The Hill of Tara is a low grassy ridge in County Meath that was the ceremonial seat of…

The Hill of Tara is a low grassy ridge in County Meath that was the ceremonial seat of the High Kings of Ireland for thousands of years. The oldest monument on it, the Mound of the Hostages, is a passage tomb dating to around 3000 BC, aligned to the sunrise at Samhain and Imbolc. At its peak in the Iron Age and early Christian period, all five ancient roads of Ireland led to Tara, and every third Samhain the kings, druids and poets gathered there to pass laws and settle disputes. The Lia Fáil, the Stone of Destiny, still stands on the summit and was said to cry out when touched by the rightful king. In 1843, Daniel O’Connell chose Tara for his monster meeting against the Act of Union, drawing over 750,000 people, because even then the hill still meant what it had always meant: Ireland itself.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​