Tara, Co. Meath, Ireland
Tara, Co. Meath, Ireland [Si].A low hill on which lies an extensive series of later prehistoric, pre-Christian, and early Christian monuments and structures forming one of the royal seats of early Ireland. The earliest upstanding monument on the hilltop is the Neolithic passage grave known as the Duma na nGiall (the Mound of the Hostages). Built about 3000 BC, but reused in the earlier Bronze Age, it lies within an oval ditched enclosure, the Ráith na Ríg, some 300m by 250m, which also contains two conjoined ringforts, one a bivallate structure known as Forradh (the Royal Seat), the other a univallate example known as Cormac's House. A decorated stone known as the Lia Fail (the Stone of Destiny) now stands within the Forradh, although originally it stood on the Duma na nGiall. It was used in the inauguration of Irish kings from at least the 8th century ad, and was widely regarded as having magic powers.
Two small enclosures lie outside the Ráith...
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