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Bivallate rath near Omagh is a defended homestead of early Christian date, comprising two concentric banks with intervening ditches. The site occupies a ridge of Silurian felsic igneous rock in the valley landscape of County Tyrone, commanding views over the surrounding terrain. Such raths served as the residential and administrative centres of minor aristocratic families, their dual defences indicating the status and security concerns of their occupants during the fifth to eighth centuries.
The bivallate form—with its paired earthwork rings—represents a substantial investment in labour and suggests a household of considerable importance within the early medieval Ulaid kingdom. The exposed igneous bedrock would have shaped construction methods, with stone and timber elements incorporated into the earthwork walls. The site's survival as an upstanding monument demonstrates the durability of rath construction, with the banks and ditches remaining recognisable features of the local topography.
The rath is protected as a scheduled monument under the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, reflecting its significance to the archaeological and cultural heritage of early Christian Ulster. Such sites provide essential evidence for settlement patterns, social hierarchy and land use during the early medieval period before the establishment of monastic and later Norman influences in the region.
Bivallate rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 14959. View the official record →
Bivallate rath near Omagh is a defended homestead of early Christian date, comprising two concentric banks with intervening ditches. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 14959.
Bivallate rath dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a rath. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Bivallate rath is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 14959.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cloghfin. portal tomb (4.4 km), Platform rath (4.9 km), Rath (5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Bivallate rath's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Bivallate rath stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is felsic-rock.