Monuments Watch begins at Lismullen/Rath Lugh
national |
history and heritage |
news report 
Monday May 28, 2007 16:44
by TaraWatch
info at tarawatch dot org
087-972-8603
This weekend TaraWatch began its Monuments Watch program, designed to provide 24 hour surveilance of thw two recognised national monuments under threat from the M3 motorway
TaraWatch is stting up a permanent presence close to the national monuments of Rath Lugh and Lismullen, designed to protect them from illegal construction works. Volunteers are needed.
As part of Monuments Watch, some of us did a field walk on Sunday 27 May along the pathway of the motorway from Roestown, just north of Dunshaughlin, to Collierstown, beside the Tara post office, in the Tara/Skryne Valley. Roestown was the site of an underground souterrain complex, which was excavated and dismantled by the NRA just before Saint Patrick's Day http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81529 Collierstown was an important burial site, as many of the sites appear to be
We encountered a number of archaeological sites, which have been fully excavated. About 50% of the route of the motorway has had the topsoil cleared. On one part, close to Collierstown, we saw what appears to be a 19th drainage ditch cutting across the path of the M3. It is about 24 inches wide and deep, made of indigenous rocks. There are two images below showing the cracks in the surface revealing the drain. This appears to be what the media are reporting today to be 'significant underground remains'.
All 38 sites in between Navan and Dunshaughlin have been fully excavated, except for the new discovery at Lismullen and the part of Rath Lugh that was cleared in early January. These are the two sites TaraWatch is focusing on, and which may form the basis of a new legal challenge.
Please help us prevent this site going the way of Roestown, and other fully intact sites, due to lack of monitoring and resistance.
For more images see blog at http://www.myspace.com/hilloftara
To join the Monuments Watch call Laura at 087-972-8603
Significant underground remains, or insignificant underground drain?
Comments (9 of 9)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9We received a call that diggers are on the move again at Tara, and that Collierstown has been filled in. They are working their way north through the valley and are in the proximity of Baronstown and Lismullen. For more information please call 087-276-4079
Please go to Tara now and bring supplies. This is a real emergency.
Diggers and dump trucks clearing topsoil and filling in monument remains
Part of a massive enclosure near Trevit that is under threat today
A connecting trench to the large enclosure
End of above trench
A trail of destruction if ever there was one
It's well for those that can protest. Time and money no object. Coverage on the web. Never mind the local yokel taxpayers like me.
Spare a thought for us drivers who want a new road to replace the old one (the poor auld N3 road that was not resited by anyone because it ran near Tara - not even by Dev himself). Tara was let fall down for a reason....
Here are the bus schedules for Dublin - Hill of Tara trip
Buses leave from Busaras bus station on the north side of Dublin at least every hour and cost approximately 10 euros round trip.
Get off at the Tara na Ri Pub/Garlow Cross and call 087-972-8603 Please bring food and camping supplys
Bus services from other locations can be found at: http://www.buseireann.ie
Location of Busaras bus station on north side of Dublin
Archaeological works are taking place today at Lismullen henge, the newly discovered national monument in the pathway of the M3 motorway, in the Tara-Skryne Valley. In particular, archaeologists are removing the remains of a massive dog, which appears to be an Irish Wolfhound, found fully intact in the vicinity of the enclosure.
Up to a dozen archaeolgists were recorded working on the Lismullen site today by TaraWatch monitors, who are stationed nearby on a 24-hour basis.
TaraWatch is engaged in a Monuments Watch program of round-the-clock monitoring, while other members are taking legal advice. These works appear to be in violation of the order given by Minister Roche, as well as the National Monuments Act, section 14, which requires that all work cease when a national monument is discovered during the course of roadbuilding, until the Minister gives new Diredctions.
Reports are being made reguarly to World Monuments Watch, http://www.wmf.org the New York based heritage organsiation that is currently considering TaraWatch's nomination of the Hill of Tara to the List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, published every two years. A decision is expected in early June, and funding could be made available for a legal challenge to protect the site, if successful.
