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Grannystown is a counterscarp rath situated near Ballymena in County Antrim. This early Christian earthwork comprises a substantial banked enclosure with an external ditch, within which four distinct house platforms remain visible. The monument sits upon bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks—mafic lavas and tuffs that underlie much of the local landscape. The presence of multiple house platforms suggests this was a settlement of some substance, likely occupied by a family or small community during the early medieval period.
Raths of this type were fortified farmsteads characteristic of early Christian Ireland and Ulster, serving as both domestic and defensive structures. The counterscarp configuration, with the ditch positioned outside the main bank, provided additional protection whilst the internal platforms accommodated timber or wattle-and-daub buildings. The preservation of four distinct platforms at Grannystown indicates careful spatial organisation within the enclosure, typical of settlement planning in this period.
The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division (reference 2141) as part of Northern Ireland's heritage estate. Its survival on this resistant volcanic bedrock has allowed the earthwork features to remain substantially intact, preserving evidence of early medieval settlement patterns in the Ballymena locality. The rath remains an important archaeological record of domestic life and community organisation in early Christian Ulster.
Grannystown. counterscarp rath with four house platforms is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2141. View the official record →
Grannystown is a counterscarp rath situated near Ballymena in County Antrim. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2141.
Grannystown. counterscarp rath with four house platforms 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.
Grannystown. counterscarp rath with four house platforms 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 2141.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Lough tarmin, loughtamand, lough tammin, loughtammin, loughtamin, loughtarmin, lough toman, lough tamin, lough tamand. crannog in former lough tamin (1.9 km), Mound (2.8 km), Rath (3.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Grannystown. counterscarp rath with four house platforms'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.
Grannystown. counterscarp rath with four house platforms stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.