Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland: Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting RuinsRussell, Thomas O'Neill
History
Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland: Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting Ruins
Russell, Thomas O'Neill
Ireland -- Antiquities; Ireland -- Description and travel
The descriptions of Tara given in ancient Gaelic writings have been
verified in the most remarkable manner by the researches of modern
archæologists. Dr Petrie's great work, "The Antiquities of Tara Hill,"
would go far to remove the prejudices of the most bigoted despiser of
Irish historic records. He was one of the most learned and scientific
investigators of antiquities that ever lived, and was not only a good
Gaelic scholar himself, but had the assistance of the greatest Gaelic
scholar of the century, John O'Donovan. Those two gentlemen translated
every mention of Tara that they could find in prose or verse in ancient
Irish manuscripts; they compared every mention they could find of the
monuments of Tara with what remains of them at present; and they found
such a general agreement between ancient descriptions of those monuments
and the existing remains of them as proved what is said in Gaelic
manuscripts about the extent and splendour of Tara in Pagan times to be
well worthy of credence. Every one who visits Tara, and who is in any way
interested in archæology, should have Doctor Petrie's map of it, which
will be found in his minute and elaborate work on the "Antiquities of Tara
Hill." That map is reproduced here. The book is very scarce, as only a
small edition of it was printed, but it can be found in the "Transactions
of the Royal Irish Academy." Armed with Petrie's map a visit to Tara would
be one of the most interesting and enjoyable excursions that could be made
from Dublin. Kilmessan Station can be reached from the Broadstone terminus
in an hour, and less than two miles of a walk through a beautiful country
brings one to the summit of "the Hill of Supremacy," as it was called of
old when he who ruled in Tara ruled Ireland. No matter how confirmed an
archæologist he may be who stands for the first time on this celebrated
hill, his first feeling will be of joy at the beauty of the prospect that
is spread before him. To know how beautiful Ireland is, even in those
places that are not on the track of tourists, and that are seldom
mentioned in guide books, one should see the view from the hill of Tara.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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