Stand on the Hill of Tara, the ancient Royal site of the High Kings of Ireland… 142 Kings were crowned here. You will see 23 of Ireland’s 32 counties on a clear day, saw lots of land but how many counties…..It was a political and religious centre from the early Celtic Times and they erected some spectacular ceremonial monuments, the remains of which you can see
There is a church andba cemetary where people are still burried today. People still being burried today.
St Pat associated with this site, he was summoned to Tara by the king because he built a fire and this was against the rule.
Please notice the way he is dressed. The original statue was falling apart so they commisioned a new one, he had a loin cloth but people gor really upset so got this statue instead, the vestments that he is wearing came much later but people did not care now he had clothes on his back.
Mythology, gods and godesses, kings related to old testament, monks keen to find corroletion to the bible. Tara is often mentioned and most visited. Archeology – British and Israelite were looking for the Arch of Covenant and started an unsuthorized search but never found it, but found evidence of roman artificats while history said they never came to Ireland.
County Mead is the Royal County because of Tara and its association with kings.
Tara is the capital of fairies, farmer very surpistious, so they preserve the lands.
Here is what you see when you go to Tara
The Stone Of Destiny on top of An Forradh (the King’s Seat) at the Hill of Tara, pictured at sunset.
The Stone of Destiny
Sitting on top of the King’s Seat (Forradh) of Temair is the most famous of Tara’s monuments – Ireland’s ancient coronation stone – the Lia Fail or “Stone of Destiny”, which was brought here according to mythology by the godlike people, the Tuatha Dé Danann, as one of their sacred objects. It was said to roar when touched by the rightful king of Tara.
Sunset over the Mound of the Hostages, on the Hill of Tara.
The Mound of the Hostages
The “Mound of the Hostages” is a megalithic ‘passage tomb’ and is the oldest monument on the hill of Tara, dating to about 2,500BC. The name “Mound of the Hostages” derives from the custom of overkings like those at Tara retaining important personages from subject kingdoms to ensure their submission.
One of the legendary kings of Tara was named Niall of the Nine Hostages in recognition of the fact that he held hostages from all the provinces of Ireland and from Britain.
The passage at the Mound of the Hostages is short, and is aligned on the cross-quarter days of November 8 and February 4, the ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain and Imbolc. Just inside the entrance on the left is a large decorated orthostat.
The passage of the Mound of the Hostages. This picture shows the short passage at the Mound of the Hostages at Tara. As a solar construct it is not as accurate as other passages, which are notably longer, but according to Brennan (The Stones of Time, 1994) the daily changes in the position of a 13-foot long sunbeam are more than adequate to determine specific dates. The passage would, without any doubt, also capture the light of the Full Moon at certain times in the 19-year cycle, specifically the minor standstill rising position.
Hill of Tara
Newgrange is a 5,200 year old passage tomb located in the Boyne Valley in Ireland ancient east.
Newgrange was built by Stone Age farmers, the mound is 85 meters (93 yards) in diameter and 13.5 meters (15 yards) high, an area of about 1 acre.
A passage measuring 19 meters (21 yards) leads into a chamber with 3 alcoves. The passage and chamber are aligned with the rising sun at the winter soltice.
Newgrange is surrounded by 97 large stones called kerbstones some of which are engraved with megalithic art; the most striking is the entrance stone.
Newgrange, located in the Boyne Valley is one of an exclusive group of monuments known and recognised worldwide. A UNESCO World Heritage listed site, Newgrange is a Neolithic Ritual Centre and Passage Tomb, home of some of the greatest pieces of art of the European Neolithic, Ireland’s most significant prehistoric monument and among the world’s earliest great pieces of architecture.
This monument is a thousand years older than the Pyramids and the oldest astronomical observatory in the world, completely intact since the Stone Age. Its decorated entrance stone and corbelled inner chamber display the most impressively executed examples of abstract Stone Age art of the early farming communities in Western Europe.
An Astro-Archaeological, Archaeoastronomical Tour of Prehistoric Ritual Sites
These sophisticated early farmers were Astronomers who incorporated a light box and solar calendar into the passage. This was done to illuminate the cremated bones of the dead in the inner chamber during the Winter Solstice. It was also a symbolic technique to celebrate rebirth in the afterlife and the dawning of a new year.
The entrance, I went in, the passage is narrow and you have to bend down so that you dont hit your head and then you get to the main chamber and then you come back, takes about 5 minutes
The Battle of the Boyne
is located within Ireland’s most important battlefield. Learn how in July 1690 on the north and south banks of the river Boyne a battle occurred that was a turning point politically in Irish and continental affairs.
Amidst a welter of family intrigue, dynastic succession, civil war, Grand strategy and religious conflict, two Kings took to the field with 60,000 troops and changed the course of history.
Newgrave receive at least 1000 visit a day and they keep a tight schedule because they give guided tours. It is the place where kings were burried.
The place is phenomenal, mysterious, exciting, mystical well worth the journey. Our tour guide was very good, he is an historian by profession and has worked for a number of years in the Museum of Natural History so he knew what he was talking about.
building
pubs