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Rath — a e.christ. rath is a earthen ringfort located near Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland. The monument sits upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation dating to the Telychian period, which provides the underlying geology of this part of the drumlin belt. The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 7085.
Raths of this period were circular or oval domestic enclosures surrounded by one or more earthen banks and external ditches. Typically 30 to 60 metres in diameter, they served as fortified farmsteads for the Gaelic aristocracy and farming classes during the early Christian period, from the fifth century onwards. The banks provided both defensive protection and a demarcation of high-status territory within the landscape.
This early Christian rath would have contained timber buildings, storage facilities and domestic structures within its enclosed area. Such sites were occupied intermittently, sometimes over several centuries, and many continued in use through the medieval period. The monument survives as a significant archaeological record of early Christian settlement patterns and territorial organisation in this region of Ulster.
Rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7085. View the official record →
Rath — a e.christ. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7085.
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 7085.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rath (1.3 km), Rath (1.9 km), Platform rath? (2.1 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.