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Clonvaraghan wood is a cashel and souterrain of early Christian date, located in County Down, Northern Ireland. The site sits on bedrock of the Gala Group, a Telychian-age wacke formation that characterises much of the local geology. A possible house platform is also present within the monument complex, suggesting sustained occupation of this defensible settlement.
The cashel comprises a stone-built enclosure typical of early Christian Ireland, designed to contain domestic and occasionally ecclesiastical activity within a fortified boundary. The associated souterrain—an underground stone-lined passage or chamber—served multiple functions, from storage to refuge. Such features were common in early medieval Irish settlements between approximately the fifth and twelfth centuries, though precise dating at Clonvaraghan remains uncertain without excavation.
The monument is recorded in the Historic Environment Division's statutory register under reference 7985, reflecting its archaeological significance within the landscape of early Christian settlement in Ulster. The combination of defensive architecture, underground storage, and residential features demonstrates the economic and social organisation of a substantial early Christian community, whose farming activities would have exploited the surrounding terrain of wacke-derived soils.
Clonvaraghan wood. cashel & souterrain with possible house platform is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7985. View the official record →
Clonvaraghan wood is a cashel and souterrain of early Christian date, located in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7985.
Clonvaraghan wood. cashel & souterrain with possible house platform dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a cashel. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Clonvaraghan wood. cashel & souterrain with possible house platform 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 7985.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including D-shaped enclosure - possibly cemetery (2.8 km), Cashel (5.9 km), Cashel (6.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Clonvaraghan wood. cashel & souterrain with possible house platform'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.
Clonvaraghan wood. cashel & souterrain with possible house platform stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.