The Hill of Tara

On a clear, summer day, climb to the top of the Hill of Tara. It is said that one quarter of all Ireland can be seen from this vantage point. A meandering line of silver marks the River Boyne in the valley below. To the east the Irish Sea catches the light. With the great sky opening overhead, and the rolling hills tumbling down from the top, the Hill of Tara seems an empty place. On the day I visited, few tourists wandered the hundred-acre site. Most of the ancient buildings are long gone, their timbers rotted and turned to dust over the millennia, their stone walls buried and forgotten for centuries.

And yet, their is a sense of awe about this place. Close your eyes a moment and feel the brisk wind whipping through the grasses, whispering of ancient power and wisdom and magic. It is this whispering that marks The Hill of Tara as sacred. Centuries of human monuments to this mystical feeling lie ruined or buried beneath the sod. From the huge standing stones to theRoman coins found there, the Hill of Tara is one of those places on earth where the aura of the past remains as a powerful force today.

The Hill of Tara, where archeology and mythology are inextricably entwined, has long been famous as an important historical and prehistoric  site in Ireland. Even though most buildings remain unexcavated, archaeologists have found evidence of perhaps a hundred monuments in the Hill of Tara complex. The oldest monument known so far is the neolithic Hill of Hostages, a passage tomb dating to about 3000 BCE.  A bonfire lit on this hill on the holy days (such as the solstices, equinoxes and quarter days) could be seen for miles in any direction. (Indeed, the name of Tara comes from the Gaelic Cnoc na Teamhrach (or Temair), usually translated as the hill of great prospect.)

Tara is considered the seat of the high king of Ireland. One famous upright stone at Tara is the Lia Fail, known as the Stone of Destiny.  The stone is said to cry out when touched by the rightful high king of Ireland. In fact, the Hill of Tara has seen at least 142 kings crowned.

One such king is Cormac Mac Art, who supposedly built a great hall and a palace on the Hill of Tara. Though there are many legends surrounding him and blurring the truth, Cormac is generally considered to have been a real person, living around the 3rd century CE. It is said that his reign was a time of great peace, where even minor crimes were rare. Some legends claim Cormac is the author of the famous Brehon Laws, which comprise some of the fairest law codes of that or any era. These laws, though maintaining a patriarchal society, afforded some protection of women’s rights. Women were free to pursue any profession, and could divorce their husbands. Women also were considered partners, not property, in a marriage and maintained the rights to their own property. (Though Cormac gets credit for these laws, the earliest written forms date from the 8th century, several hundred years after Cormac’s reign.)

There are many legends regarding the settlement of Ireland. In one, the Tuatha de Danaan,  a pre-Celtic people (Children of the Goddess, Dana) defeated the earlier settlers, and made Tara a sacred place to their own gods and goddesses. The Tuatha were in turn defeated by Celtic tribes (ie The Milesians) who took over the sacred places, and some of the old rites of the earlier people. The Tuatha were driven underground, becoming the ‘little people’ of Irish legends. The Hill of Tara remained sacred even into the advent of Christian times. St. Patrick is said to have come to the Hill of Tara in the 5th century CE to preach to King Laoghaire, and convert him and the island to Christianity.

Most of the facts concerning the Hill of Tara are so tangled with legend, we may never know the truth. But this sacred hill where stories live is well worth the visit. All you have to do is listen to the wind and let your imagination soar.

Cnoc na Teamhrach

A moaning wind
Echoes the haunting bagpipes of old
Evoking a procession of long-dead kings

Swirling skirted warriors
Raise shining spears, piercing a cloud-studded sky before
Fading soundlessly beneath the waving grasses.

Sources:

Mark, Joshua J. “Hill of Tara.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. 26 August 2015.Web.

Murphy, Anthony. “Ancient Sites/ Hill of Tara- Teamhair.” Mythical Ireland. February 2019. Web