© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Carrickfergus Ring Barrow is a Bronze Age burial monument located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division under reference 3916. The site occupies ground underlain by Palaeogene extrusive rocks—ancient mafic lava and tuff deposits formed during volcanic activity some 56 to 34 million years ago. This geological foundation of hardened volcanic material would have presented challenging conditions for the Bronze Age community who constructed the barrow, requiring significant effort to prepare the ground for burial.
The monument belongs to the ring barrow category, a form of Bronze Age funerary structure typically consisting of a central burial deposit surrounded by a circular ditch or bank. Ring barrows represent an important phase of burial practice in prehistoric Britain and Ireland, reflecting both the social status of the deceased and the ritual beliefs of Bronze Age communities. The specific topography and volcanic geology of the Carrickfergus site would have influenced how the barrow was constructed and how it related to the surrounding landscape.
The barrow survives today at grid reference J3673287399 as a significant element of the Bronze Age archaeological record in County Antrim, contributing to understanding of prehistoric settlement patterns and funerary practices in early Iron Age Ulster.
Ring barrow is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 3916. View the official record →
Carrickfergus Ring Barrow is a Bronze Age burial monument located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division under reference 3916.
Ring barrow dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a barrow. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Ring barrow 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 3916.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bivallate rath (4.5 km), White abbey, druin la croix, deulacressce. premonstratensian abbey (5.7 km), Rath (5.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Ring barrow'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.
Ring barrow stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.