Not idnicated — Saltee Island Great

At the closest points the Saltee Islands lie between 3.5km and 6km from the south Wexford coast at Kilmore Quay. The name is thought to derive from a Scandinavian word for ‘island’ (Hore 1900-11, vol. 2, 27; Roche 1977, 28-30). The Great Saltee is an oval, or curved oval, island (L c. 2km NE-SW; Wth c. 500m NW-SE) that is generally low-lying but rises to a summit (58m; 198 feet) towards the SW end. There may have been an early church on the island as suggested by the discovery of an ogham stone (WX051A010----), but the recorded history begins c. 1177 when Hervey de Montmorency granted the islands to Christchurch, Canterbury, together with the churches of Shelburne and Bargy baronies. Canterbury granted the islands to Tintern Abbey (WX045-027001-) in 1245, and the ‘two islands of Salteye’ are mentioned in charters to Tintern of that date (Hore 1900-11 vol. 2, 27, 32, 40). At the Suppression in 1541 Shast, in two portions of 120 and 60 acres, was still owned by the abbey (White 1943, 360). From an inquisition of 1543 it is clear that Shast ‘in the town of Saltushe’ is an island (Hore 1900-11, vol. 2, 87). By a lease of 1533 James Keating of Kilcowanmore (WX046-041001-) held half the Little Saltee and half of St. Patrick’s Bridge, a natural shingle bridge to the mainland. A lengthy section of the bridge is still visible above low water (L c. 800m) at the mainland, and its course underwater can be traced on Google and Bing images. By 1538 Keating is attainted and the two Saltees are in the King’s possession (ibid. vol. 2, 74), but they were leased by John Isham of Bryanstown (WX040-024----) from 1548 to 1556 (ibid. vol. 2, 89, 93). In 1566 the islands were leased to Anthony Colclough of Tintern (WX045-027002-) (ibid. vol. 2, 101), and they were acquired by the Grogan family of Johnstonw Castle (WX042-017----) soon afterwards (Roche 1977, 49). The islands were leased by Grogan to other prominent families thereafter, but in 1770 the lease was taken by the Boxwell family of Sarshill, and their tennants, the Furlongs of Kilmore Quay, occupied the islands until they abandoned them before 1910 (ibid. 51-5, 90). At the height of the settlement in the 19th century there was a household of c. 20 persons on Great Saltee, and the Little Saltee had perhaps three occupants (Lewis 1837, vol. 2, 543). Even then the bird colonies were famous, but the visitors came for the shooting. The islands are now unoccupied and are still in private ownership, although day visitors are welcome. See this web-page accessed on 6 February, 2014: http://www.salteeislands.info/Visitors%20Page.htm The importance of the islands as a bird sanctuary is also recognised. See this web-page accessed on 6 February, 2014: http://www.npws.ie/media/npwsie/content/images/protectedsites/sitesynopsis/SY000707.pdf It is very likely that the monks of Tintern maintained a direct presence on the island, at least in the early years. This would be an out-farm of lay brothers or even lay families, but not a functioning church establishment. The NE point of the island was known as the Abbey Point and ruined buildings close to it were thought to relate to the monks (ibid. 543). Into the 20th century the ground between this and the 19th century houses c. 500m to the SW was known as the ‘Abbey Field’ (Roche 1977, map). The outline of two structures can be identified on the fairly level grass and fern-covered ground. A larger structure (int. dims 10m plus E-W; 7.3m N-S) is defined by a stone footing but its E end is missing. Just 4m to the SW traces of another structure (int. dims 6m plus E-W; 3.4m N-S) can be made out as wall footings but the W end is missing. The promontory fort (WX051A002----) is c. 20m to the N. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 17 February, 2014 Amended: 25 February, 2014