Image of a decorated orthostat from the Mound of the Hostages, a passage tomb on the Hill of Tara. The image was generated from a 3D model

Tara Research Project – Other research

Other research on the Hill of Tara

Image of a decorated orthostat from the Mound of the Hostages, a passage tomb on the Hill of Tara.

Image of a decorated orthostat from the Mound of the Hostages, a passage tomb on the Hill of Tara.

Dr Mairead Carew has published two books on the Hill of Tara, one an academic publication and another a guidebook to the Hill of Tara

Tara and the Ark of the Covenant

In 2003 Tara and the Ark of the Covenant was published by Dr Mairead Carew. During 1899 and 1902, members of the British-Israel Association of London came to County Meath to dig up the Hill of Tara. These ‘British-Israelites’ believed they would find buried there the Ark of the Covenant, the chest said to contain the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets. Their strange and unlawful activity provoked a protest from cultural figures such as William Butler Yeats, Douglas Hyde and Maud Gonne – who lit a bonfire and sang ‘A nation once again’ on Tara. The Press supported their protests, making this the first media campaign to save a national monument. This book tells the story of the British-Israelite excavations on Tara in its archaeological, historical, cultural and political context.

Find out where to buy it here

Tara: The Guidebook

In 2016 the Discovery Programme published Tara: The Guidebook by Mairead Carew and Ian McCarthy. This publication, is more than just a guidebook, it also provides an accessible account of our research and analysis at the Hill of Tara. It provides answers to the most common questions asked by visitors to Tara: who built Tara, when did they build Tara and why did they build Tara? It also details the reuse of Tara through time, with Irish nationalist exploiting the site as a symbol of Irish identity, the ‘Battle of Tara’ took place during the 1798 rebellion, Daniel O’Connell held a rally at the site in 1843 and the 1916 Proclamation was read at Tara.

Find out where to buy it here.

book cover of Tara, The Guidebook
Tara, The Guidebook

3D Icons at Tara

The 3D Icons project also conducted a programme of fieldwork on the Hill of Tara. They surveyed the entire hill in detail and created a 3D models of the hill and many of the individual monuments too.

 

3D model of the Hill of Tara, created as part of the 3D Icons project.

3D model of Teach Cormaic & The Forradh, Tara, Co. Meath