© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Gordon's Fort is a multivallate rath situated in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Raths of this type are enclosed homesteads dating to the early Christian period, typically comprising one or more earthen banks surrounding a central settlement area. Gordon's Fort displays multiple defensive rings characteristic of more substantial or high-status examples of the form, suggesting it may have served as the residence of a person of considerable local importance during the early medieval centuries.
The monument occupies terrain underlain by Gala Group wacke, a hard sedimentary bedrock formed during the Telychian period of the Ordovician era. This geology would have influenced both the construction technique and the drainage properties of the fort's defences, with the stone-rich subsoil potentially contributing material to the earthen ramparts. The site sits at grid reference H8695034960 in Armagh's landscape, where similar fortified enclosures are found scattered across the region.
Gordon's Fort is protected by the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland under statutory reference number 5817. Such protection ensures the preservation of this archaeological monument, which contributes to understanding early Christian settlement patterns, social hierarchy and land use in the medieval North of Ireland.
Gordon's fort. multivallate rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5817. View the official record →
Gordon's Fort is a multivallate rath situated in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5817.
Gordon's fort. multivallate 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.
Gordon's fort. multivallate 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 5817.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Devlin's fort. bivallate rath (0.6 km), The relig, relig-an-chaisill. cashel & souterrain, reused as killeen (children's graveyard) (3.8 km), The grey stone. standing stone (3.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Gordon's fort. multivallate 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.
Gordon's fort. multivallate rath stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.