Ireland’s Endangered Cultural Site
A new tollway threatens the archaeologically rich Hill of Tara that is the spiritual heart of the country
- By Amanda Bensen
- Smithsonian magazine, March 2009, Subscribe
"The harp that once through Tara's halls
The soul of music shed
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls
As if that soul were fled."
The words of 19th-century Irish poet Thomas Moore still ring true, and the only music you're likely to hear around Tara nowadays is the clang of construction equipment. Several hundred acres of gentle green fields, marked by some lumps and bumps, cover this patch of County Meath in northeast Ireland. A nice place to lie down and watch the clouds scud by, perhaps, but is it any more remarkable than the rest of Ireland's lovely landscape?
Cinnte, to use an Irish expression of certitude. The archaeologically rich complex on and around the Hill of Tara is seen by many as the spiritual and historic heart of Ireland. It was the venue for rituals, battles and burials dating back to 4000 B.C. More than 100 kings were crowned at Tara, and St. Patrick is said to have stopped there to seek royal permission before spreading his message of Christianity.
In more recent history, the hill was the site of Daniel "the Liberator" O'Connell's 1843 "monster meeting," a massive political demonstration that rallied some 750,000 people to the cause of repudiating the country's union with Britain. Thousands of people still gather on its crest on midsummer's eve, both for the panoramic view and what one visitor calls "the sense you get there of being close to something holy."
"Tara is a part of the Irish psyche," says George Eogan, a retired Dublin archaeologist who led excavations near the hill in the 1960s. "Irish people, they know of Tara from their very early days. It's in schoolbooks and stories, even in primary school."
But Irish history now risks being consumed by the Celtic Tiger—the nickname given to Ireland's phenomenal economic expansion for more than a decade. Inevitably, a thriving economy brought demands for an expanded infrastructure. And so, in 2003, the Irish government approved construction of a new four-lane tollway, the M3, to cut through the Tara complex. Construction began in 2005, and despite a storm of public protest, the project appears unstoppable.
"When it was proposed in 2000, most people nationally had no idea what was happening. And I think everyone trusted the government not to pick a route that was so damaging," says Vincent Salafia, a lawyer from nearby County Wicklow who founded the anti-M3 group TaraWatch in 2005. "There's flat land all around. We still can't quite figure out why they insisted on going so close to Tara."
Proponents of the M3 argue that the highway will improve life for tens of thousands of commuters who live northwest of Dublin and often spend hours each day creeping along traffic-clogged, two-lane roads into the capital city, about 30 miles away from Tara. Other proposed routes for that section of the M3 would have disturbed a greater number of private homes and farms. Proponents also note that the new road will be almost a mile away from the actual Hill of Tara, a 510-foot-high knoll.
"If it doesn't go through the hill, then it's not damaging the site? That is the greatest bit of nonsense that I've ever heard," counters Eogan. "The Hill of Tara is only the core area of a much larger archaeological and cultural landscape."
Preservationists particularly worry that the M3 will slice between the Hill of Tara and Rath Lugh, an ancient earthen fort about two miles northeast thought to have been used to defend the hill. A smaller road already divides the two sites, but the M3 will run much closer to Rath Lugh, even removing part of the promontory it sits on. "If this development goes ahead, Rath Lugh will merely overlook, from a distance of 100 meters, a motorway—which would be a rather ignominious end for a once proud and important monument," a trio of archaeologists warned in a 2004 publication.
Much of the recent controversy has focused on the 38 new archaeological sites that construction teams have unearthed along the section of motorway closest to Tara since the project began. The discoveries represent centuries of human activity, including prehistoric settlements, Bronze Age burial mounds, a possible medieval charcoal manufacturing kiln and the remains of a 19th-century post office. At the time, the discoveries barely caused a hiccup—the artifacts were removed, and once the sites had been "preserved by record" in notes and photographs, they were destroyed. Ireland's National Roads Authority has pledged that any artifacts will eventually be deposited in the National Museum of Ireland.
