© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Liskyborough fort is a bivallate rath, a form of defended farmstead characteristic of early Christian Ireland, located in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises two concentric circular earthwork banks that would have enclosed domestic and agricultural buildings within their defensive circuit. Such raths were typically constructed between the 5th and 10th centuries and served as the residences and working centres of farming families of varying social status.
The fort sits upon bedrock of the Leadhills Supergroup, wacke sandstones deposited during the Ashgill period of the Ordovician. This local geology would have provided material for any stone elements within the ramparts, though the primary construction method would have involved earth and timber, with the characteristic banks built from upcast soil. The two enclosing banks suggest a settlement of some substance, offering layered defence and possibly separating different functional zones within the fort.
Liskyborough fort is protected as a recorded monument by the Historic Environment Division under reference 5439, recognising its significance as evidence of settlement patterns and land use during the early medieval period in Ulster. The survival of the earthwork banks, despite centuries of agricultural use in the surrounding landscape, preserves important archaeological and topographical information about this phase of rural settlement in northern Ireland.
Liskyborough fort. bivallate rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5439. View the official record →
Liskyborough fort is a bivallate rath, a form of defended farmstead characteristic of early Christian Ireland, located in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5439.
Liskyborough fort. bivallate 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.
Liskyborough fort. bivallate 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 5439.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rockmacreeny fort. rath (1.3 km), Thorny fort. rath (1.8 km), Templenafertagh. medieval dry-built masonry well, church (site of), graveyard & ring ditch (5.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Liskyborough fort. bivallate 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.
Liskyborough fort. bivallate rath stands on Leadhills Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is wacke.