Ireland's leading folklorist, Dáithí
Ó Hógáin and British
heritage campaigner among Feis Tara Skryne
guest speakers at the RSAI
This Thursday
29 July, Feis Tara Skryne, celebrating Lughnasad,
will take place in the Royal Society of
Antiquaries, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin,
from 10 am to 4 pm. It is free and open
to the public.
Feis Tara Skryne
will highlight the importance of the Hill
of Tara and give details of the M3 motorway
plans. Excavations are set to begin at the
end of summer, and time is running out.
Lughnasad (Aug
1) is one of the four Celtic Festivals and
means the Festival of Lug who is closely
associated with Tara in some literary sources.
It is a fertility Festival celebrating the
harvest and it is still celebrated in some
parts of the country as Bilberry/ Blackberry
Sunday in Christianised form.
Daithi O hOgain,
Associate Professor of Folklore at University
College Dublin, has written an Affidavit
for an application for an Interlocutory
Injunction to prevent the M3 toll road passing
so close to the Hill of Tara archaeological
complex. He will give a talk entitled 'Strangers
at Tara', which will recount the many 'foreigners'
or 'outsiders' who have made Tara their
home, and may be buried near there.
Campaign Coordinator,
George Chaplin, of Heritage Action - UK
and Ireland will highlight the destructive
quarrying at the internationally
important henge landscape at the Neolithic
archaeological complex at Thornborough,
North Yorkshire.
Mr Chaplin
said: "Here in Britain and Ireland
we have some of the most powerful landscapes
on earth, filled with the marks and monuments
of our ancient ancestors. Yet daily they
are being destroyed by our modern world.
"Thornborough
is the focal point of Britain's largest
and least known 5,000 year old henge complex.
It was Britain's first religious capital.
The ritual landscape around Thornborough,
which includes the settlements and burials
of those that visited the henges is being
destroyed for plain old sand and gravel."
Mr Vincent
Salafia, Public Relations Officer for Save
Tara Skryne Valley Group said: "Feis
Tara will highlight both the native and
international concern over the destruction
of the Hill of Tara. With roughly a month
to go before excavations commence, the campaign
to save it is getting set to escalate dramatically.
Dr Muireannn
Ni Bhrolchain, Spokesperson, said: We
have tried to garner political support,
but most politicians are not representing
the national public opinion, which is strongly
against this outrageous plan."
ROYAL
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND
63 Merrion Square,
Dublin |
| Thursday 29 JULY 2004 |
'FEIS TARA SKRYNE' |
Programme |
|
Dr MARK CLINTON, An
Taisce |
Chair |
| 10.10-10.30 |
Dr MUIREANN NM BHROLCHAIN,
Medieval Studies, NUI Maynooth |
'Introduction to Tara' |
| 10.30-11.30 |
VINCENT SALAFIA,
Brehon Law Project |
'The National Monument
at Tara' |
| 11.00-11.30 |
Break |
|
| 11.30-12.00 |
CON CONNORS,
Druidschool |
'Spirituality and
Tara' |
| 12.00-12.45 |
Dáithí
Ó Hógáin,
Dept Folklore, UCD. |
'Strangers at Tara' |
|
Lunch Break |
|
| 14.00 -14.45 |
DR ANN CONNON |
'The Queens of Tara' |
| 14.45-15.30 |
GEORGE CHAPLIN,
Heritage Action, UK |
'The Thornborough
Archaeological Complex' |
|
Admission free |
|
Contact: Vincent
Salafia, PRO 087-132-3365 or Muireann Ni
Bhrolchain 087-924-9510
See: http://www.taraskryne.org
and http://www.heritageaction.org
|