While that approach may be legally permissible, that doesn't make it right, says Salafia, who examined one of the exposed trenches at a site just north of Tara. "You could see a child's body where [construction teams] had actually cut off the nose and toes, and also shaved off the top of a cremation urn, leaving the ashes exposed," he says. Eogan calls it "an act of sheer vandalism."
The M3 is scheduled for completion in 2010, though the global recession may delay it. In the meantime, Tara is attracting increased international attention, and is under consideration to become a Unesco World Heritage Site.
"Most of the endangered sites around the world are suffering due to neglect and climate change," Salafia says. "But this is an act of assault—premeditated assault, if you will—by the very people who are given the job of taking care of it."
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Comments (70)
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I used the freeway to get from Tipperary to Dublin airport a few days after a section was opened in September 2010, and was pleased that it seemed so like the fast and efficient roads that we have in Australia, I do empathise however, with the historians, archeologists and purists re the preservation of Tara and surrounds, but it's also important to provide carriageways that work with the community and the times and that will hopefully increase the tourism dollar for all the Irish.
Posted by Mary Quealy on April 15,2012 | 06:10 AM
I want to cry.
Posted by Cynthia Bernstein on April 3,2012 | 08:44 PM
May I add some facts to points made in Liam Waters posting May 2010. According the the National Roads Authority ( NRA);-
1. The sum spent on archaeology on the M3 was 40 million euro. The entire cost of the road was one billion euros.
2. Construction was completed and the road opened AHEAD OF TIME – June 2010.
As it has now been confirmed the traffic levels are below those guaranteed to the Spanish owners compensation to the tune of over 2million euro a year has come into play.
There were a number of routes available for the M3 including the shorter Orange route west of the Hill of Tara which may well have attracted more traffic from the growing town of Trim.
The Question still remains – why build a tolled motorway through the Tara Skryne ( Gabhra) valley, an area Meath Heritage Department call a National Asset when other, possibly more profitable routes, were available especially when the Contract included a traffic guarantee? An independent Red C consumer Survey early 2008 found almost 70%of Irish people in favour of routing the motorway away from Tara.
Posted by Pat McCormick on July 11,2011 | 06:24 AM
The M3 is being subsidised at over 2 million euros a year. Clearly on the wrong route and not attracting enough vehicles.
Anyone who has visited Tara will know that the Motorway. is visible from the Hill
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2011/06/16/00015.asp
Road Network
Thursday, 16 June 2011 Seanad Éireann Debate
Vol. 208 No. 9
Unrevised
...>Some €500,000 a month is being paid to the private operators of the M3 motorway and the N18 Limerick tunnel. The National Roads Authority, NRA, has confirmed that traffic volumes have fallen short of the guarantees given by the State. The payments amount to an annualised figure of €5.9 million which will be paid because traffic volumes on the two routes have fallen below agreed thresholds. At €5.9 million, this is more than four times the authorities' revenue share from all of its other PPP toll motorways
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/state-paying-euro111000-a-week-to-toll-r\ oad-operators-2672986.html
New figures show payments to the operators of the Limerick Tunnel between September and December last year amounted to €1.24m, while payments for the M3 Clonee-to-Kells motorway between October and December came to €547,000.
This works out at an average of €111,000 per week
Posted by mollie on July 9,2011 | 09:08 AM
what an absolute disgrace and outrage! How can they value money and conveinance above tradition, heritage and the environment!? Shame on you in control; the people we elect that don't speak for the people but just for their greedy selves!
Posted by Tara Nicole Murphy on May 10,2011 | 02:28 PM
What a load of stupid, ignorant rubbish. Tara is in no way threatened or undermined by this necessary development. The new motorway is in fact further away from the site than the old road. It's the height of irony that some 2,000 years ago Tara was the central hub of, An Sli Mor, Ireland's ancient highway system.
The construction of the M4 was carried out with extensive archoloigical consultations and several digs ,which otherwise would not have happend, have added to our knowledge of the complex. Several vexatious groups have held up this vital development and cost the Irish state hundreds of millions of euro, while several people have died due to traffic accidents on the old congested road.I wonder does that weigh on their conscience, I doubt it, these people are reactive,rarely reflective. The Smithsonian is out of it's depth in sponsering such vexatious idiots and is acting in an almost colonial manner in opposing the will of the Irish state and people who overwhelmingly support the project.
