Enclosure, Great Island, Co. Wexford

Co. Wexford |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Great Island, Co. Wexford

Great Island is not quite an island any more.

The channels that once separated it from the surrounding land on its northern and eastern sides, where the River Barrow and Nore converge, have largely silted up or been reclaimed over the centuries, leaving what was once a distinct landmass in the estuary now folded quietly into the surrounding countryside. On the northern slope of this former island, the remains of an earthwork enclosure sit annexed to a larger ecclesiastical site, the two features having once functioned together as part of a religious complex whose full character is now difficult to read.

The enclosure was identified and described by the antiquarian Thomas Johnson Westropp, writing in 1918. He characterised it as an annexe attached to the main ecclesiastical enclosure on its northern side, a roughly oval area measuring approximately 55 metres east to west and 42 metres north to south. Its southern boundary was formed by the earthen bank of the church enclosure itself, some 6 metres wide, while field banks likely defined the eastern and northern edges. Inside, six shallow hollows ringed by low banks prompted early speculation about house sites, though they may equally have been quarry holes with accompanying spoil mounds, a reminder of how easily one type of earthwork can be mistaken for another. Perhaps the most tangible object associated with the site was a bullaun stone, a large worked stone with a rounded hollow ground into its upper surface, typically associated with early Christian sites and sometimes used for grinding or ritual purposes. This particular example measured roughly 90 centimetres by 60 centimetres, with an oval scoop of about 30 by 25 centimetres. It was recorded at the northern perimeter of the enclosure but has since been moved to a piece of open ground approximately one kilometre to the southwest.

The enclosure itself has fared less well than its displaced stone. The area has been levelled, is now overgrown, and contains some modern quarrying activity, leaving very little of the original earthworks legible on the ground.

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