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Tandragee Fort is a rath situated near Limavady in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Raths are small, fortified homesteads characteristic of early Christian Ireland, typically comprising a dwelling enclosed by one or more earthen banks and outer ditches. This example sits upon bedrock belonging to the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic formation of marble and meta-limestone that outcrops across this part of the north-west. The underlying geology would have presented both quarriable stone for building and the practical challenge of constructing defences in areas of harder metamorphic rock.
The fort is protected as a monument of archaeological significance under the Historic Environment Division's record number 12586, reflecting its importance as evidence of early medieval settlement patterns and domestic fortification in Ulster. Such raths typically date between the 5th and 10th centuries, serving as farmsteads for families of modest to middling status within early Christian society.
Tandragee Fort contributes to the wider landscape archaeology of the Limavady area, where numerous ringforts and similar monuments mark the distribution of early Christian settlement across the Neoproterozoic uplands and valleys of the region.
Tandragee fort. rath is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 12586. View the official record →
Tandragee Fort is a rath situated near Limavady in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 12586.
Tandragee 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.
Tandragee 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 12586.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Standing stone (0.2 km), Standing stone (1 km), Standing stone (1.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Tandragee 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.
Tandragee fort. rath stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is marble, meta-limestone.