forestry or hedges. Archaeological testing (02E0071) just inside the perimeter at E and c. 70m ENE of the graveyard uncovered evidence of a ditch with an internal bank on the line of the enclosure (Stafford 2004), but further testing (07E0941) outside the line of the enclosure c. 120m to the ENE of the graveyard produced no related material (Stafford 2010). Archaeological testing (10E0126) outside the W edge of the enclosure c. 225m W of the graveyard produced no related material (Stafford 2013). A small stream runs N through the enclosure from two small springs on the S side of the E-W public road past the graveyard. A horizontal mill consisting of a wooden flume (L 4.8m; Wth 0.35m; H 0.15m) and a millstone (diam. 0.70m; T 8-10cm) was found beside the stream c. 1970. An earthwork enclosure, described as an annexe by Westropp (1918, 11-12) was attached to the ecclesiastical enclosure at N. It was a subcircular area (dims. c. 55m E-W; c. 42m N-S) defined by the earthen bank of the ecclesiastical enclosure (Wth c. 6m) at S and probably by field banks at E and N. In the interior six hollows (diam. c. 9-10m) defined by low banks were interpreted as house sites but they may have been quarry holes and spoil mounds. A bullaun stone described (ibid.) as ‘three feet by two feet by 15 inches (dims c. 0.9m x c. 0.6m; H c. 0.4m)’ with an oval scoop ‘12 inches by 10 inches (dims c. 0.3m x c. 0.25m)’ was on the perimeter at N but has now been moved to an open space (WX039-092----) c. 1km to the SW. The area of the annexe has since been levelled and it is now overgrown and has some modern quarries. Apart from the bullaun stone there might be no antiquity in the area. Westropp also describes an earthwork within the enclosure N of the road and W of the stream (ibid. 9). It was rectangular ‘114 feet along the stream’ and its N end 'bent W 42 feet back to a (N-S) fence, beyond which I found no trace' (ext. dims c. 42m N-S; c. 13m E-W). It was defined by two low earthen banks with a slight intervening fosse (total Wth c. 4.5m). It may have been a moated site truncated by a N-S field bank at W, but it does not survive in a deciduous wood. A resistivity survey undertaken in 2014 (Flynn and Grennan 2016, 67-71) recovered evidence of what might be a D-shaped enclosure (dims c. 70m E-W; c. 40m N-S) c. 100m W of the graveyard on the N side of the road. It does not extend S of the road and is defined by a curvilinear area of low resistivity that might be a fosse. It is approached by what might be a track from the N, and there are some indications of what might be a large stone building in the interior. --------------------------------------- The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 21 January 2013 Amended: 29 January, 2013; 2 Sep. 2013; 28 April, 2015; 27 January, 2017