Lisnagade Fort
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Lisnagade () is a large multivallate earthen ringfort, three miles west of
Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road (Northern Ireland), A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the Civil parishes in Ireland, c ...
,
County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, just off the
Scarva Scarva ( meaning "shallow place, rough ford") is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is at the boundary with County Armagh, which is marked by the Newry Canal. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 320. Scarva i ...
road. Lisnagade Fort rath and annex are State Care Historic Monuments in the
townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...
of Lisnagade, in
Banbridge District Banbridge was a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was one of 26 council areas formed on 1 October 1973, following the implementation of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. The headquarters of the council ...
.


Features

Lisnagade is an impressive circular earthwork, consisting of three massive ditch-separated banks, approximately 6m high, which completely surround the fort. The diameter of the inner circle is a good 60m and the total diameter of the rath is about 110m. There is a smaller rath annexed to the north by two straight ditches. This rath is very low and is about 30m diameter. It is surrounded by a single ditch. Though
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
artefacts have been recovered from the site, little is known about its occupants. This ancient site dates back more than 1000 years, and is thought to have been constructed around 350 AD. The interior has now only low undergrowth and a
beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
tree just off centre. The banks are planted with a variety of well established trees as well as small bushes.


History

According to the description of Scarva fro
Lewis's
Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837, " ''Lisnagade, or "the fort of a hundred," is one of the most extensive and best-preserved of its kind: it consists of treble ramparts and intrenchments; the entrance is from the east, leading into an extensive circular enclosure, whence are obtained prospects of the entire country for many miles around, and a great number of forts or raths are seen, from which circumstance it is supposed this fort took its name, being the chief or centre of a hundred others: the fosses on every side are very deep, and it is remarkable that they are all paved at the bottom with rounded pebbles set in clay. In cleaning the fosses, in 1832, Mr. Trevor found a great many silver coins, a brass cauldron, spear-heads, and other relics of antiquity. Great numbers of arrow and spear-heads of flint, stone and brass celts, and other military weapons, have been found in almost every part of the "Cast." In 1807 the head and antlers of an enormous elk were found, which are carefully preserved at Scarvagh House: several others were found in the bog marl near Union Lodge; and in draining Loughadian, part of a tiara of gold, brazen swords, skeans, and spear-heads, were discovered, all of which are in the possession of W. Fivey, Esq., of Union Lodge. The greater portion of the ancient castle or tower yet exists at Pointz Pass; some fragments of that at Scarvagh are still seen above the village, and in the centre of Lisnagade fort are the remains of another of the same kind; the floor was discovered entire in 1832, constructed of baked tiles''." also, ''"In 1783 a battle was fought at Lisnagade fort, between the " Hearts of Steel," and the "
Break-of-day Boys The Peep o' Day Boys was an agrarian Protestant association in 18th-century Ireland. Originally noted as being an agrarian society around 1779–80, from 1785 it became the Protestant component of the sectarian conflict that emerged in County Ar ...
," when several of the former were killed."'' Also, on the morning of 13 July 1789 a group of
Loughbrickland Loughbrickland ( or ; ) is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland, south of Banbridge on the main Belfast to Dublin road. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 693. Loughbrickland is within the Banbridge District. History Lo ...
Protestants clashed with Catholics at Lisnagade, on their way to a commemoration of the
Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim ( ga, Cath Eachroma) was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style, equivale ...
at Gilford. This became notorious as the `Lisnagade Riot'. Twelve Catholics were initially arrested, but later freed and magistrates refused warrants for the searching of Lisnagade homes for arms. Inevitably trouble continued and Lisnagade Mass House was burned to the ground the following summer (1790). A group of Loughgall Yeomanry known as 'Clarke's Wreckers' were blamed for the attack and contemporary accounts claim that it took place during a Mass which was being celebrated by the parish priest Fr. John Malone. The present St. Mary's Church was built as a replacement, at the behest of Fr. Malone, a couple of years later.


References

{{reflist
Aghaderg Parish
Archaeological sites in County Down Forts in Northern Ireland Townlands of County Down Civil parish of Aghaderg