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Lissummon fort is a rath, an early Christian period ringfort, located in the Newry and Mourne district of Northern Ireland. Raths are circular or oval earthwork enclosures that typically comprised a dwelling platform and associated structures surrounded by one or more banks and ditches. They were the predominant settlement form across Ireland during the early Christian centuries and represent the homesteads of both commoners and minor nobility.
The monument sits upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation dating to the Telychian period of the Ordovician era. This hard, grainy sedimentary geology underlies much of the surrounding landscape and would have influenced both the construction techniques employed and the drainage characteristics of the site. The local topography and geology are typical of the Mourne region, where such raths frequently commanded views across valleys and watercourses.
The fort is recorded in the Historic Environment Division's inventory under reference 5887, recognising it as a structure of significant archaeological importance. As with most Irish raths, the exact date of construction and occupation cannot be determined without excavation, though the early Christian period encompasses the centuries from approximately the fifth to twelfth centuries. Such sites remain vital sources of evidence for understanding settlement patterns, social organisation and everyday life in early medieval Ireland.
Lissummon fort. rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5887. View the official record →
Lissummon fort is a rath, an early Christian period ringfort, located in the Newry and Mourne district of Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5887.
Lissummon fort. 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.
Lissummon fort. 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 5887.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rath (6 km), Standing stone (6.1 km), Megalithic tomb - court tomb? (6.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Lissummon fort. 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.
Lissummon fort. rath stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.