Supplies are being sent toour new location from different parts of Ireland and abroad and can be delivered to a local address. If you want to send something, please email us at info@tarawatch.org
In addition, we are actively planning our Summer Solstice Celebration on Tara. Poets and musicians are needed, as are volunteers to asist with events. For more information please visit: http://www.myspace.com/summersolsticetara
Summer Solstice Celebration on Tara - June 20-24
I would have thought that obvious, Mr Roche would be failing in his duty to his backers
and mateys if everything was not done by the book. In order for the site to be covered or demolished
full record has to be taken and put in a dusty drawer somewhere.I believe the term is 'recording'.
then all knowledge gleaned is put in a museum and we have a lovely big military road laid down
for the U.S, they did it to other cultures too, before they were decimated by war. I am sure there were
some beautiful places in Iraq, now they bomb the highways that their money helped build.The people
who have facilitated Irish cultural decimation should not be afraid to witness the work of the
archaeologists, they are only doing their job and the war machine is already in Ireland. now everyone
can look at Holywood trash like and get really coked and bemoan the destruction which they openly
facilitated through their own greed. Have a really good look, you are witnessing preparation for war and
destruction in your own country , compounded by those who desire to be like the US. How many tatty
dyed blonde posters of little starlets are the noble women in burkas subjected to when their culture
was destroyed ?and was Tarawatch defending their rights like say the 'Shannon Five' did?
Its not all about reserving Insular Irish interests, you fight for everyone or you give up. All that is
left for Tarawatch is to witness or resist.
Hi ?,
Have you heard the rumor that the Irish government war bunker is undergroud near Tara, under the Colomban College in Dalgan Park, and that is why the raod is being built where it is?
The Tara issue has been on the cards since 1999, and some of it is documented by a new book by Conor Newman, of NUI Galway. Various milestones have come and gone. The Environment Committee did a full investigation, which offered hope to many...but then failed to even make a report. A High Court action failed. And now the election result offers little reprieve. More legal wheels might turn, but clearly it is reaching a critical point. Comparing the Tara and Shell campaigns is misleadingly easy. WIth Shell there is a recognisable enemy, with a global track record. At Tara we have SIAC Contruction or Eurolink Consortium...not quite as attractive an adversary for those gunning to hurt global capitalism. In Mayo we had a handful of landowners fight a pipe through their land. None of the landwoners at Tara felt the same, as the road does not lessen the value or safety of their land, but increases the value of land dramatically. Both issues are now well known and watched world wide. One thing I will say is that the Shell campaign has attracted many of the people that would otherwise have gone to fight at Tara. But in terms of commitment, there are many Tara campaigners willing to go to extremes, when it is time...and that time is fast approaching. For those people who want to get directly involved, they can sign the Tara Protection Pledge anonymously http://www.petitiononline.com/tara101/petition.html
In Mayo we had a handful of landowners fight a pipe through their land. None of the landwoners at Tara felt the same, as the road does not lessen the value or safety of their land, but increases the value of land dramatically.......
FARMERS ARE OPPOSED to the road,some see fit to stand infront of machinery.The road devides their farms ,cuts off access to their amimals, has ruined their grazing for the summer and will destroy their lifestyle.The land was cpo`d and as of yet 80 per cent of farmers have not been paid anything.
Tara - SOS
Bad news from Tara - the NRA are working on Soldiers Hill and other
parts of the valley all at once.
If you can, please go to Tara today. Call 087-972-8603 for more info...
Tara protesters claim injunction threat
Gillian Hamill
Irish Times
Friday, June 1, 2007
TaraWatch campaigners protesting against the construction of the M3 motorway in Co Meath say an official from construction company SIAC yesterday informed them a High Court injunction would be sought against them.
However, a spokesperson for Eurolink, the consortium which comprises SIAC Construction Ltd, has denied it is seeking an injunction against protesters and said it would only consider doing so as "a last resort".
But demonstrators at sites such as Soldier's Hill, Baronstown, Collierstown and Lismullin, are concerned that "SIAC are rushing to fill in archaeological sites before the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government makes his decision on whether to reroute the M3."
TaraWatch member Laura Grealish called for an independent archaeological assessment of the sites as she believes many fulfil similar criteria to the one the NRA recently classified as a national monument at Lismullin.
However, Mary Deevy, archaeologist for the National Roads Authority (NRA), responded: "Lismullin is a unique site . . . claims have been made that other sites deserve the same archaeological status but no evidence has been produced to support these claims to either us or the Department of Environment. Our work is open to public scrutiny at www.m3motorway.ie."
Meanwhile, a group of approximately 15 protesters, consisting of members of TaraWatch, the Campaign to Save Tara and other individuals, continue their protest. As one conservationist, Debbie Reilly, said: "Not only will Tara's landscape be destroyed but more recent history will disappear under concrete."
Eurolink has said it recognises the right to protest lawfully, but construction workers also have the right to go about their work without interference.
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