© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Bivallate Rath is a ringfort of Early Christian date located in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises two concentric defensive earthen banks enclosing a central homestead platform, a defensive design typical of high-status settlements from the 5th to 10th centuries. The double-banked construction suggests occupation by a family of considerable local importance during the early medieval period.
The rath sits upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation laid down during the Telychian geological period. This underlying geology of hard, fine-grained sedimentary stone would have influenced both the construction techniques employed and the drainage characteristics of the site, with the sloping wacke bedrock directing water away from the central living area.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 6950, ensuring its preservation as an important archaeological resource. Such bivallate raths are relatively uncommon in the Irish archaeological record and represent a significant phase in the settlement pattern of early medieval Ulster, providing evidence of the social hierarchies and defensive strategies of Early Christian communities in the region.
Bivallate rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6950. View the official record →
Bivallate Rath is a ringfort of Early Christian date located in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6950.
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 6950.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tullyear rath. rath (7.1 km), Counterscarp rath (7.4 km), Standing stone (7.4 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 Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.