Indicated — Great Island

Dermot Mac Murrough granted two cantreds to Hervey de Montmorency in 1169 ‘adjoining the sea between Wexford and Waterford’, which included Great Island, and Hervey granted land from this to the Cistercian abbey of Dunbrody (WX039-030001-) which he founded in 1171-5 and which is c. 1.6km E of Great Island. The island became the centre a large manor, the accounts of which survive for the 1280s and 1290s (Hore 1900-11, vol. 3, 197-218), and these record the repair of a castle in the 1280s, which included the digging of a moat. Located at the top of a severe W-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. An arc of a bank surviving N-E-SE is best preserved at E (Wth of base 11m; Wth of top 5m; int. H 1.2m; ext. H 0.6m) NE-E-SE (C 150m) with an external fosse (at E: Wth of top 12m; Wth of base 5m; ext. D 0.8m). The bank backs on to the steep west facing slope down to the river, and if complete it would enclose a D-shaped area (dims. c. 250m E-W, c. 200m N-S), most of which would be on the slope. The interior is grass-covered but with a large number of modern buildings. This may be a ringwork castle erected by Harvey de Montmorency shortly after the initial grant. Within the enclosure are the traditional sites of two castles (WX039 028002 ; WX039 028003 ) and the traditional site of a leper hospital (WX039-028005-). Ringfort (WX039-028004-) is c. 100m to the SE. -------------- 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 upload/revision: 28 January, 2013