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Rockmacreeny fort is a rath situated in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. A rath is an early Christian ringfort, a type of fortified farmstead common throughout Ireland from around the fifth to twelfth centuries. These monuments typically comprise one or more circular enclosures defined by banks and ditches, which served as livestock pens and defensive structures for farming communities. Rockmacreeny's location on bedrock of the Leadhills Supergroup, a wacke formation from the Ashgill period, reflects the underlying geology of this part of Armagh's drumlin landscape.
The fort is recorded in the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland's archaeological database under reference number 5494, which provides protection for the site as an important cultural heritage monument. The wacke bedrock on which it sits is characteristic of the mountainous terrain of this region, suggesting the fort's builders were familiar with working with and adapting to the local stone-rich environment. The ringfort form represents a significant phase of Irish settlement and land use during the early medieval period, when such sites served as focal points of local agricultural and social organisation.
Rockmacreeny fort. rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5494. View the official record →
Rockmacreeny fort is a rath situated in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5494.
Rockmacreeny fort. 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.
Rockmacreeny fort. 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 5494.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Thorny fort. rath (0.6 km), Platform rath (1.2 km), The danes cast, the danes cast (north). linear earthwork (5.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Rockmacreeny fort. 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.
Rockmacreeny fort. rath stands on Leadhills Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is wacke.