Moated site

The National Monuments Service's description

Located towards the bottom of 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. It is marked a large embanked or moated rectangular feature on the 1839 and 1940 eds of the OS 6-inch map. It is now a rectangular area (dims. c. 165m NE-SW; c. 125m NW-SE) defined largely by field banks but it was surrounded at one time by double banks and an intervening fosse (total Wth c. 12m) with curved corners (Power 1906). A section of the inner bank (Wth 7m; int. H 1.5m) survives at the S end of SE side (L 43m). (Westropp 1918, 13; Barry 1977, 63, 89-90, 223, WX 79)

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

References

Westropp, T.J. 1918 Five large earthworks in the barony of Shelbourne, Co. Wexford, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquries of Ireland, vol. 48, 1-18.

Power, Rev. P. 1906 Curious earthworks on the Great Island, Co. Wexford. Journal of the Waterford and south-east of Ireland Archaeological Society, 9, 281-2.

Barry, T.B. 1977 Medieval moated sites of south-eastern Ireland. British Archaeological Reports, British Series 35. Oxford.