Tara Fort, off Ballyquintin Road, Tara, Portaferry, Co Down is a listed building in the Ards and North Down local planning authority area, Northern Ireland.

Tara Fort, off Ballyquintin Road, Tara, Portaferry, Co Down

WRENN ID
silent-kitchen-fen
Grade
Local Planning Authority
Ards and North Down
Constituency
Strangford MP: Jim Shannon (DUP)
Country
Northern Ireland
Irish grid reference
J 627 485
Coordinates
54.3592, -5.49789
Source
NI Environment Agency listing

Also on this page: radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Tara Fort is a prehistoric circular earthwork, or rath, situated on a hilltop overlooking the southeastern coast of the Ards peninsula, approximately three miles southeast of Portaferry. The remains, now heavily overgrown with hedges and brambles, are located to the northeast of Ballyquintin Road. The earthwork has a roughly circular form, measuring approximately 50 meters in diameter. A plan, included in the 1966 'Archaeological Survey of County Down', depicts features such as a causeway, ditch, and stone revetments, but these are currently obscured by vegetation. The site likely dates to before 1600, potentially having been used from the Neolithic period through early Christian times. It is described as derelict and considered a monument of great antiquity, benefiting from a commanding viewpoint.

Local climate

Tara Fort, off Ballyquintin Road, Tara, Portaferry, Co Down receives an average of 920 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 70% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 81% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 4 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 98% of listed buildings. Of these, 2 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Telephone Kiosk, Quintinbay Road, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1RE Grade B2 312 m
  2. 1 Quintin Bay Road, Tara, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1QB 449 m
  3. 19 Ballyfounder Road, Killydressy, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1RE Grade Record Only 776 m
  4. St Cooey’s Wells, off Ballyquintin Road, Tullycarnan, Portaferry, Co Down 932 m
  5. Templecooey ruins and graveyard, off Ballyquintin Road, Tieveshilly, Portaferry, Co Down 944 m
  6. 11 Ballyfounder Road, Killydressy, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1RE Grade B1 1.2 km
  7. 15 Ballyfounder Road, Killydressy, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1RE Grade Record Only 1.3 km
  8. Ballyfounder House, 16 Ballyfounder Road, Ballyfounder, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1RE Grade B2 1.4 km
  9. 6 Ballyquintin Road, Ballyquintin, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1RG 1.7 km
  10. Quintin House, 22 Quintin Bay Road, Ballymarter, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1QB Grade Record Only 1.9 km