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Rath is a post-medieval Irish ringfort situated in County Derry, Northern Ireland. The monument consists of a circular or oval enclosure defined by earthwork banks, a defensive settlement type characteristic of early Christian and medieval Irish territories. Raths served as homesteads for farming families and functioned as markers of territorial authority within the local landscape.
The site sits upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, Neoproterozoic meta-limestone and marble deposits that underlie much of this region. This metamorphic geology shaped the local building materials and the character of the surrounding countryside. The solid bedrock provided a stable foundation for the earthwork construction that defines the monument.
Protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 12573, Rath represents an important element of the archaeological heritage of early Christian Derry. The monument survives as a landscape feature of cultural and historical significance, recording patterns of settlement and land use that extended across Ulster during the post-Roman period and beyond.
Rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 12573. View the official record →
Rath is a post-medieval Irish ringfort situated in County Derry, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 12573.
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 12573.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cashel (1.1 km), Rath (1.1 km), Wedge tomb (1.2 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 Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is marble, meta-limestone.