iRIShSOAD DeAtHtRiP
ezOP
Posts: 122
(4/13/04 9:47 pm)
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We Need Your Help
this was posted on another forum i use, i urge everyone to sign to help save Ireland's heritage
Save The Hill of Tara
So, I wake up from a good sleep. It's a beautiful morning - the blinds are open for once, and the sun is out. Its light is shining in through the windows, and the house is quiet, as I'm the only one awake. So, I put on the Pogues and sit down at the computer...
Only to read something posted to one of my communities and have my heart skip a beat.
The An Bord Pleanala, the Irish Planning Board, wants to reroute a highway through the center of the Hill of Tara National Monument, due to congestion on the highways leading south from Northern Ireland to Dublin. According to the articles I've read, that would affect 141 historical and archeaological sites. The highway itself would be less than a hundred yards from the Hill itself.
For those of you who aren't into Irish history and folklore, the Hill of Tara is the ancient site of the fortress of the Ard Righs, the Irish High Kings. According to myth, the fortress was first built by the Fomori, a fae people predating human occupation of Ireland. It was then conquered by the Tuatha de Danaan, whom would later become the Irish pantheon of deities, who brough with them four treasures: The Sword of Nuada, the Spear of Lugh, the Cauldron of the Dagda, and the Stone of Fal. They made the hill of Tara the home of the Stone, which would let loose a loud whining cry when stepped upon by the rightful Ard Righ of Eireann. It also figures prominently in the stories of the Fianna, the heroes' army who served the legendary Finn Mac Cumhail.
Historically, it was the palace of the High Kings, and the cultural center of ancient Irish society. It was at Tara that St. Patrick was brought before the Ard Righ and first began his missionary work. It was at Tara that Brian Boru planned and executed his war with the Dublin Vikings, leading to the Battle of Clontarf and a lasting peace between the Irish and the Norse.
In modern times, the Hill of Tara has been used as a rallying point for Irish independence. Numerous Irish leaders have given speeches and held rallies at the Hill seeking to use its past to light the fires of rebellion: Wolfe Tone, Thomas O'Connell, Charles Stuart Parnell, to name a few.
In short, for the Irish government to want to do this is nothing but @#%$. It would be like the American government building a highway smack through the center of Washington, D.C. - and expecting the American people to pay for it, to boot.
As an American of Irish descent, as well as a pagan with heavy Irish influences, I am horribly offended by the An Bord Pleanala's plan. To allow this to happen would be to destroy the symbolic and historical heart of Ireland, and open the door to further desecration of Ireland's heritage. I urge everyone who reads this to please go to the link provided below and sign the petition, which is being sent to the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern.
I can only pray that Prime Minister Ahern listens.
www.petitiononline.com/hilltara/petition.html
Thanks.
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