People have been living on the Island of Ireland since Neolithic times. Long before the Celts arrived there was a people with a rich culture and tradition. The Hill of Tara is fabled as being the seat of the High King of Ireland dating back thousands of years, a period where Mythology mixes with History. A time when The Tuath Dé ruled and the Giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill roamed the lands and later to pre Celtic Ireland.
I discovered many things on my tour of the Hill of Tara, located a short drive from Dublin.
St Patricks Church and Graveyard are not part of the ancient structure, but commemorates the lighting of the Easter Fire by St Patrick on his mission to bring Christianity to Ireland in defiance of the High King at the time King Laeghairé, who was holding a pagan festival at the time on the Hill of Tara.
The Hill of Tara
There are several sites here to visit but my favourites were ; The Mound of the Assisins and Lia Fáil stone or stone of destiny.
I would recommend visiting Tara with a guide to get the most out of it and to bring the history to life. I did not know that a famous Jewish Princess came to Ireland and married one of the high kings and lived in Tara. When we came to Cormacs house the story got even more interesting. Cormac became High King of Ireland in 220 AD. Cormac was a catholic after spending time in Jerusalem but never tried to convert the local pagan population even thought he was their ruler.
St Patricks Church
We stopped here for a while while our guide gave us some history of the place. As the Crows cawed all around in the trees there was an eerie feeling in the graveyard but the light was just beautiful for photographs.
Our Guide Trasa (on the right) was an encyclopaedia of knowledge and brought the history of the place to life with some very interesting stories and Mythology. We encountered many other people on our visit; some enjoying the sunset, some playing music and in general enjoying the spirituality and energy of this place.
Mystical Ireland
One of the locations we visited on our tour was a Fairy Tree. In Ireland there are two very unique "mystical" places you find all over the countryside; Ring Forts and Fairy Trees. People are very careful to this day not to upset the spiritual inhabitants.
Fairy Trees
I learned there are three conditions for a fairy tree
- It must be a hawthorn tree
- It must be on a cross roads
- It be on its own
The idea is that you leave an offering and make a wish and you tie something to the tree. In olden times you may wish for a sickness to go away. As the piece of clothing you tie to the tree fades legend has it that you sickness goes away too. Trasa left an offering of mead and oats for the fairies.
Sunset
This place overlooking the Bru Na Boinne valley is a beautiful place to come and watch the sunset. I had not been here before but I will be back.
Bru Na Boinne
This part of Ireland has a fascinating history. It took place long before people wrote things down and we are just now discovering more about this ancient land using science and archaeology. The discovery channel archaeologists are regular visitors to this area. As we do we, learn more about the influences for the unique forms of art that we find in Ireland. In a previous post I visited nearby Newgrange, which is also very impressive.
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