Preserving Sacred Sites in Ireland - Tara Skryne Preservation Group

The Lia Fáil (aka Stone of Destiny) atop the Hill of Tara,
County Meath, Ireland. Photo © Sean Gilmartin

Many of those involved in the struggle to stop the M3 Motorway are now involved in the Tara Skryne Preservation Group (TSPG), and are working to protect the sites that remain.

We are an allied group of local and non-local stakeholders and concerned citizens who wish to improve the Tara Skryne Landscape after the destruction wrought by the M3 Motorway through this most Sacred, Mythical, and Historical Valley of Ireland.

We are a volunteer, non politically affiliated organisation comprised of members of various groups who stood against the route of the M3 Motorway through the Tara Skryne Valley. Now that the Motorway has opened we stand together to demand the preservation of what remains of the Tara Skryne Valley ie. its protection against further inapproriate development as well as greater protection for our National Monuments and sacred places countrywide.

TPSG members are also involved in planning and coordinating the 2010 Sacred Fires event, and the UNESCO petition for World Heritage Status. You can check out their website and connect with them on Facebook.

In February 2010 - Imbolc - TSPG volunteers reconstructed the Inner Circle of the ancient Lismullin Henge. The M3 motorway bulldozed through this ancient site in the Tara-Skryne Valley.

While many are familiar with henges of stone, such as Stonehenge in England, many other sacred sites were surrounded with a circle of wooden poles which marked astronomical events, such as the place where the sun or moon would rise on a solstice or equinox. These sites have sometimes been forgotten until modern archaeology turns up the evidence of poles in the ground. As discussed in the video, the government knew they were destroying an irreplaceable sacred site when they bulldozed through. What does it do to the land, and the people, to now have cars and trucks speeding through the ceremonial enclosure?





View the video of the Lismullin Reconstruction

Samhain at Tara 2007 - 2010

Samhain on the Hill of Tara, 2007
photo courtesy tarataratara.net
Many of you reading this have been involved in the struggle to preserve the Tara-Skryne Valley from destruction. While some of the sacred sites in the valley have been irreparably damaged by construction of the superhighway, the struggle continues to preserve the rest of the valley from development. Earth-honoring peoples in Ireland and the diaspora are also working to preserve the ceremonial centers that remain, and to re-establish the old customs and rites that our ancestors observed at these sacred sites.

Many of you also participated in the 2007 Samhain event where we re-established the old custom of lighting the signal fires on Tlachtga, Tara, and the surrounding hills. Want to do it again?

The ritual we did in 2007:

I Stand With Tara

A Celtic Reconstructionist (Págánacht) ritual
for the protection of the sacred center:
the Tara-Skryne Valley in Ireland.

The night of Oct. 31 (Samhain) 2007

Worldwide
You can contact the usual suspects to co-ordinate participation this year. Join us on the Sábháil Teamhair (Save Tara) list for updates, and we hope to see you on Samhain, whether in person or in spirit.

People and groups who participated in 2007
(Twelve countries, twenty-two US states, and twenty areas of Ireland.)

Additional areas where the ceremonial fires were lit, that we heard about after the fact, include:
*Countries: England, Portugal, Saudi Arabia
*US States: Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri

Tara Symposium - Live Stream

Ask the speakers a question
Facilities are available to overseas listeners to ask question via the symposium email address tara.symposium@ucd.ie. As the programme is compact, only a small proportion of questions will be relayed to the symposium auditorium.

Symposium Live Schedule
The Syposium will be streamed live from the venue at approximately these times. Absolute timing may vary.

* Friday 7:30-9:00pm
* Saturday 9:00-11:00am; 11:30-1:30pm; 2:30-4:00pm & 4:30-6:00pm
* Sunday 9:00-11:00am; 11:30-12:00pm; 12:30-1:30pm; 2:30-4:00 pm & 4:30-6:00pm
* Monday 9:00-11:00am; 11:30-1:30pm; 2:30-4:00pm & 4:30-6:30pm

(Note - Times are for Dublin)

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New Tara Petition - Taking it to the U.N.

If you signed months or years ago, this is a new petition.

It's not over yet. There has been irreparable damage to sacred sites in the Tara-Skryne valley (notably Rath Gabhra / Rath Lugh). However, it can get worse. If we don't stop this, it will get much, much worse. If the motorway is finished, the corporations will then push to further develop the valley, placing strip malls and petrol stations atop the graves of our ancestors, bulldozing and paving over the land where they once prayed, and where we pray now.

