The Norman Way

Heritage route in Wexford

Menu

Skip to content
  • Welcome
  • Along the Route
    • Rosslare Harbour
    • Lady’s Island
    • St Iberius’ Church
    • Tacumshane Windmill
    • St Catherine’s Church
    • Sigginstown Castle
    • Ishartmon Church
    • Tomhaggard
    • Ballyhealy Castle
    • Grange Church
    • Kilmore Quay
    • Killag Church
    • Duncormick
    • St Imoge’s Church
    • Coolhull Castle
    • The Bannow Font
    • Bannow
    • The Little Sea
    • Tintern Abbey
    • Saltmills
    • Fethard Castle
    • Baginbun
    • Loftus Hall
    • Slade Harbour
    • Hook Lighthouse
    • St Dubhán’s Church
    • Templetown
    • Duncannon Fort
    • Ballyhack
    • Dunbrody Abbey
    • Kilmokea
    • JFK Arboretum
    • Kennedy Homestead
    • Stokestown Castle
    • St Mary’s Church
  • Stories
    • Rosslare Harbour
    • Lady’s Island
    • St Iberius’ Church
    • Tacumshane Windmill
    • St Catherine’s Church
    • Sigginstown Castle
    • Ishartmon Church
    • Tomhaggard
    • Ballyhealy Castle
    • Grange Church
    • Kilmore Quay
    • Killag Church
    • Duncormick
    • St Imoge’s Church
    • Coolhull Castle
    • The Bannow Font
    • Bannow
    • The Little Sea
    • Tintern Abbey
    • Saltmills
    • Fethard Castle
    • Baginbun
    • Loftus Hall
    • Slade Harbour
    • Hook Lighthouse
    • St Dubhán’s Church
    • Templetown
    • Duncannon Fort
    • Ballyhack
    • Dunbrody Abbey
    • Kilmokea
    • JFK Arboretum
    • Kennedy Homestead
    • Stokestown Castle
    • St Mary’s Church
  • More…
    • Contact
    • Email Newsletter
    • Cycling the Route
    • Further reading
    • Primary Teacher resource
    • The Norman Way on Amazon Alexa
    • Biography of the Norman Way project
    • Useful Links
    • Privacy Policy

Kilmokea

Standing on the River Barrow the pre-Norman monastery at Kilmokea  was an important early church located on an island. Following land reclamation in the 19th century the area is now part of the mainland.

Kilmokea was a target for Viking raiders during the 9th and  10th centuries. When the Normans arrived in the 12th century they built  a large moated site nearby and founded a town beside the river.

The Moated Site
Although the bank, ditch and surrounding fence made a moated site look like a military encampment, it was actually a defended farmstead. The illustration above shows what a moated site looked like. In other parts of the country moated sites were also built by the native Irish.

Hervey’s Island
In the 12th century Kilmokea was known as ‘Great Island’. The Norman knight Hervey de Montmorency made it the centre of his lands. A town, castle and leper hospital were built near the existing monastery and became known  as ‘Hervey’s Island’. No trace of this urban settlement remains today. The establishment of New Ross upriver affected the trade prospects of the town and within a century of its foundation Hervey’s Island had scarcely any tenants.

The Smallest High Cross
In the graveyard here at Kilmokea, you will find the smallest ‘high cross’ in Ireland. This delicately carved stone stands amongst a collection of fonts and measures just 55cm in height.

–
To find
 Kilmokea…
Type these coordinates into Google: 52.296560, -6.993111

–

To the West along the Way lies…
John F. Kennedy Arboretum

To the East along the Way lies…  
Dunbrody Abbey

–

Logos banner
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Widgets

Recent Posts

  • St. Iberius’ Church Relic – Saved from Cromwell but Lost for 200 years…
  • The Medieval Church in Tomhaggard
  • The Lost Language of Yola
  • King Arthur’s final resting place…
  • Your Stories from The Norman Way

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • August 2016

    Categories

    • local knowledge

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Illustratr by WordPress.com.