Summer Solstice Celebrations at Tara Commence

by Shonna - www.witchgrove.org Thu Jun 21, 2007 06:49 silverdolffyn at yahoo dot com Las Vegas, Nevada, US

Beautiful! I wish I could be there to celebrate Tara's sacred heritage with others who feel the same this week. I am there in spirit to be sure.
And so from Las Vegas, I raise my glass to the hard working crew, musicians, bards, artists and those who have worked SO very hard to put this event together: Cheers and thank you for ALL of your hard work! Raising awareness for what is going on at Tara Hill is vital - and I have every hope that this will not only succeed but iwll help us tap back into one of the cores of what was at one time done AT Tara Hill by our very ancestors. May it be a blessed and beautiful event for all involved!
May it be peaceful!
May it be every bit a success!

by Niall Harnett - Shell to Sea. Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:24

Enjoy your midsummer festival, you've earned it after a long hard winter.

Sorry I can't be there, much respect and best wishes to ye all.

by cmk Thu Jun 21, 2007 18:13

Glad to see you're celebrating my birthday in a fitting manner :-)
Well done one and all. Save Tara and enjoy the festival.
(watch out for the ticks)

by Michael Martin - TaraWatch Mon Jun 25, 2007 18:58 Wicklowwolf at yahoo dot com

I was up on the Hill for the full five days of Solstice celebrations. The whole event was a total wash-out, but in spite of this we had great fun. A big thank you to the Shell to Sea supporters from Cork who agreed to host the TaraWatch events in their massive tent. Our own little gazebo soon became a casualty of the heavy rain. A big thank you also to J.P., a local man and campaigner for the preservation of our heritage. Thanks to J.P.'s help we were able to get hot meals and the much needed cups of tea to brace the elements for 5 long days. A big thank y ou also to the various performers who participated in the events, and to the litter patrol, a group of volunteers who made sure that we left the Hill litter free and that discarded cans and bottles did not end up in landfill sites, but in the local recycle banks.
Thank you to everybody who came to the Hill over the last few days as visitor or participant/organizer of events. We had a fantastic atmosphere up there in spite of the non-stop rain we endured, and I sincerely hope we'll get the same people together for the upcoming Lunasa celebrations

by dee Tue Jun 26, 2007 00:36

Oh no, here we go once again

M3 crisis as another historic find is made in the Skryne valley

Mail on Sunday
24 June 2007

By Scott Millar and Tom Prendeville

GREEN PARTY environment minister John Gormley was last night plunged
into an even deeper crisis with news of fresh archaeological finds on
the controversial M3 motorway and the arrival of more than 250
protestors.

The National Roads Authority dismissed the latest finds, just 80 meters
from the National Monument at Lismullen, as 'not unique' but activists
insist they should be protected as national monuments.

Campaigners are staging a sit-down at the site, which is close to the
Hill of Tara, and the issue looks set to be a flashpoint in a battle to
save an invaluable slice of Ireland's heritage against the ongoing
redevelopment of the countryside.

On the first day of taking office, Mr Gormley was locked in a row with
his Fianna Fail partners over how to deal with outgoing environment
minister Dick Roche's decision to sign off on the Lismullin Henge site,
which sits near the middle of ongling road works, for demolition to
make way for the stretch of Navan to Dublin motorway.

Many Green supporters were given the impression the party was in favour
of re-routing the M3 away from the Lismullin Henge site.

They have become increasingly outraged at Mr Gormley's handling of the
issue and his subsequent claim that there is nothing he can do to
reverse Mr Roche's decision.

Before going into power with Fianna Fail, the Green Party had been a
vocal opponent of the M3 route. In late 2006, the Save Tara campaign
said it had a pledge from the Green Party to re-route the M3 motorway
if they ever made it into power.

The party's U-turn looks set to destroy Mr Gormley's hopes of replacing
Trevor Sargent in the party's leadership election.

Meanwhile Vincent Salafia, of the TaraWatch conservation group, said
activists will ensure Mr Gormley will not be able to avoid
responsibility for the newly discovered site.

"John Gormley can't avoid this one,' he said. 'He has to become the
minister proper now and must take it on board. There is evidence this
could be a national monument and all work should cease until there is a
full determination."

According to TaraWatch, the remains consist of two stone 'souterrains',
or underground structures, 10 metres apart, about 80 metres north-west
of the henge at Lismullen. They could have been used for storage areas
or for burials.

The group said they learned of the site while inspecting excavations on
Firday, after archaeologists went home and left the area ungaurded.

The National Roads Authority had previously noted the site but Mr
Salafia claims that when he contacted the museum they were unaware of
its full extent.

A government spokesman, however, played down the importance of the
find. "My understanding is that this was already up on the National
Roads Authority web site for a couple of months, he said.

'This site is not prehistoric and has not been designated a national
monument by the national museum or the department, which has been aware
of it for some time.

A spokesman for the NRA agreed, saying the site was 'not a unique
feature'. Whatever the site's importance, the M3 issue is likely to
continue to dominate Mr Gormley's new portfolio, especially as the
Programme for Government agreed between Fianna Fail and the Greens made
no mention of changing the motorway's route in order to avoid the
historic sites around Tara.

