© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Bivallate Rath is an early Christian enclosed settlement located in County Down, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises two concentric defensive banks and ditches, characteristic of raths constructed during the early Christian period. Such settlements typically housed a single family or small farming community and served both domestic and defensive purposes within the rural landscape of early medieval Ireland.
The rath is situated on bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation laid down during the Telychian period of the Ordovician. This solid geological foundation would have provided stable ground for construction and drainage of the settlement's defensive earthworks, with the surrounding terrain naturally shaping how water would have drained away from the enclosed interior space.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 7197, recognising its archaeological and historical significance. Bivallate raths of this period represent important evidence of settlement patterns, social organisation and land use in early Christian Ireland. The survival of both earthen banks at this site offers valuable information about domestic life and defensive practices during this formative period of Irish history.
Bivallate rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7197. View the official record →
Bivallate Rath is an early Christian enclosed settlement located in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7197.
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 7197.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Castlewilliam. castle (5.1 km), Pair of platform raths (5.2 km), Raised rath (7.8 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.