© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
McDonald's Fort is a rath and adjoining earthworks of Early Christian date located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises a ringfort with associated defensive works, a settlement form characteristic of early medieval Irish society. Raths served as the fortified homesteads of Irish landowners, combining residential, agricultural and defensive functions within their earthen or stone-built enclosures.
The fort is situated on bedrock comprising Palaeogene extrusive rocks—primarily mafic lava and mafic tuff—which form part of the Tertiary volcanic landscape that characterises this region of Antrim. This underlying geology would have influenced both the site's drainage and the construction methods available to its inhabitants, who worked with local stone and earth to build their defences.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities under reference 3398. Such protection recognises its significance as evidence of early medieval settlement patterns and social organisation in Ulster. The earthworks survive today as a record of domestic life and territorial control during the early Christian period in Ireland.
Mcdonald's fort. rath & adjoining earthworks is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 3398. View the official record →
McDonald's Fort is a rath and adjoining earthworks of Early Christian date located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 3398.
Mcdonald's fort. rath & adjoining earthworks 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.
Mcdonald's fort. rath & adjoining earthworks 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 3398.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Dunhin. motte and bailey (0.6 km), Shane's castle (ruins). tower-house & later buildings (2.3 km), Mound - motte? (4.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Mcdonald's fort. rath & adjoining earthworks'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.
Mcdonald's fort. rath & adjoining earthworks stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.