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Ballymena Raised Rath and Souterrain is a raised earthwork settlement of Early Christian date, protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division. The site occupies ground underlain by Palaeogene extrusive rocks—mafic lavas and tuffs that form the bedrock geology of this part of County Antrim. The raised rath, or circular fortified homestead, represents a form of settlement typical of Early Christian Ireland, where farming families occupied defended enclosures of modest scale. The associated souterrain, an underground stone-built passage, would have served storage, refuge or ritual purposes, a feature common to raths of this period across Ulster.
The monument survives today as an earthwork within the landscape around Ballymena, positioned on terrain shaped by the district's distinctive volcanic geology. Raths and souterrains of this type were occupied from roughly the 5th to 8th centuries, reflecting a period of significant social and economic activity in early medieval Ulster. The protected status recognises its archaeological importance as evidence of domestic settlement, land use and building traditions during the early Christian centuries.
Raised rath & souterrain is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2185. View the official record →
Ballymena Raised Rath and Souterrain is a raised earthwork settlement of Early Christian date, protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2185.
Raised rath & souterrain dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a rathpossible. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Raised rath & souterrain 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 2185.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ancient field system, including rath & 2 round cairns (c.f. 038 (6.6 km), Ancient field system, including rath & 2 round cairns (c.f. 038 (6.8 km), Ancient field system, including rath & 2 round cairns (c.f. 038 (6.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Raised rath & souterrain'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 & souterrain stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.