Ancient Royal Temple Unearthed in Path of Ireland Highway
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Experts have discovered a major prehistoric site believed to have been an open-air royal temple during construction of a chief highway in Ireland, northwest of Dublin, near the Hill of Tara. The large circular enclosure is estimated to be at least 2,000 years old. An aerial view shows sections of the enclosure, partly covered by protective plastic tarps.
National Geographic News reports the enclosure is part of a prehistoric site that archaeologists believe may have been a temple associated with the nearby Hill of Tara.
The site is located 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) from the infamous Hill of Tara, once the seat of power of Ireland’s Celtic kings, and likely represents a ritual site, according to government archaeologists attached to the road project.
Among the artifacts discovered were a stone axe head, a pottery fragment, and an ornamental pin. An ancient buried dog was also excavated nearby.
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Archaeologists say the monument probably formed part of an important ceremonial complex centered on the Hill of Tara, where remains date back to the Stone Age.
Archaeologist Joe Fenwick of the National University of Ireland, Galway, describe the Hill of Tara as Ireland’s equivalent of Stonehenge or Egypt’s Pyramids. “It’s commonly recognized that this valley is part of Tara, which is the pre-eminent archaeological site of our nation.” he said.
The monument’s valley setting and the artifacts recovered so far suggest the enclosure was a ritual site rather than a human settlement, the NRA team said.
“Its low-lying position means you have no view once you’re inside the monument, so you wouldn’t have seen anyone approaching.” said Mary Deevy, NRA chief archaeologist. “This would be unusual for a prehistoric settlement. They are usually found on hilltops.”
Ceremonies and worship performed at these monuments may have been related to cosmology and royal inauguration, said National University’s Fenwick.
The site has yet to be precisely dated, but most experts believe it was in use some time after 1000 B.C. “No matter what date the monument turns out as, we’ll be able to link it to some phase of activity on the Hill of Tara,” NRA’s Deevy said.
“The chosen motorway route, unfortunately, goes right through the heart of this landscape,” Fenwick added.
NRA officials have declared the Lismullin site a national monument, but this does not ensure its protection. Legislation introduced in 2004 allows for national monuments to be “destroyed” if the environment minister considers such action “in the public interest.”
“A lot of people think that this is what’s going to happen,” Fenwick said.
The Irish government is currently considering its options. Reports suggest the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin is urging a complete archaeological investigation of the site.
Meanwhile, activists are questioning why the Lismullin monument wasn’t detected earlier, before the route was given the go-ahead, and are calling for the road to be rerouted.
Vincent Salafia of the nonprofit historic preservation group TaraWatch said the ancient enclosure is “without doubt a national monument of world significance. It would be a sin to demolish it.”
Fenwick, the National University archaeologist, said: “It’s not enough to reroute just around this particular site. People would argue that the motorway should be rerouted out of (what was) the royal domain of Tara altogether.”
The Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara — also known as Temair — has been an important site since the late Stone Age when a passage-tomb was constructed there. Tara was at the height of its power as a political and religious centre in the early centuries after Christ. It’s said that 142 kings have reigned there during prehistoric and historic times. Photo credit Heritage Ireland.
Mythical Ireland has an excellent article complete with incredible photos on the Hill of Tara.
Tara in Danger — Stop the M3 Motorway
A press conference by TaraWatch. The video provides details of the M3 Motorway that has been under construction, which the Irish Government elected to build beside the Hill of Tara, Meath, Ireland.
Some sound quality is poor, for which captions have been added.
Related Stories:
Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints Preserved by Laser Technology
King Herod’s Ancient Tomb Found
Gladiator’s Graveyard Discovered
“An ancient buried dog was also excavated”
Hmm. Strange that prehistoric humans would let dog meat go to waste. Maybe they preferred eating each other.
Thank you for covering the issue of Tara.
Find below a press release from the Campaign to Save Tara. Here is a link to an article on Indymedia: http://www.indymedia.ie/features
Here is a link to a Photobucket that contains the aerial photographs taken by Paula Geraghty for the Campaign to Save Tara. Also included are two aerial shots taken of a new site near Collierstown – these were taken by the Sunday World and have been given free of charge to the Campaign to use. If using Paula’s photographs please credit her.
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u167/muireanntemair/April%20aerial%20shots/
Also found at the end is a detailed release from the Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland
Muireann Nà Bhrolcháin 087-9249510
http://www.savetara.com
Campaign to Save Tara supports the Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland
The Campaign to Save Tara welcomes and supports the announcement of the Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland and their call to repeal the National Monument Act of 2004. Ireland had the best protection of heritage in Europe until Minister Cullen amended this act and effectively gave ministers the power to destroy National Monuments in order to facilitate the agenda of unbridled and unsustainable
development in the name of progress.
Archaeology must be taken back into the care of the state and away from the NRA and the private archaeological contracting companies that it employs. Dúchas, or a body of its kind, must be put in place with an independent voice for archaeology.
The practice of “preservation by record� is the order of the day and this is what faces the new National Monument at Lismullin. Why declare the appearance of a National Monument one week only to order its destruction the next? The Campaign to Save Tara asks that this site be fully investigated and then covered over and left in peace. The Campaign also asks that the whole area between it and Rath Lugh and its environs, including what used to be Lismullin Wood, be fully investigated by
independent archaeologists and not those associated with the NRA. The Campaign also demands that the full extent of the associated finds at Lismullin be given and published immediately by the NRA.
M. Nà Bhrolcháin said: “Tara is the line in the sand. If the Government are allowed to destroy Tara’s landscape then nowhere in Ireland is safe. The aerial shots taken by the Campaign clearly show that the whole Gabhra Valley is a monument and the road cannot be moved within it without destroying another possible National Monument. Sites such as Collierstown, Rowestown and Baronstown should also have been declared as National Monuments.�
Michael Canney said: “This new heritage protection alliance is absolutely necessary if we are to stop the increasing trend of seeing our heritage as a obstacle to progress; as some kind of inconvenience to a glorious concrete-covered future. The time has come, and the public are way ahead of the political classes in this regard, where we must
recognize environmental protection and economic development as a shared goal, because it is only through thoughtful management of our environmental and heritage resources, that future prosperity is guaranteed.”
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HERITAGE PROTECTION ALLIANCE of IRELAND
CHARTER May 2007
The Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland is being founded in May
2007 to seek the repeal of the National Monument Act of 2004. This
Act extended the powers of the Minister of the Environment, Heritage
and Local Government, to allow for the destruction of archaeological
remains. The alliance seeks a strong National Monuments Act which
would ensure that real protection is afforded to what remains of our
archaeological heritage.
To reply to the comment on the dog – they were considered sacred in early along with horses.
Place names and personal names are common with the Irish words for horse and dog used in them.
The Gabhra Valley – the site of the monument – translates as the Valley of the white mare. Gabhar was the Old Irish word for a mare.
Muireann, thank you for your very insightful and extremely interesting comment.
I was completely unaware of the relevance in the names.
[...] Stories: Ancient Royal Temple Unearthed in Path of Ireland Highway Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints Preserved by Laser Technology King Herod Ancient Tomb Found 2,700 [...]
[...] stories: Ancient Royal Temple Unearthed in Path of Ireland Highway Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints Preserved by Laser Technology King Herod Ancient Tomb Found 2,700 [...]
Wow! Wouldn’t it just be amazing to be able to dig up those things and to see how they lived during that time in person? I bet it is really amazing!
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Certainly, Andrew. As long as you link to this as the source, and do not copy the entire post word for word, as that creates duplicate content which SERP’s do not like.
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