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VISIONS AND DREAMS

Email your visions and dreams of how we will 'let go of the shore and gain our destination' TaraHeritage@iolfree.ie   or  Nora -  nora@TaraCelebrations.org 

 

Submission for the Preparation of the Draft Landscape Conservation Area for Tara Skryne 2010

 

Download the full text of the document here

Whether of indigenous, local or mainstream traditions, the management of sacred natural sites in legally protected areas is in its infancy and without precedent.

By implementing the proposals put forward in this document we would be honouring our traditions, our roots and our ancestors and hand to the future generations a landscape of sacred land in good health.

The creation and recognition of the "Sacred Ground Landscape" conservation area for Tara Skryne provides the Irish nation and Meath residents with an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of the world in the creation, recognition and management of Sacred Ground.

Proposals of this Submission

We propose the the following strong forward-looking actions to conserve, enhance or restore the sacred landscape.

1. Inclusion of the term "Sacred Ground" under point 2.2.5 Social and Community Context Section II Draft Tara Skryne LCA with particular reference to the implementation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sacred Natural Sites - guidelines for protected area managers.
2. We would like to see the inclusion of contemporary history as well as pre 1900s history being considered and weighted in issues to do with Tara Skryne.
3. We would encourage a web site to have downloadable geophysical and LIDAR imagery of Tara Skryne and that all technical imagery and data research be easily accessible to the public domain.  Just as the landscape is a resource for the whole nation and not a priveledged few, so should all informaation about the land come under the philosophy of the Freedom of Information Acts.
4. That Tara Celebrations is added to the list of Community and Voluntary Groups registered on Meath County Council's Community database (Table 1 on page 12 lists those community groups) as active stakeholder in the general Tara Skryne area.
5. That the Sacred Ground / Tara Skryne landscape is protected more comprehensively under law.  We would suggest a ban on Development or Construction at any location along the M3 motorway, not just the Interchanges (as referenced in Appendix IV Draft Tara Skryne LCA - Policies and objectives of the Meath County Development Plan 2007 - 2013 with particular reference to the Tara SKryne Landscape).
6. That a County Archaeologiest be appointed and that the office of Heritage Officer be given weighty authority to deal with heritage issues.
7. That biodiversity of the area is maintained and enhanced by the inclusion of a High Nature Value (HNV) Farming evaluation by the Heritage Council similar to that carried out in the Aran Islands. 2009 Landscape Conference - High Nature Value Farming Factsheet No.13.
8. The restoraation of the Sacred and Secular Wells (7 on Tara) be undertaken with maintenance and guardianship by local people encouraged.  Budgetary provisions should be made to assist in this on-going work.
9. In relation to the proposed map we would like to see the inclusion of the holy well at Ardsallagh, known as St. Bridgits Well, into the boundary of the landscape management plant (currently it seems to be a few meters outside the boundary).
10. That as the Hill of Tara woodlands are being maintained that the old stock of Victorian chestnut trees be replaced with indigenous tree species such as may be found in the Celtic Nine Tree species.
11. We would like to see free public access and right of way from the Hill top to all wells and RMPs on the Hill of Tara.
12. The OPW under utilises St. Patricks Church as a visitors centre.  We suggest that it be made freely available for use as a civic space and as a Centre for Spirituality for local, national and international groups.

The Meath County Manager's Recommendations in connection with this and all 348 submissions can be read here....  it is worth the effort to understand the present attitudes within many of Ireland's local authorities towards their landscape....

http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/PlanningandDevelopmentPublications/CountyMeathPlanningPublications/TaraSkryneLandscapeConservationArea/

 

The Uncursing of Tara - Restoring the Spirit of the Irish Nation

 by the artist, Richard Moore,  August 2009   -  www.mythicalIreland.com

I propose that the Dáil should convene on the Hill of Tara for one day once every three years and pass a few laws as a symbolic gesture to the Irish people to show that Ireland is finally being ruled from Tara once again after a 1,500-year gap .This event would be viewed as positive step towards giving the Irish people a symbolic sense of a restored pride in our national identity.

Tara has always been seen as the rightful place from which Ireland should be ruled. The erection of a large marquee in the grounds rather than a permanent structure will keep the archaeologists and the preservation community happy and it could have a festive attachment added to make it a fun day also.

The media would have a field day (excuse the pun) because this would be a truly first-time event in 1,500 years, so go for it.

The most symbolic date for this event to take place would be the Summer Solstice as this would celebrate an astronomical re-enactment of the timing of Amergin’s landing on the Boyne when he declared: What island is better than this Island of the Setting Sun?

Points to remember…

    1     First time in 1,500 years that a ruling authority sits on Tara.
    2     To be the first persons in modern Government to do so.
    3     Not only are you restoring the status of Tara for the first time but you are restoring and revitalising a sense of pride to the Irish people, recognising that we are truly governed by our people once more.
    4     Include the Northern Assembly as a further step toward a peaceful union.