Posted by Liam Waters on May 29,2010 | 09:23 AM
OH! Wow, so the politicians of Ireland, who are letting this destruction and desecration of a Holy place go forward are the same corrupt, perverted politicians that are controlling Canada, USA, England, Australia, etc., etc.; well who the hell is surprised!!
My prayers and thoughts are with the Land of Ireland and her people BRAVE ENOUGH to fight for the survival of at least some of her memories and heritage!
Erin go Bragh!!
The Hill of Tara will not fall! Too many of her past Kings are waiting in the wings to continue the battle against a new foe!
Posted by QueenOfTheSea on March 15,2010 | 08:32 PM
This epitomises the greed of the Fianna Fail Govt. This desecration can only be compared to teh destruction of the Buddist Statues in Afghanistan. It simply beggars belief. This generation of Irish will have this black mark hanging over us forever, it will be a testament to what we are. Somehow we allowed this to happen
Posted by Daithi MacCumahill on October 7,2009 | 06:21 PM
This is extremely disappointing to see. Historically minded Americans generally view Europeans as much more sophisticated in their outlook toward historic preservation and the retention of their heritage. Ireland is known for its tremendous historic and heritage values. How a few bureaucrats can impose their will on the citizenry of a country that is known for its will to stand up for a good fight is horrifying. Rise up and cut this off at the pass.
Posted by Michael on September 25,2009 | 05:18 PM
Why do all humans seem to bent on destroying their own culture's heritage and history?? The very things that make them unique... that they should be proud of and celebrate...... I will never understand.
Posted by reb on September 25,2009 | 04:40 PM
The destruction of the soul of Ireland.
Posted by judy on September 25,2009 | 12:21 PM
A road may well be a necessary evil. Perhaps the road would not mar the land and might even provide better access to Tara. As a purist, a Celtiphile, and a person who hopes to see Tara some day, it is my hope that the M3 will be far enough away that, when I finally reach my country and see her history, it will be free of a greedy road's pollution.
Posted by Ruth S on August 4,2009 | 09:30 PM
Even here in America, that would never happen, and everyone knows that American is the land of destruction. To even think that the cultural foundation of the Irish people is going to be violated by asphalt and speeding cars in the name of an "progress" known as the CELTIC TIGER is absurd. To pride oneself on NOT being like the British or the Americans....it sure appears that there is a little mud on your faces!
Posted by Michelle on June 27,2009 | 10:40 AM
I highly doubt that this post will be shown, considering it isn't an uneducated rant about the destruction of the Hill of Tara, but here goes anyway. First of all, to those who lament the desecration and loss of this sight forever but have already seen it, it is most likely that a subsequent visit to the Hill post-M3 would probably be no less enjoyable - far from ruined - by the presence of the motorway, which will be virtually unnoticeable from the summit of the hill. Secondly, to those who see the motorway as unnecessary "progress", why not ask the families of people killed on the N3 road what they think? A fact that many people do not understand about road transport in Ireland is that when a new motorway such as this is built, it is not merely a new road, but a replacement for a completely unsafe predecessor. It is important that these roads be built to save lives. Also, the motorway does not service commuters alone, but the whole of the northwest of Ireland, and so arguments founded on an economic downturn are insufficient. Further, rerouting the motorway in any direction around the Hill would have had adverse effects, be it on the aesthetic of the area, or on the countless archeological finds which pop up on virtually every construction site in this country - the current solution appears to be the least intrusive on balance. There also seems to be an awful lot of people in glass houses here - I would ask any posters from the USA in particular to take a long hard look in the mirror before condescending to the Irish on questions of cultural or archeological preservation. Biased points of view have been presented in this article as well as by protesters organised against the M3 which have branded Ireland as a country of archeological terrorists - we are truly ashamed of what happened at Wood Quay in the late 70s and early 80s, and it is reprehensible to suggest that this project is history repeating itself.
Posted by Barry McK on April 29,2009 | 07:28 PM
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