As a comparison for Americans, this is much like the problems at Bear Butte (Nóávóse / Mato Paha) - this sacred, historical site should be preserved as the beautiful, powerful place it was for our ancestors, and should be for our descendants. Ceremonial people, and respectful spiritual people in general, should be able to spend time on the hill in peace, not be disrupted by cars and lights and urban sprawl. Please sign the petition, spread the word, and do what you can. Go raibh maith agaibh / Thank you.

Read and Sign the Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/UN-Must-Save-Tara
Extensive updates and links from TaraWatch: http://www.tarawatch.org/new-save-tara-petition-to-the-united-nations-goal-of-1000000-signatures
Tara symposium - University College Dublin, School of Archaeology (23rd-26th October 2009): http://www.ucd.ie/archaeology/tarasymposium2009/
TaraWatch Details on Symposium: http://www.tarawatch.org/tara-symposium-university-college-dublin-school-of-archaeology-23rd-26th-october-2009
Alternative plan for Tara: http://www.meathmasterplan.com/

There is also a need for more letter writing to various officials and government bodies, more than I can cover in one post. Check out the main page on TaraWatch for multiple posts on how to help out. Go raibh maith agaibh! Tara Abu!

Tara: Voices from Our Past

A short film that examines some of the lesser-known earthworks in the complex surrounding the main site, and compares the stonecarvings in the Mound of the Hostages to the map of the area. Includes footage from one of the vigil camps.

Brilliance and Bravery at Rath Lugh

As bulldozers and chainsaws cut into the forest and hill of Rath Lugh - one of a number of ancient tombs and holy wells in peril due to the road work in the Tara-Skryne Valley - protesters have announced that they have dug tunnels under the proposed roadway, and are willing to risk their lives in defense of the land.

For months now our brave pixies have been digging in secret, carrying out buckets of earth under cover of night. They have stocked the tunnels with food and supplies, and are digging in for at least a three month stay.

The soil around Rath Lugh is loose stone and esker. If the road crew attempt to drive their heavy machinery over the land, the tunnels will collapse. One of the women, interviewed in the video below, explains that if the gardaí attempt to enter the tunnel, she will lock herself to the jack holding up the roof. If they then attempt to pull her out, the tunnel will most likely collapse on them all. The question is, will those who are pushing this illegal roadway through, despite the protection orders and 80 percent public disapproval in Ireland alone, have the guts to refuse to harm these human shields, or are they going to have more Rachel Corries on their heads?

Interview from within Rath Lugh Tunnel

Download slightly longer version of this video.

Video of protesters facing down a bulldozer, with a tiny bit of tunnel footage.

Even if the road-builders don't care about killing protesters, falling into a pit is probably going to damage the hell out of their precious machines.

I suggest that instead the Cabinet look to the alternative plan proposed by Brian Guckian and Tadhg Crowley, which would take the money earmarked for the illegal roadway and use it to revitalize the local rail sytem, widen the existing roads rather than build new ones, and fund local business and eco-friendly building solutions. It stands in stark contrast to the M3 plan, as the Guckian/Crowley proposal is the only one that takes a long-term view of the future and the realities of the Peak Oil and Global Warming situation: Sustainable Development Plan for Meath

More info on the protesters defending the earth from within the earth:

M3 motorway protesters claim to have entered tunnel under road
M3 Protesters warn Gardaí: Tunnel "Will collapse"
Tara protesters in for long haul

After viewing the video from inside the tunnels, you can see that what they could probably use besides money for supplies are things like wind up flashlights and radios, books to read, and other things that will help the folks in the tunnels and at the support camps. We have used this address and packages are getting out to the camp:

Tara Solidarity Vigil
PO Box 30,
Navan,
Co. Meath,
Ireland

If you can get to Rath Lugh, now is the time to go.

For more on the encampment at Rath Lugh, including current phone numbers and directions, visit http://www.tarapixie.net/, and watch for action updates on Irish Indymedia and the Sábháil Teamhair (Save Tara) and Hill of Tara YahooGroups.

Pictures and Report from Samhain on the Hill of Tara

Organizers of the Samhain bonfires in Ireland have posted a report and pictures from the ceremony on the Hill of Tara.


Re-lighting the Sacred Fire on the Hill of Tara
Those we've heard from who were at the main fire have said they could really feel the energy, the love and protection coming to them from all over the world. *does happy dance*

Groups and individuals in fourteen countries, nineteen areas of Ireland, and twenty-one US states participated.