The Uncursing of Tara

The soul of the Nation lies buried on Tara  Separated from its governing body   Join the two together
Restore the nation to life once again   As it was in the beginning and so shall it always be

 Curiously we came across the same sentiment in the Dáil records

and I'm going to call this piece (unedited)
Déja Vu

Dáil Éireann-Volume 137-19 March 1953-Committee on Finance-Motion by the Minister for Finance (Resumed)

Captain Giles: I want Dublin Castle blown sky-high and nothing put in its place. I want to see the Houses of Parliament here closed down and to have Houses of Parliament built in the country. I have a site for them—that is, the Hill of Tara. There is a great deal of talk about tradition and the [688] ancient laws of Irish kings. You have a chance now of reducing Dublin to its normal size. Take the Houses of Parliament out of here. The Taoiseach earmarked £5,000 for that a few years ago. Put the Houses of Parliament in Tara and carry on the Irish tradition. Bring the Civil Service and staffs of all types out of Dublin and then there will be plenty of room for the poor and those who need houses in Dublin. The Government keep building up huge staffs at huge expense and then they bring in the Vote on Account. What does it represent? Millions of pounds to build up Dublin. As you build up Dublin you are destroying Ireland. Take a hint and do what I ask you. Decentralise. Bring the Houses of Parliament to the place where they should be—to the place occupied by the ancient kings of Ireland. That place was chosen by the ancient kings because it was the cream of Ireland.

An Ceann Comhairle Patrick (Clare) Hogan

An Ceann Comhairle: What has all this to do with the Vote on Account?

Captain Giles: I think it has a lot to do with it. As far as I see, the curse of this country is the industrial development as we have seen it, with the growth of Dublin to its present size, no effort being made to prevent Dublin growing into a monster that will eat up the whole country. There are left in the country to-day only a few old farmers here and there and they can hardly get a workman for their land. The men work on the country roads and in the factories for less money so as to get away from the land. It should be the aim of an Irish Government to get people back on the land. Meath County Council makes every effort to give higher wages to its workers than the farmers can give. Who would work for a farmer when he can work on a public road where he will not have to wet a foot from Monday to Saturday and get more money? That happened under Fianna Fáil, under the inter-Party Government and under all Governments. A change of Government means nothing. We must have a change of spirit. We must go the hard road. We have been blundering along the soft road for years and now we find ourselves in a bog of misery and despair. We must [689] take the road back and start again where we made the mistake 25 years ago.

I am satisfied that a change of Government is needed immediately but I would be twice as happy in that change of Government if Fianna Fáil lost about 15 or 20 seats, if the public would give them the rap on the knuckles that they need. They are too damn proud, too damn haughty. The Taoiseach seems to believe that he and he alone has the destiny of this country in his hands.

I want to see the best of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and other Parties joining together as comrades to make this country a decent place, away from the mad politics of the last 30 years. Give our country a chance. It needs a chance. I hope the electorate will do that. Until Fianna Fáil get a rap on the knuckles from the electorate we will get nowhere. There is no use in Fine Gael or the inter-Party Government getting into power in the morning by a majority of one, two or three votes, in the position that Deputy Cowan, Deputy Dr. Browne and a few others in the Opposition could throw you in or out. I would like to see a fusion of those on both sides of the House who have national ideals at heart. I do not say that any Party has a monopoly of patriotism. I am satisfied that on the Fianna Fáil side there are good loyal men whom I would be proud to work with as there are on the Fine Gael, Labour and Independent Benches.

I see no reason why we should carry on for another ten or 15 years as we have been carrying on, until we will have no Ireland left, until we will have generally what I see in my own county, a whole herd of foreigners coming in and buying up the land at three times the price, so as to get in and root there.

http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0137/D.0137.195303190065.html

Irish Times 2/1/10 (taking a retro look)  -  FIONA GARTLAND

DÁIL RELOCATION: MOVING THE Dáil and Seanad to a reconstructed Tara’s hall on the Hill of Tara was the proposal of a New Zealand-born writer, who lodged $100,000 in a Dublin bank for that purpose.   William Edward Patrick O’Donnell wished to move Irish government in 1975 back to the ancient seat of the high kings of Ireland, and he deposited the money, the profits on land deals in Florida, in an Allied Irish Bank account in Dublin, in trust for Dáil Éireann.

The donation, he believed, would be the first of many millions from other well-to-do expatriates once the project was under way.  “The way to build up the Irish economy is through contributions from people now scattered throughout the world,” he told Richie Ryan, the minister for finance, according to State papers.  The great sum which will be required for this development will, when placed in circulation, restore the economy of Ireland,” he said.

“When the level of the economy in the Republic of Ireland is raised so that prosperity is equalised throughout the whole of Ireland, the Ulster problem will automatically disappear.”

O’Donnell’s offer was declined by Richie Ryan, who told him that the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Slane were national monuments and development around them was strictly controlled.

“The architectural content of the ground around them and the general topography of the sites are not interfered with,” the minister said.

Later documents from the file show O’Donnell was eventually persuaded to part with his money for other purposes. A memo made by then taoiseach Jack Lynch in August 1978 said he had met O’Donnell, “a very old man”, on a visit to New York and had thanked him for agreeing to donate $100,000 to the Ireland Fund, a fund set up in the US in 1976 that appealed for financial support for Ireland from Irish-Americans.

“He did not refer at all to his earlier idea of having government buildings erected on the Hill of Tara,” Lynch said.

 

 The Eleventh Hour

From the Elders, Oraibi, Arizona - Hopi Nation

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and everything tries to be round.  The sky is round, and i have heard the Earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars.  The wind, in its greatest power whirls.  Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.  Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.  The life of  a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so is everything where power moves.

Thanks to Betty Joe Harper for sharing this at Samhain 2009 gathering at Dowth.     Chief Dan George

Dolores sent these two:

THINK ABOUT THIS:
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine.
They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.

(Advertisement for Apple Computer,  adapted from the writings of Jack Kerouac)

Page last updated: 11th Jul 2010