© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Rath — a e.christ. rath is an early Christian ringfort located in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The monument sits upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a Telychian wacke formation typical of the Ordovician geology across much of this region. The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 5707 and is recorded at grid reference J0212038400.
Raths of this period represent a distinctive settlement form that developed across Ireland from the Iron Age through the early medieval period, with many continuing in use into and beyond the early Christian era. As an early Christian example, this rath would have served as a domestic and possibly ecclesiastical focal point, its circular earthwork defining both practical and symbolic boundaries around a settlement community during the centuries following the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.
The Gala Group wacke bedrock underlying this monument is a hardy sedimentary stone that would have influenced both the construction techniques employed and the landscape drainage patterns affecting settlement. The survival of the monument's earthworks across more than fifteen centuries attests to the enduring effectiveness of ringfort design and the stable geological foundation upon which it was built.
Rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5707. View the official record →
Rath — a e.christ. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5707.
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 5707.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rath (6.9 km), Rath (6.9 km), Rath & possible house (7 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 Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.