Keentagh

Archaeological evidence indicates human activity in the region dating back to the Neolithic period. The Millin Bay Cairn, a unique megalithic tomb, is a complex late Neolithic burial monument constructed between 3000 and 2000 BC. It appears now as a low, oval grassy mound with a surrounding oval stone setting.{{cite web |title=Historic map - Down - Sheet 32 by Ordnance Survey of Ireland, published in 1903, part of the Ordnance Survey Six-inch Ireland, 1899-1900 maps |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/247667742#zoom=6.4&lat=5287&lon=6937&layers=BT |website=National Library of Scotland |access-date=6 May 2025}} Excavations in 1953 revealed a complicated sequence of structures under the mound, built to respect and incorporate an earlier north-south stone boundary wall.

The cairn contains a long stone cist, a burial chamber constructed of flagstones with a lintelled stone roof, which held the skeletal remains of at least 15 individuals, neatly sorted and stacked, and the cremated remains of another person. The unburned bones were not arranged as full skeletons but rather sorted into groups of skulls, long bones, and so on, suggesting they were placed elsewhere for some time prior to interment. This hints toward ancestor worship and perhaps deliberate exposure of the body in a mortuary house prior to burial.Chapple, Robert. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43233792Behind the scenes at an excavation: Millin Bay, Summer 1953]. Archaeology Ireland, Winter 2014, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Winter 2014), pp. 16-19. Wordwell Ltd. Accessed: 2 May 2025.

Around the central cist, an oval of stone slabs was set, externally supported by a bank of shingle, and the oval area was filled with shingle and slabs. Outside the shingle bank, seven more small cists were found, some containing cremated bones. The whole area was finally covered with a long mound of sand in the outer oval setting of stones. File:Millin Bay Cairn - geograph.org.uk - 435353.jpgMany of the stones were decorated with pecked curvilinear and rectilinear motifs, suggesting a link with the passage tomb tradition. The site also contained flints, a piece of a polished axe, pieces of a Neolithic pottery bowl, and fragments of Carrowkeel ware pottery.Collins, A. E. P., Waterman, D. M., Morton, W. R. M., & Scott, J. H. Millin Bay: A Late Neolithic Cairn in Co. Down. Belfast: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955. MMS ID: 990000498690103626.Piggott, Stuart. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20567516 Review of Millin Bay: A Late Neolithic Cairn in Co. Down by A. E. P. Collins and D. M. Waterman]. Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Third Series, Vol. 21 (1958), pp. 141-142. Ulster Archaeological Society, 1958.

The position of Millin Bay Cairn in the landscape, beside the sea, suggests it may have been intended to be observed from offshore or that the builders had links to the land beyond. The site is exceptional for the number of individuals interred and the great care taken in the internment of bones. DNA tests have shown links between some bones found at Millin Bay and those at Newgrange. Today, only the tops of the dozen stones of the cairn's peristalith can be seen, overlooking the little bay.

Weir, Anthony. . [https://www.irishmegaliths.org.uk/zMillinBay.htm Gazetteer of Irish prehistoric monuments: selected sites in County Down]. Accessed: 2 May 2025.

Geophysical surveys and small-scale test excavations were conducted in 2004–2005 to the south of the Millin Bay Neolithic mortuary monument. These efforts aimed to better understand the extent, function, and date of the drystone wall noted in the original 1955 excavations by Collins and Waterman. The survey failed to identify buried features or locate the partially intact wall section noted earlier. The absence of a buried land surface at the wall's base and the small extent of the excavations hindered a full understanding of the larger stones' spread and arrangement. The excavations were only partly successful, identifying large stones likely from a collapsed wall structure in the two trenches nearest the monument. Unexpectedly, late medieval/early modern pit features with darker fills and charcoal fragments were found in all three trenches above the remnant wall. Finds included a single struck flint and a corroded piece of modern iron.{{cite web | last1=Schulting | first1=Rick | last2=Hartwell | first2=Barrie | title=2005:372 - Keentagh, Millin Bay, Down | url=https://excavations.ie/report/2005/Down/0013377/ | website=Excavations.ie | publisher=Wordwell Ltd. | date=2005 | access-date=2025-05-02}}

Image:The shores of Millin Bay - geograph.org.uk - 5490458.jpg|The white farmhouse on the raised beach stands adjacent to the Millin Bay Cairn

Image:Historic site information board at Millin Bay Cairn - geograph.org.uk - 5489095.jpg| Historic site information board at Millin Bay Cairn

Image:The overgrown site of the Millin Bay Cairn - geograph.org.uk - 5489065.jpg|The overgrown site of the Millin Bay Cairn

Image:Millin Bay Cairn - geograph.org.uk - 5489100.jpg|Millin Bay Cairn

Townlands that border Keentagh include:{{cite web |title=Keentagh in Ballyphilip civil parish, Down |url=https://www.johngrenham.com/c_parish/c_parish_main.php?civilparishid=806&county=Down&civilparish=Ballyphilip&townlandid=38776&townland=Keentagh |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=John Grenham }}{{cite web |title=PlacenamesNI.org - Keentagh, County Down (Northern Ireland Place-Name Project, Tionscadal Logainmneacha, Thuaisceart Eirann)|url=https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/9b31e0501b744154b4584b1dce1f859b/page/Place-Name-Info#data_s=id%3AdataSource_1-PlaceNames_Gazeteer_No_Global_IDs_7367%3A70834%2Cid%3AdataSource_1-PlaceNames_Gazeteer_No_Global_IDs_9110%3A1135%2Cid%3AdataSource_1-PlaceNames_Gazeteer_No_Global_IDs_3734%3A22533 |website=ArcGIS Experience |access-date=28 April 2025}}

• Ballyfounder to the west
• Ballymarter to the east
• Craigaroddan to the north
• Killydressy to the west
• Tara to the south
• Tieveshilly to the west

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Category:Townlands of County Down

Category:Civil parish of Loughinisland