© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Lisamry fort is a early Christian rath and souterrain located in the Newry and Mourne district of Northern Ireland. The monument comprises a counterscarp rath—a farmstead enclosed by a raised earthen bank with an external ditch—together with a souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage that typically served storage or refuge functions. Such settlements were characteristic of early medieval Irish and Northern Irish society, generally dating from the fifth to twelfth centuries.
The site is constructed on bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation dating to the Telychian period of the Ordovician, which provides the local stone resources used in the souterrain's construction. The combination of rath and souterrain at this location represents the integration of domestic and defensive architecture typical of early Christian rural settlement in Ulster.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, registered under reference 6095. The site remains an important archaeological record of early medieval settlement patterns and agricultural life in the Newry and Mourne region, contributing to understanding of how communities organised their domestic and storage facilities in the early Christian period.
Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & souterrain is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6095. View the official record →
Lisamry fort is a early Christian rath and souterrain located in the Newry and Mourne district of Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6095.
Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & 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.
Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & 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 6095.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tullyard fort. counterscarp rath (1.6 km), Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain (2.1 km), Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?) (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & 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.
Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & souterrain stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.