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Castlereagh Mound is an uncertain earthwork of probable prehistoric date located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The monument takes the form of a raised mound whose precise classification remains undetermined; it may represent a rath (an Iron Age or early medieval ringfort) or a barrow (a Neolithic or Bronze Age burial mound), though the archaeological evidence is insufficient to confirm either interpretation with certainty. The site sits upon bedrock belonging to the Leadhills Supergroup, wacke deposits laid down during the Ashgill period of the Ordovician era, which would have provided a stable foundation for construction.
The mound is protected as a monument of archaeological interest by the Historic Environment Division under reference 6449. Its survival in the landscape reflects the generally favourable conditions for earthwork preservation in this region of Northern Ireland, where later agricultural use has not entirely obliterated earlier archaeological features.
Without excavation or detailed survey, the true nature and date of this earthwork cannot be established. It remains an example of the many ambiguous mounds surviving in the Irish landscape, monuments that require specialist investigation to determine their cultural significance and place within the region's prehistory or early history.
Mound - rath/barrow? is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6449. View the official record →
Castlereagh Mound is an uncertain earthwork of probable prehistoric date located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6449.
Mound - rath/barrow? dates from the uncertain period, and is classified as a mound. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Mound - rath/barrow? 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 6449.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Platform rath (1.8 km), Motte (1.9 km), Farrel's fort. multivallate rath (2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Mound - rath/barrow?'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.
Mound - rath/barrow? stands on Leadhills Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is wacke.