Breathing Life into the Embers at Knock Iveagh: The Importance of Community Guardianship
Channel: The Ulster Archaeological Society
Date: 01/03/2022

Breathing Life into the Embers at Knock Iveagh: The Importance of Community Guardianship in Protecting Heritage at Risk.
Arlene Copeland, Emma Grossmith, Anne Harper, and Veronica Kelly (The Friends of Knock Iveagh)

Our paper aims to:
· Re-reveal the nature of the monument, its setting and its purpose;
· Outline the threats to the monument, and built heritage in general, from development (both authorised, unauthorised and Permitted);
· Explain how we identified these threats, approached the task of mitigation, what we achieved and what work is still required; and,
· Illustrate the discovery of additional archaeology at already recorded monuments and a number of new monuments, which, along with significant new academic research helps support our belief that Knock Iveagh sits at the centre of an exceptionally well-preserved royal ritual landscape containing important archaeological monuments from a wide range of periods.
We hope that our work and discoveries will provide a legacy that will help enable and empower other communities to take threatened heritage into their guardianship and to encourage engagement with public, private and third sector archaeologists and with our local authorities and the entire Planning system.

The Friends of Knock Iveagh came together in September 2017 following the discovery of the erection of an unauthorised telecommunications mast and flawed Planning Approval for a single wind turbine adjacent to a Scheduled Neolithic hilltop burial cairn on Knock Iveagh, Rathfriland, Co. Down. The Friends are a small group comprising working parents with a united interest in archaeology, Gaelic history, Irish mythology, built heritage, and music. Anne Harper Simmance is a professional musician and educator; Arlene Copeland is a freelance writer; Emma Grossmith is a lawyer and Veronica Williams is a civil servant. Some of the group members have participated in archaeological excavations in a voluntary and a paid capacity and are members of the Ulster Archaeological Society.