The five mainsliges[slees],
or roads, leading from Tara in five
different directions through
Ireland, will be found described in
chap. xxiv., sect. 1. Of these
portions of three are still
traceable on the hill. The modern
road traverses and covers for some
distance the sites of two of them,Slige
DalaandSlige
Midluachra, as seen on the plan:Slige
Asailstill
remains, and is sometimes turned to
use.
In one of the ancient poetical
accounts quoted byPetrie,
it is stated that the houses of the
general body of people who lived
near Tara were scattered on the
slope and over the plain east of the
hill.
In connexion with Tara, two other
great circular forts ought to be
mentioned. A mile south of Rath Righ
liesRath Maire, which is very
large—673 feet in diameter; it forms
a striking object as seen from the
hill, and is well worth examining.
It was erected, according to one
account, by Queen Maive (not Queen
Maive of Croghan), wife of Art the
solitary, the father ofKing
Cormac mac Art, which would fix
the period of its erection as the
beginning of the third century. The
other fort isRathmiles,
300 feet in diameter, lying one mile
north of the Banqueting-Hall: but
nothing is known of its history.
Skryne, or
Skreen as it is officially
known, is a small village
situated on and around a
hill. The hill is a
short distance west of Tara
and the area is sometimes
referred to as the Tara/Skryne
Valley. The Hill of
Skryne is actually higher
than its more famous
neighbour at Tara. One can
enjoy wonderful views of
each hill from the summit of
the other. In the 12th
century, Hugh de Lacy
granted the Barony of Skryne
to his finest knight, Adam
de Feipo. He subdivided
it and granted twenty of his
followers with land grants.
Today, eight centuries
later, one of those twenty
estates is still held by a
direct descendant of the
original grantee, that of
Dunsany.
The SIAC/Ferrovial
construction company,
Eurolink, resorted to
underhand tactics in the
early hours of Wednesday
morning July 4th when
they arrived at
Baronstown, reportedly,
at 4am with machines to
destroy the monument
there. This may very
well have been a
National Monument along
with the extraordinary
graveyard at
Collierstown.
The
recently dead are certainly
often
described as being among the
fairies, but the dead of the
ancient
tribes of Ireland are also
thought of as The Gentry.
John Boglin, for instance,
of Kilmessan, near Tara, who
was about sixty years when
he gave his evidence,
reported this of the fairy
tribes:
"There is said to be a whole
tribe of little red men
living in Glen
Odder, between Ringleston
and Tara; and in long
evenings in June they have
been heard. There are other
breeds or castes of fairies;
and it seems to me, when I
recall our ancient
traditions, that some of
these fairies are of the Fir
Bolgs, some of the Tuatha de
Danaan, and some of the
Milesians.
All of them have been seen
round the western slope of
Tara, dressed in ancient
Irish costumes. Unlike the
little red men,
these fairy races are
warlike and given to making
invasions."
Later on in giving his
evidence, John Boglin said:
The Fairies are the Dead -
'According to the local
belief, fairies
are
the spirits of the departed.
Tradition says that Hugh
O'Neil in the
sixteenth century, after his
march to the south, encamped
his army on
the Rath or Fort of
Ringlestown, to be assisted
by the spirits of
the
mighty dead who dwelt within
this rath. And it is
believed that
Gerald
Fitzgerald has been seen
coming out of the HillMollyellen, down inCounty Louth, leading his
horse and dressed in the old
Irish costume,
with heartplate, spear and
was outfit.'
ODDER
Meath -
TaraSkryneLandscapeConservationArea
plan
HERE
Blundelstown and Rathmiles
In connexion with Tara, two
other great circular forts
ought to be mentioned. A
mile south of Rath Righ liesRath
Maire,
which is very large—673 feet
in diameter; it forms a
striking object as seen from
the hill, and is well worth
examining. It was erected,
according to one account, by
Queen Maive (not Queen Maive
of Croghan), wife of Art the
solitary, the father ofKing
Cormac mac Art,
which would fix the period
of its erection as the
beginning of the third
century. The other fort isRathmiles,
300 feet in diameter, lying
one mile north of the
Banqueting-Hall: but nothing
is known of its history.