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Tara - what does it tell us about Irish history?

  • 22-10-2009 10:26am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭


    I REALLY don't want to discuss the M3 motorway in this thread so please save the 'SAVE TARA' rants for somewhere else :)

    So what does the site at Tara tell us about Ireland's history? What has been discovered at Tara? I know there is an old 'passage' tomb (apparently some people don't like the phrase 'passage tomb') and that it was the site of the old Kings but what has any of this told us about the people, their culture, diet, technology etc?


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 310 ✭✭Nebit


    i studied the hill of tara for uni last year and tbh theirs not too much it can tell us with out excavation, there was an excavation held there in the past (well it was more a treasure hunt) and i believe roman coins were found suggesting that it was possible some sort of tourist site.
    different monuments in the area from different periiods of time show the significance of the site. the church reliterates this.

    as i said theres not too much to say about the site, most information is based on opinions and ideas based on other sites and stories passed on through generations.
    theres some interesting stuff on the net id recomend Google Scholar search engine, and a hint being if u c anything about celts its complete bull


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    So there has never been a scientific excavation on the site? What about non-invasive methods such as aerial mapping, spectroscopy, metal detection etc?

    Given that earlier civilisations chose the site for a megalithic monument and it was the choice location for the high Kings is there something particularly special about the topographic geography of the site?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 310 ✭✭Nebit


    r3nu4l wrote: »
    So there has never been a scientific excavation on the site? What about non-invasive methods such as aerial mapping, spectroscopy, metal detection etc?

    Given that earlier civilisations chose the site for a megalithic monument and it was the choice location for the high Kings is there something particularly special about the topographic geography of the site?

    well yes and no, it has been plundered by treasure hunters and i remember reading in a text book that some roman coins were reported to come from there but this was based on what the treasure hunters told theirs sons daughters etc.

    http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/Details.php?Year=&County=Meath&id=6925

    this however is the excavation that took place and nothing was really revealed.

    Eoin Grogan wrote about The Rath of the Synods which i cant find unfortunately and Murris o'sullivan wrote about the Mound of the Hostages in 2005.

    UCD holds tours as part of a course every year, last year i went on it and we had a few tourists follow us before it poured with rain so im sure if you could join that if you wanted.

    topography wise yes in certain areas, especially the two ringforts, you can see a large proportion of the land which is reletivly flat giving a strategic advantage, however the whole layout of the site would suggest it was used for celebrations big events etc.
    This mixed with the stories based on would seem to confirm it, however large scale excavation would be needed to truely cofirm this.

    throughout the ages there has always seemed to be a tie between people and there ancesstory, in the sence that people from the early bronze age would use older neolithic monuments to bury their dead, this is true for many other sites which were reused up untill iron age and even some today are still used for example glendalough was used as a recent burial place but has existed for many centuries.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,246 ✭✭✭✭Riamfada


    r3nu4l you are asking a massive question. Here are some images of geosquizz that was done in recent times, cant seem to find the LIDAR at the moment. There are a number of books on the subject but I really suggest you read this to get an archaeological and historical sense of whats going on there.

    tara_geophys_1.jpg

    p03301.jpg

    The Mound of the Hostages

    tara-1955.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,205 ✭✭✭happyoutscan


    Conor Newman (NUIG and Chairman of the Heritage Council) and Joe Fenwick (NUIG) approached Tara and published Discovery Programme Reports 6 (2002). You should be able to pick it up easy enough though although there may be something more recent or soon to be, I'll get back on that one.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    Thanks for all the info people :) I do realise that it's a huge question and a can of worms but given that I know it's a site of national importance I only realised a few years ago upon a site visit that I knew nothing about the place at all.

    I'll read up and get back with more questions :) Grimes, thanks for the links and the PM :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,509 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    lidar images (wrent these in archeology ireland recently ?)

    lidar1.jpg

    lidar2.jpg

    from here

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


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 125 ✭✭Azelfafage


    My "Two-Ha-Pennny Worth" comment is this:

    In digging the ground near Tara we discover things never known before.

    And would never ever ever be known...without the digging machines.

    All praise be..........to the JCB.


    .

    .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,322 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    I find it hard to understand Tara, from birth we are told it is the most sacred site in Ireland, site of the high kings etc. but we seem to know nothing about it...is simply a normal populated area that survived the ravages of time?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 116 ✭✭Smartypantsdig


    I find it hard to understand Tara, from birth we are told it is the most sacred site in Ireland, site of the high kings etc. but we seem to know nothing about it...is simply a normal populated area that survived the ravages of time?

    We actually know a good lot about it. Read the publications listed above and also read Barry Raftery's Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,322 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    Where can we find out about any new information that has been uncovered since the motorway works began?
    I recall reading about various finds along the way but have heard nothing since.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,934 ✭✭✭robp


    There is some basic information on this page: http://www.m3motorway.ie/Publications/

    More detailed but not complete results of the M3 project were published in the NRA title 'Places Along the Way: first findings on the M3'.

    I wouldn't hold my breath for publication of the full results anytime soon, especially as the archaeological company involved has since disbanded.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,619 ✭✭✭fontanalis


    Has anyone heard of Tom O'Connor from Athenry? I was reading an online article (trying to find it) where he claimed that Turoe in Galway may have been as important as Tara. I also think he said it may have been established by a Belgae tribe.
    Here's a link to his website.
    http://www.handofhistory.com/


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