Responsibility for the upkeep of Killykeen is through the state's commercial forestry service Coillte together with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) where Lough Oughter and its associated loughs are protected under the EU Habitats Directive as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) for wildlife and particularly wintering birds.
Coillte, Ireland's state forestry body, planted 25,000 trees of the species used to build the Dunbrody Replica Famine Ship on Lacken Hill.