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An Overview of Tara
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Tara Hill is the ancient seat of Irish kings
Historically, Tara was the seat of the Ard Righ (High King) of Ireland from the third century up
until the year 1022.
Click here for an excellent clickable map of Tara from the Mythical Ireland website that will help you visualize some of the following descriptions of monuments and points of interest. The Hill of Tara (Temair) is a long, low-lying limestone ridge that runs north-south between Navan and Dunshaghlin in County Meath. From the summit of Tara, which is at the north end of the ridge, one may view as many as 13 of Ireland's counties on a clear day. About thirty monuments are clustered around this summit. Most of these are megaliths, barrows and ring-ditches. The sites known as Teach Chormaic (Cormac's House) and Ra'ith Lo'egaire (Laoghaire's Fort) were probably relatively new additions to the complex. To the south of the summit lies the visually impressive henge which is called Rath Maeve or Maeve's Fort. To the northwest, the crystalline shimmer of Newgrange can be glimpsed at a distance from Tara Hill. The most famous megalith at Tara is Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny which stands near the center of the complex. According to legend, this stone was a sacred object brought to Ireland by the Tuatha De Danaan. It is said that when the true king stood on this stone, it roared. Originally it was located near the entrance to the Mound of Hostages. Many experts consider it part of the same arrangement of stones. After the Battle of Tara in 1798, it was moved to mark the resting places of 400 rebels who died there. But is the stone we see at Tara today the real Lia Fail? Some say that the true Stone of Destiny was taken from Tara by King Fergus of Scotland to be set up at Westminster Cathedral, where it became the Stone of Scone, coronation site for British kings. According to other sources, the Lia Fail was one of four stones that once marked the cardinal points at Tara. Or perhaps it was one of two noble pillars marking the entrance to the passage grave. No solid proof of any of these theories has been produced. We do know that the earliest structure at Tara is the enclosure around the neolithic passage tomb known as the Mound of Hostages or Duma na NGiall. The enclosure was built first, radiocarbon dated as somewhere between 3030 and 2190 BC. The construction of the actual passage tomb itself came next. Archaeological evidence shows that the enclosure was either burned down or was not in use for a time. Then it was reconstructed when the passage tomb was made. Two pots were found just outside the tomb, containing several cremations apparently put into place before the cairn itself was built. Then the tomb, 4 meter long and 1 meter wide, was constructed. It is divided by rows of stones into 3 sections, each one holding cremated remains along with an assortment of grave goods. The Mound of Hostages gets its name from the kingly Irish custom of taking and holding important people from other provinces in order to signify their submission. For example, Niall of the Nine Hostages was so called because he had hostages from all of the provinces of Ireland and a few from Britain, adding up to a total of nine. The Rath of Synods and the Mound of Hostages are the only two monuments that have actually been excavated to date. Recently the remains of an enormous oval-shaped temple marked out by over 300 post holes, each of which were 2 meters wide, was found under the crown of Tara Hill. At its widest point, this temple measures 170 meters. It is obvious that a huge amount of people-power was necessary to construct such a monument. Conor Newman from NUI Galway, who directed a survey of Tara from 1992-1996 commented, "It fills a very important place in the jigsaw because it allows us to make sense of the distribution of other monuments all around it." The Rath of Synods or Ra'ith na Senad is a late addition to Tara, since Roman material found within it shows that it was built during last part of Ireland's pre-Christian age, somewhere between 200-400 AD. Ra'ith na Rig is the large (almost 1000 meters circumference) circular henge-like enclosure that crowns the Hill of Tara. Originally it was cut as deeply as 3.5 meters. One of the layers of the original bank of this enclosure has waste material from ironworking in it, which reveals an Iron Age date for its construction. The last construction at Tara was the rebuilding of Ra'ith na Rig to add a defensive enclosure and three new entrances, the most important of which opens to the east. This was added during the same period as Teach Chormaic, the only ringfort at Tara, was built, encircling the Forrad in a figure eight. The long and narrow area known as the Banquet Hall was probably not really a hall, despite lingering shades of medieval romance. It was more likely a sort of grand avenue, the entrance way to Tara. What is truly amazing about Tara is that the monuments at Tara were built over a period of four thousand years, from the middle of the neolithic age through the time when Christianity came to Ireland. These monuments were more or less in continuous use for ceremonial purposes and assemblies of people from all over Ireland for a thousand years after last structure was built. In 1843 the famous Irish liberator Daniel O'Connell held a monster meeting at Tara attended by an estimated 750,000 people where he called for repeal of the union with Britain. A poem can be found in the tenth century Book of Ballymote, a tribute to Tara by O'Hartigan which translates as follows: It was a famous Fortress of Wisdom. It was enobled with warlike Chiefs. To be viewed it was a splendid Hill During the time of Cormac Mac Airt. Enlightened was his train of Bards Who kept the Records in careful Order. And what they said was respected By all the Teachers of each Art. Footnote: Tara Hill is presently under threat by plans to build a highway that would virtually slice the valley in half. To read more about this and join others in the fight to preserve Tara, click here. |
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