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The Hill of Tara,
or Teamhair na Rí
("Hill of the Kings") was at one time the seat of the high king of
Ireland, and still contains a number of ancient monuments. Chief among
these is the Lia
Fáil ("Stone of Destiny"), and the
Iron Age Ráith na Rig ("Fort of
the Kings"). The Fort contains two linked earthworks, Teach
Chormaic ("Cormac's House") and the Forradh ("Royal
Seat"). To the north is the Ráith na Seanadh ("Rath of the Synods"), a ringfort with three banks in which Roman artefacts have been found. Further on to the north lies the Banqueting Hall, the Sloping Trenches and Gráinne's Fort. The Ráith Laoghaire ("Loaghaire's Fort) is south of the Royal Enclosure, and the Rath Maeve is located half a mile further on. |
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Tara served as
Ireland's
political and spiritual capital up until the arrival of the Normans. It
acted as the seat of the kings of Ireland until the sixth century and
appears to have played a key role in neolithic times. The Mound of the
Hostages, situated close to Cormac's House, may be as much as 5,000
years old. According to legend, Tara was the capital of
the Tuatha
Dé Danann, the pre-Celtic inhabitants of Ireland. During the 1798 rebellion, the United Irishmen formed a camp on the hill but were defeated by the British on the 26th of May. The Lia Fáil was moved to mark the graves of the 400 who died. On the 15th of August 1843, Daniel O'Connell held his largest ever Monster Meeting on the Hill of Tara in support of Repeal of the Union. |
Today, the Tara
site is under
threat by a proposed motorway which will pass through the Tara-Skryne
valley. Please help protect Tara by joining the campaign. |
|
The Tara Campaign Tara Watch The Campaign to save Tara An Taisce takes action to save Tara Article on the campaign at megalithic.co.uk Tara proposed as UNESCO world heritage site World Heritage Alert |