* Countries: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, England, New Zealand and Venezuela, Canada and the United States

* Areas of Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Cork, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and West Meath

* US States: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington

These are the areas we know of. We're still hearing about more participants who have only contacted us after the fact. The oldest participant we know of was one officiant who is eighty, the youngest an infant in his mother's arms. All joined in Gaelic Polytheist ritual to protect Tara.

I Stand with Tara - Samhain Ritual

On Samhain night, Oct. 31 2007, people all over the world will be uniting in a ritual to help protect and preserve one of the most sacred sites in Ireland, and indeed the world: The Hill of Tara and the surrounding Skryne Valley, in County Meath, Ireland.

As many of you know, the site is still threatened with destruction. We are working together with activists in Ireland to help stop this, both with this-world activism and with a ritual we've written to help support the activists spiritually.

In the time of our ancestors, Tara was the center of a ritual complex, where signal fires were lit to mark the holy day, and whose light spread out from hilltop to hilltop across the land. Now, the center has been neglected, so much so that some think it is no matter to desecrate it. So we meet on Samhain to add our energy and prayers to revitalise and resacralise Tara.

In the past, the signal and sacred flames were taken from Tara; but on Samhain we will all unite to send the power and blessings back to Tara, to rebuild the source. We will light our individual fires on hilltops and in fields, and in homes around the world. We will have people climbing the surrounding hills all across Ireland, and in many countries the world around. We will unite our flames with the center. We will unite to protect Tara.

Read more at http://www.paganachd.com/tara

At the end of the pre-ritual briefing we've posted information on how to help physically - by writing letters, sending money, calling with moral support, or going and standing in front of bulldozers. Our other offering is this ritual, which I wrote together with my friend and colleague, Raven nic Rhóisín, after we both got some heavy requests from the spirits.

Note - I will be adding more graphics and smoothing out the visuals of the site a bit more in the coming days, but all the info should be there. We welcome your feedback! If you plan on participating in the ritual, please consider letting us know. We may be posting a list of participants on the site. If you write us, let us know how you'd like to be named. We suggest using one of the formats in the ritual, explained in under the "Introduce yourself (threefold) and Lighting the Signal Fires For Tara" instructions on the pre-ritual briefing page (http://www.paganachd.com/tara/pre-ritual.html).

cross-posted to a handful of other places. feel free to re-post this message and link to the ritual on the website.

The Hill of Tara - Samhain

In a few days Raven nic Rhóisín and I will be posting a Celtic Reconstructionist Samhain ritual we've written for the protection of Tara. We were hoping to have it live on paganachd.com before the weekend, but we're still putting the finishing touches on it. We weren't going to announce it until it was done, but today we found out a few other people have also come up with a very similar idea, using the same imagery. Major Shared Gnosis is at work here! We were already co-ordinating efforts with folks on the ground in Ireland, but now it seems there's going to be lots more of us.

The idea is for people all over the world to re-light the signal fires for Tara, but this time we are sending the energy back - focusing the light and protection back at Tara, from wherever we are in the world.

There's been a bit of synchronistic discussion about it here: http://community.livejournal.com/cr_r/254906.html
and now some folks are going big-media with the concept, as seen here: http://tarawatch.org/?p=536

More links to get hip with what's going on on Tara, and why this sacred site, and the people there fighting to save her, deserves our help:

* Send money to the fund for an independent archaeological survey of the site (http://www.hilloftara.info/)

* Sign the online petition to save Tara (http://www.petitiononline.com/hilltara)

* Write letters to Irish government officials (addresses here: http://globalartscollective.org/acf/act_now.htm with guidelines on how to write a good letter here: http://globalartscollective.org/acf/sample_letter.htm However, please note that John Gormley is now Minister for the Environment, not Dick Roche.)

* Write polite letters to Irish and Irish-American (or Irish-Canadian, etc.) newspapers about the issue.

* Send supplies and letters of support to protesters on-site. Tarapixie seems to be doing most of the coordinating on the ground. Reach her and her crew via http://www.tarapixie.net/. Cell phone numbers for the protesters: 086 1758 557
086 1537 146
(they've put these numbers all over the net, so calling should be ok). If you're calling from America, the code you need to dial is 011 + 353 + number.

We'll post again when the ritual is live. The URL will be http://paganachd.com/tara Hope to "see" you on Samhain!