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Rath — a e.christ. rath is a ringfort located near Coleraine in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The monument stands on bedrock of Palaeogene age, comprising mafic lavas and tuffs deposited during intense volcanic activity millions of years ago. This ancient geological foundation lies beneath the earthworks that define the rath itself.
Early Christian raths are circular or oval defensive enclosures, typically defined by one or more concentric banks and ditches. They served as fortified homesteads for farming families and their livestock during the early medieval period. The mafic volcanic bedrock underlying this site would have presented particular challenges and opportunities for construction, potentially offering naturally durable stone for internal structures whilst making ditch excavation labour-intensive.
The monument is protected under the Historic Environment Division reference number 11533 as part of Northern Ireland's designated heritage. Raths of this period represent a crucial phase in Irish settlement history, bridging the late Iron Age and medieval periods. The survival of earthwork monuments such as this one provides important evidence for early Christian land use, settlement patterns and social organisation across the north of Ireland.
Rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 11533. View the official record →
Rath — a e.christ. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 11533.
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.
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 11533.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Standing stone (2.6 km), Duncethirn, lungern, sconce hill, giant's sconce, dunceithirn. rock fortification (2.8 km), Counterscarp rath, possibly hillfort (5.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of 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.
Rath stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.