Ballyfounder Rath


Ballyfounder Rath is the remains of a ringfort situated on the Ards Peninsula, in County Down, Northern Ireland. It consists of a circular mound about 20m in diameter, with traces of an outer bank and ditch. It is a Scheduled Historic Monument and is at grid ref: J6207 4954.

Excavations

Excavations carried out by Waterman found a Paffrath ware ladle in a layer containing decorated glazed jugs, relating to a ringfort heightened by the Anglo-Normans. This suggested that the ladle was not deposited until the middle of the 13th century, which would mean that it had survived for at least a century. This secondary occupation of Ballyfounder consisted of a small rectangular timber-framed building, a few other post-holes and occupation debris dated to the 13th century by the Anglo-Norman pottery.