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Corliss Fort is a bivallate rath with an associated souterrain, situated in the townland of Corliss in the Newry and Mourne district of Northern Ireland. Known locally by several names including Donaghy's Fort and The Beech Fort, this monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 6092. The site rests on bedrock of the Gala Group, a formation of Telychian wacke that characterises the local geology of this region.
The fort's distinctive double-bank earthwork construction identifies it as a bivallate rath, a defensive residential enclosure typical of early medieval Ireland. The two concentric banks would originally have enclosed a domestic settlement, with the inner rampart rising more prominently than the outer. Such raths frequently incorporated underground stone-lined passages or souterrains, which served various functions ranging from storage to refuge.
The presence of the souterrain at Corliss represents an important feature of early medieval settlement practice in Ulster. These subterranean structures, built into the firm wacke bedrock beneath the site, provided secure storage for valuables and foodstuffs. The monument survives as a testament to the settlement patterns and defensive architecture of early medieval Ireland, offering evidence of how communities in this region organised and protected their domestic spaces.
Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6092. View the official record →
Corliss Fort is a bivallate rath with an associated souterrain, situated in the townland of Corliss in the Newry and Mourne district of Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6092.
Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a rath & souterrain. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain 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 6092.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tullyard fort. counterscarp rath (0.7 km), Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?) (1.9 km), Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & souterrain (2.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain'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.
Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.