© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Rath — a is a small univallate ringfort of early Christian date located in the Newry and Mourne district of County Down. The monument consists of a single substantial earthwork bank defining a roughly circular enclosed space, typical of the ringfort form common throughout Ireland during the early medieval period. These modest fortified homesteads served as the domestic and defensive focal points of local communities between the fifth and twelfth centuries.
The rath sits upon ground underlain by Hawick Group wacke, coarse sandstone bedrock of Silurian age that was deposited during the Wenlock epoch. This geology characterises the drumlin belt of south Down, where such stone would have been readily available for building material, though the earthen construction of this monument suggests reliance instead on the local soils accumulated above the bedrock.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument under the Historic Environment Division with reference number 6132. Like many ringforts surviving in the region, it represents an important archaeological record of early medieval settlement patterns and land use in Down. Such monuments continue to shape the landscape's character and remain significant markers of the archaeological heritage of the Newry and Mourne area.
Rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6132. View the official record →
Rath — a is a small univallate ringfort of early Christian date located in the Newry and Mourne district of County Down. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6132.
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 6132.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rath & souterrain (0.2 km), Forkill mountain. large enclosure & cairn on forkill mountain (0.7 km), Rath & souterrain (0.7 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 Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.