==

Ray of Sunlight shines on disillusioned Tara protestors

Sunday Tribune
24 June 2007

Campaigners from all over the world have come to Tara for a four-day
solstice festival at the endangered heritage site.

Isobel Hayes

FOR the long-suffering protestors at the Hill of Tara, it was a moment
of pure magic. AMidst the heavy clouds and pouring rain on Thursday,
the longest day of the year, the sun made a brief but dazzling
appearance at sunrise.

"It came out for just 40 seconds or so before it went back behind the
clouds," said Maggie Jay, who travelled from London to attend the
four-day festival at the heritage site. "But it was a lovely moment, a
bit like an omen."

At Tara, protestors need every bit of good luck they can find. Since it
emerged that outgoing environment minister Dick Roche signed an order
for the M3 motorway to proceed as planned through the site and that new
minister John Gormley can apparently do nothing to prevent it, the mood
on the site has been one of disillusionment.

"When we heard the news, it was actually like a punch in the stomach,"
said Laura Grealish of the TaraWatch campaign."

"We couldn't belive it, especially since we were so hopeful when the
Greens went into government. They sold us out."

For two full days, there was a sense of hopelessness among protestors,
she added.

"But now we're restarting the campaign, stronger than ever. It looks
like it's going to end up in court, but we're here for the long haul."

The four-day festival, timed to celebrate the solstice as well as the
decision of the World Monuments Fund to place Tara on its list of the
world's 100 most endangered sites, is just part of this campaign. Bands
and poets are performing over the weekend and revellers have come from
all around the world to take part.

"I think it's an absolute shame what's going on here," said Nicky
Kenning from Devon. "It's hard to belive that a great big motorway
could be going through all this soon. The government must be mad."

Even the torrential rain has failed to dampen people's spirits.
Revellers are gethered all around the hill, some with their bare feet
wallowing in the mud, others dressed in more practical macintoshes. In
every group, a similar conversation is taking place - how beautiful
Tara is and how terrible it will be if the M3 goes ahead.

From a teepee in the woods comes the rythmic sound of a bodhran being
played. Inside, Niamh Ni Dhionsaigh from Cork is gaurding the Tara
fire.

"This fire has been burning for a year and a day and the flame has
never gone out," she explained. "At one stage, we had to move it
because it was damaging some of the ground, but it was taken up and
moved here and it was never extinguished."

Up to five people camp by the fire at one time. The material of the
teepee was donated by the Rossport protestors.

"Someone always stays awake to make sure it never goes out. It kind of
gaurds us," said Ni Dhinsaigh, who arrived for three days a year ago
and staye for none weeks. "They can't move us."

The rain pouring down is good news for many protestors - it means work
on the M3 has had to be halted until the weather improves. For the
musicians playing on the hill however, it is less heartening.

Jon Griffin and Becca Tann from Brighton, who make up Twenty-One Crows,
have had to pack their instruments away temporarily because of high
wind.

"What's going on here is a dsigrace," said Griffin. "We're so glad we
were able to come over and lend our support."

On Monday the festival-goers will descend on Dublin to protest outside
the department of the environment.

"We think John Gormley can over-ride Roche's orders," said Grealish.
"We're going down to remind him that we're not going anywhere.

INSET:

Archaeologists find 'spectacular' souterrains

ANOTHER potential national monument has been discovered in the Tara
heritage site by archaeologists working for the National Roads
Authority, the TaraWatch campaign said yesterday.

Two stone souterrains, or underground structures, were uncovered
approximately ten metres apart close to the newly discovered stonehenge
in Lismullin, which was declared a national monument by the former
Minister for the Envrionment, Dick Roche.

It is possible that many more underground chambers and passages dating
back to the Iron Age may be uncovered, as the area is being excavated
for the first time.

"This is a spectacular underground complex of chambers and connecting
passages with very high-quality stone-work," said Laura Grealish of the
TaraWatch campaign, who will now be gaurding the area while reports are
made to the National Museum and the new environment minister, John
Gormley.

Before leaving office, minister Roche said a "material change in
circumstances" would be required to reroute the M3 motorway, which is
due to go through the heritage site. TaraWatch campaigners now hope
this find will be substantial enough to have the road re-routed.

"We are reporting this discovery to the minister and the National
museum this morning," campaigner Vincent Salafia said yesterday. "We
want to know if the National Roads Authority repored the discovery to
the minister or the museum and if not, why not?" The NRA said yesterday
that the find was not a unique feature.

WRITE TO letters@tribune.ie

by Sean O'Sullivan - Trim Tue Jun 26, 2007 01:10

Dee,

This is NOTa new find. Photographs of this souterrain have been on the Web since end of May.
Take a look at the Photobucket page on SaveTara.com. They have Pics of this taken at the end of May.
Wallace made mention to this and Roche was aware of this when he signed the Directions on 12th. June.

by Michael Martin - TaraWatch Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:02 Wicklowwolf at yahoo dot com

Yes, one souterain was discovered in May (or maybe even April?). But we are talking about new structures nearby which have been discovered only last week.