Tara! Home. I'll go home...After all... tomorrow is another day.
 

Day 2 Tara and Knowth

                    The Hill of Tara

                Tour guide and St Pat statue

                             Views of Tara

                    Modern gravestones

       Old church now tourist center

                           Gift Shop       

           For more information on Tara:

            http://www.knowth.com/tara.htm

Click HERE to see the beautiful Boyne Valley Hotel

We said our goodbyes to Dublin, mounted our bus, and left (literally) for green pastures. What we saw next was so ancient, so remarkable, so connected to other sites we have seen that we felt we had come home to the

                            Hill of Tara.

"The Hill of Tara, nestled in rural county Meath and bathed in Celtic mythology, is one of Irelands historic treasures." To read more: http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/tara/

Two of the notable structures were  The Lia Fáil -The Stone of Destiny and the Mound of Hostages. This site predates 2500 BC and is said to be part of several mythologies. Perhaps it was the mix of an archaeological wonder and mix of mythologies that Larry and I felt so connected.

Tara, also known as Temair is thought to be the ancient seat of power with some 142 kings reigning in prehistoric and historic times. It was also the sacred place for gods and an entrance to the otherworld,. St Patrick was said to have come to this very spot to convert the Celtic people to Christianity. Israelites believed the Arc of the Covenant was buried there - but excavations proved otherwise. Some even thought it was the ancient capitol of Atlantis.

The Stone of Destiny: "Lie Fail" was thought to have brought to the sites by a gods as one of sacred objects. It was said to have roared when touched by the rightful king of Tara. Today, people from all over the world come to touch the stone to hear the mighty roar. Notice that Larry gave a mighty roar proclaiming to be the true King of Ireland.

 Mound of Hostages: This mound is the oldest mound and it is known as a tomb of passage. At one time the king would use this tomb to keep hostages from escaping - hence the name. But the tomb is much earlier than that dating back to 2500 BC. The tomb is rather short but is aligned on the cross-quarter days (November 8 and February 4). These are the dates of two of the most notable festivals - Samhain and Imboic.

Many other ancient, significant Standing Stones dot the countryside. There are also historic graveyards.

The third mound group - Newgrange was on our tour but we ran out of time. Here is a website with more info:

http://www.worldheritageireland.ie/bru-na-boinne/built-heritage/newgrange/

 "Knowth contains one quarter of all known megalithic art in Europe, has two passages, and a total of 18 smaller "satellite mounds".            

                             Start of Tour

        Close-up of stones with petroglyphs

                            View of the Mounds

There are two passages at Knowth  which face, roughly speaking, towards the east and towards the west.  A new theory, backed by scientific data about the orientation of these passages, points towards a lunar function for Knowth.

                  Woodhenge - Sun Calendar

       For more information on Knowth

       http://www.knowth.com/knowth.htm

Day 3: Trim Castle, Kylemore Abbey and the Walled Victorian Garden.