< Back to Map

Ballywalter Motte

Dunanney Rath or 'Fort' stands majestically overlooking Carnmoney Cemetery on the southern face of Carnmoney Hill. This prestige rath site, where in ancient times fairs and festivals were held, may date to Celtic times (around 500 BC).

In 1556 the Earl of Sussex, Lord Deputy to Elizabeth I, camped with his troops at Dunanney where he met with Irish chieftans and tried unsuccessfully to pacify the Irish.

The name Dunanney has been translated both as 'The Fort of the Assemblies' and 'The Fort of the Watery Place' (built on rock, it tends to be wet and marshy).

A second rath exists to the east of Dunanney. Two souterrains (man-made underground passages) have been found on the hill, although more are likely to have existed in the past.

By tradition, Carnmoney takes its name from Cairn Monadh 'the cairn on the boggy mountain' a burial chamber that originally stood on the summit of Carnmoney Hill.

Dunanney Rath is on private land but Rathfern Community Wood, below Carnmoney Hill, is managed by the Woodland Trust and is open to the public.

Take the M5 motorway (Whiteabbey/Carrickfergus) and turn left at the roundabout for the A2 (Rathcoole). Turn right onto the B59 (Doagh Road) and continue to the roundabout just after Whiteabbey Hospital. Go straight through this roundabout and at the traffic lights turn left into Knockenagh Avenue. The Woodland Trust information board and entrance to the wood are a short distance up this road on the right, just after Rathfern Community Centre.