In terms of its ritual use, the internal structures and layout, and its location and association, is similar to the other royal sites of Tara, Navan Fort and Rathcroghan (Johnston 2006).

It seems to have been occupied during the Spring/Summer months and there is evidence of cooking, which include a great deal of bone from cows, sheep, pigs, deer and horses (Crabtree 2007, in Johnston and Wailes 2007).

Dún Ailinne was the subject of archeological research between 1968 and 1975 by a team from the University of Pennsylvania led by Bernard Wailes.

More recently, a geophysical survey of the interior was carried out by a joint American and Irish team (Johnston, Campana, and Crabtree 2009).

Following some scholarly journal publications, a book was released by an American university publisher in 2007, by Bernard Wailes and Susan Johnston.

In 2008, an interpretative site was opened at Nicholastown, a townland just south of Kilcullen, featuring a bilingual information panel (Irish and English) and a small-scale reproduction of the mound, topped by a sculpture.