A cairn – a large stone mound covered by earth, used as an ancient burial chamber – is situated on the hill. The cairn is thought to date from around 4000BC. It is one of 1,900 scheduled monuments protected by legislation, specifically the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects Order 1995, which makes it an offence to carry out changes to without consent.
The hill is the acknowledged ancestral seat of the Magennis chiefs and the Viscounts of Iveagh. Leaders were believed to have been inaugurated on its summit. The hill sits in the context of a ritual landscape, including other sites and artefacts of importance to the Magennis. These include:
An unscheduled, late Medieval church used by the Magennis family, the location of which is listed as ‘unknown’ but which was recorded by local historians from AnnacloneHistorical Society in 2010.
The Magennis castle stronghold in Rathfriland.
A previously unidentified stone which is thought may have been used to inaugurate the Magennis of Iveagh.
Gavin Hughes of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin, has said of the hill and its place within the wider ritual landscape of the area: "Knock Iveagh appears to be a dominating feature in an exciting amphitheatre of multi-period archaeology which deserves proper and further detailed research. Indeed, such a complex historical continuity in the landscape is very rare – and this could be unique."
Archaeological work and interest
There is thought to have been little archaeological excavation or surveying work carried out on the hill, save for the workPat Collins of the Northern IrelandArchaeological Survey in 1957. Eamonn Kelly, former Keeper of Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland has called for further surveying to be carried out prior to any potential development in the vicinity of the hill, "given the strong probability that there is additional and possible extensive archaeology present relating to the ritual use of the hill ". Knock Iveagh featured on Joe Mahon's Lesser Spotted Ulster series on UTV in 2014. Preliminary archaeological work carried out in 2018 has suggested that there may be a link between the hill and St Patrick.
