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Enclosure & Souterrain, Armoy is a ringfort with underground stone-lined passage situated in the Moyle district of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The site lies upon Palaeogene extrusive rocks—ancient mafic lavas and tuffs formed during intense volcanic activity millions of years before human settlement. The combination of a substantial earthwork enclosure with an integral souterrain suggests occupation during the early Christian period, when such defensive settlements were common throughout Ulster. Souterrains served multiple functions: refuge during raids, storage for perishables, and possibly ritual significance within the spiritual landscape of early Christian communities.
The site forms part of the broader ecclesiastical landscape at Armoy, indicating that this location held religious or administrative importance in early medieval times. The solid volcanic bedrock would have provided stable foundations for the construction of the underground passage and the surrounding bank and ditch of the enclosure. The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland, under statutory reference 1157, reflecting its archaeological and historical significance for understanding settlement patterns and early Christian society in north Antrim.
Enclosure & souterrain - part of armoy ecclesiastical site [ant 013 is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 1157. View the official record →
Enclosure & Souterrain, Armoy is a ringfort with underground stone-lined passage situated in the Moyle district of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 1157.
Enclosure & souterrain - part of armoy ecclesiastical site [ant 013 dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a rath & souterrainpossible. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Enclosure & souterrain - part of armoy ecclesiastical site [ant 013 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 1157.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including St. patrick. standing stone (now fallen) (3.7 km), Cross-carved stone (6.1 km), Mound & ?souterrain (6.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Enclosure & souterrain - part of armoy ecclesiastical site [ant 013'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.
Enclosure & souterrain - part of armoy ecclesiastical site [ant 013 stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.