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Bivallate Rath (site of) is an early Christian enclosed settlement located near Ballymoney in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises a residential or defensive enclosure defined by two concentric earthen banks and intervening ditches, a characteristic defensive design of early medieval Irish settlements. Such raths served as farmsteads, administrative centres or refuge points for local communities between roughly the 5th and 12th centuries.
The site is positioned on bedrock of the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic sequence of metamorphic rocks comprising psammite, semipelite and pelite formations. This geological foundation would have provided reasonably stable ground for the construction and maintenance of the defensive earthworks. The surrounding landscape typical of this region offers natural drainage suitable for settlement.
The bivallate rath is now protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 1092, recognising its archaeological and historical significance as evidence of early medieval settlement patterns and social organisation in Ulster. Such monuments contribute substantially to understanding the distribution and character of Christian communities in early medieval Ireland and their relationship to the landscape.
Bivallate rath (site of) is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 1092. View the official record →
Bivallate Rath (site of) is an early Christian enclosed settlement located near Ballymoney in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 1092.
Bivallate rath (site of) 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 (site of) 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 1092.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Raised rath (3.5 km), Standing stone (4.7 km), Standing stone (5.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Bivallate rath (site of)'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 (site of) stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.