Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [473]
During a digging session in the graveyard in 1810, a boy found a pair of gold torcs (crescents of beaten gold hung around the neck), which are now in the National Museum in Dublin. Later excavations discovered Roman glass, shards of pottery and seals, showing links with the Roman Empire even though the Romans never extended their power into Ireland.
The poor state of the enclosure is due in part to a group of British ‘Israelites’ who in the 1890s dug the place up looking for the Ark of the Covenant, much to the consternation of the local people. The Israelites’ leader claimed to see a mysterious pillar on the enclosure that was unfortunately invisible to everyone else. After they failed to uncover anything, the invisible pillar moved to the other side of the road; before the adventurers had time to start work there, however, the locals chased them away.
ROYAL ENCLOSURE
To the south of the church, the Royal Enclosure is a large, oval Iron Age hill fort, 315m in diameter and surrounded by a bank and ditch cut through solid rock under the soil. Inside the Royal Enclosure are several smaller sites.
Mound of the Hostages
This bump in the northern corner of the enclosure is the most ancient known part of Tara and the most visible of its remains. Supposedly a prison cell for hostages of the 3rd-century king Cormac MacArt, it is in fact a small Stone Age passage grave dating from around 1800 BC that was later used by Bronze Age people. The passage contains some carved stonework, but is closed to the public.
The mound produced a treasure trove of artefacts, including some ancient Mediterranean beads of amber and faience (glazed pottery). More than 35 Bronze Age burials were found here, as well as a mass of cremated remains from the Stone Age.
Cormac’s House & the Royal Seat
Two other earthworks found inside the enclosure are Cormac’s House and the Royal Seat. Although they look similar, the Royal Seat is a ring fort with a house site in the centre, while Cormac’s House is a barrow (burial mound) in the side of the circular bank. Cormac’s House commands the best views of the surrounding lowlands of the Boyne and Blackwater Valleys.
Atop Cormac’s House is the phallic Stone of Destiny, originally located near the Mound of the Hostages, which represents the joining of the gods of the earth and the heavens. It’s said to be the inauguration stone of the high kings, although alternative sources suggest that the actual coronation stone was the Stone of Scone, which was removed to Edinburgh, Scotland, and used to crown British kings. The would-be king stood on top of the Stone of Destiny and, if the stone let out three roars, he was crowned. The mass grave of 37 men who died in a skirmish on Tara during the 1798 Rising is next to the stone.
ENCLOSURE OF KING LAOGHAIRE
South of the Royal Enclosure is the Enclosure of King Laoghaire, a large but worn ring fort where the king, a contemporary of St Patrick, is supposedly buried standing upright and dressed in his armour.
BANQUET HALL
North of the churchyard is Tara’s most unusual feature, the Banquet Hall. This rectangular earthwork measures 230m by 27m along a north-south axis. Tradition holds that it was built to cater for thousands of guests during feasts. Much of this information comes from the 12th-century Book of Leinster and the Yellow Book of Lecan, which even includes drawings of the hall.
Opinions vary as to the site’s real purpose. Its orientation suggests that it was a sunken entrance to Tara, leading directly to the Royal Enclosure. More recent research, however, has uncovered graves within the compound, and it’s possible that the banks are in fact the burial sites of some of the kings of Tara.
GRáINNE’S FORT
Gráinne was the daughter of King Cormac. Betrothed to Fionn McCumhaill (Finn McCool), she eloped with Diarmuid, one of the king’s warriors, on her wedding