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Ballymoney Mound is a medieval earthwork located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises a raised mound whose original function remains uncertain; it may have served as either a rath, a type of Irish ringfort, or a moated site characteristic of Anglo-Norman settlement patterns in medieval Ulster. The mound sits upon bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks—primarily mafic lava and tuff formed during intense volcanic activity in the early Tertiary period, some 56 to 34 million years ago. This volcanic geology is typical of the Antrim plateau landscape that dominates the surrounding region.
The earthwork stands as evidence of medieval occupation and land use in the Ballymoney area, where both Gaelic Irish and Anglo-Norman communities established settlements during the medieval period. The ambiguity between rath and moated site classifications reflects the complexity of medieval settlement archaeology in Ulster, where Irish and incoming English cultural traditions sometimes merged in their defensive and residential structures.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, listed under reference 1228, recognising its significance as a surviving example of medieval earthwork fortification in Northern Ireland.
Raised rath? or moated site? is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 1228. View the official record →
Ballymoney Mound is a medieval earthwork located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 1228.
Raised rath? or moated site? dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a mound. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Raised rath? or moated site? 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 1228.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Raised rath & ?souterrain (0.1 km), Raised rath (3.1 km), Raised rath & annexe (3.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Raised rath? or moated site?'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.
Raised rath? or moated site? stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.