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Hill of Tara: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Stone of Destiny 2018-07-24.jpg|thumb|The Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) at the Hill of Tara, once used as a coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stone_of_Destiny_2018-07-24.jpg]</ref>]] | [[File:Stone of Destiny 2018-07-24.jpg|thumb|The Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) at the Hill of Tara, once used as a coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stone_of_Destiny_2018-07-24.jpg]</ref>]] | ||
The [[Hill of Tara]] (Irish: Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach) | The [[Hill of Tara]] (Irish: Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. Tara consists of numerous monuments and earthworks—dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age—including a passage tomb (the "Mound of the Hostages"), burial mounds, round enclosures, a standing stone (believed to be the [[Lia Fáil]] or "Stone of Destiny"), and a ceremonial avenue. There is also a church and graveyard on the hill. Tara forms part of a larger ancient landscape and Tara itself is a protected national monument under the care of the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Irish Government. | ||
The name Tara is an anglicization of the Irish name Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach ('hill of Tara'). It is also known as Teamhair na Rí ('Tara of the kings'), and formerly also Liathdruim ('the grey ridge').The Old Irish form is Temair. It is believed this comes from Proto-Celtic *Temris and means a 'sanctuary' or 'sacred space' cut off for ceremony, cognate with the Greek temenos (τέμενος) and Latin templum. Another suggestion is that it means "a height with a view". | The name Tara is an anglicization of the Irish name Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach ('hill of Tara'). It is also known as Teamhair na Rí ('Tara of the kings'), and formerly also Liathdruim ('the grey ridge').The Old Irish form is Temair. It is believed this comes from Proto-Celtic *Temris and means a 'sanctuary' or 'sacred space' cut off for ceremony, cognate with the Greek temenos (τέμενος) and Latin templum. Another suggestion is that it means "a height with a view". | ||
The Hill of Tara (Irish: Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach) | The Hill of Tara (Irish: Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. Tara consists of numerous monuments and earthworks—dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age—including a passage tomb (the "Mound of the Hostages"), burial mounds, round enclosures, a standing stone (believed to be the Lia Fáil or "Stone of Destiny"), and a ceremonial avenue. There is also a church and graveyard on the hill. Tara forms part of a larger ancient landscape and Tara itself is a protected national monument under the care of the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Irish Government. | ||
==Name== | ==Name== | ||
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==Significance== | ==Significance== | ||
By the beginning of Ireland's historical period, Tara had become the seat of a sacral kingship. Historian Dáibhí Ó Cróinín writes that Tara "possessed an aura that seemed to set it above" the other royal seats. It is recorded as the seat of the High King of Ireland (Ard Rí) and is "central to most of the great drama in early Irish literature". Various medieval king lists traced a line of High Kings far into the past. | By the beginning of Ireland's historical period, Tara had become the seat of a sacral kingship. Historian Dáibhí Ó Cróinín writes that Tara "possessed an aura that seemed to set it above" the other royal seats. It is recorded as the seat of the High King of Ireland (Ard Rí) and is "central to most of the great drama in early Irish literature". Various medieval king lists traced a line of High Kings far into the past. | ||