Govt fails to protects our heritage at Tara again
Yet another find over the past few days of Neolitihic underground chambers has been made at Tara and which have been kept from public knowledge by the Government and the road contractors. For more details see the brief report below.
A team of activists over the past few days have uncovered the remains of 6 chambers at the souterrain (underground pit) beside the Lismullen Henge, but due now only 2 to 3 chambers remain.
In one of the chambers, there is still a good bit of the passage which is quite long and zigzags connecting the chambers. The flagstone is Neolithic and may have been recycled from the souterrain which are often lined with such flagstones. There is also rock art and it has two interconnected circles and above a line of zigzags. This is similar to the types of designs one would see in NewGrange. All of this raises the very strong possibility that the whole area is very significant and has other findings yet to be demolished for the sake of the motorway.
Mechanical diggers are working on this site for the next few weeks. This is how the government now looks upon our great heritage.
For pictures follow the link
indymedia.ie/article/85303&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment214378
Here is the press release from the SaveTara website... 2nd December 2007
Megalithic art found at Lismullin Souterrain
The Save Tara campaign has learned that a decorated stone bearing megalithic art similar to that at Newgrange and Knowth (of Neolithic date c.3000 B.C.) has been found incorporated into part of an Early Historic souterrain currently being dismantled as part of the M3 archaeological works in the vicinity of the henge at Lismullin, in the Gabhra Valley, County Meath. The nearest example of megalithic art is to be found in the passage tomb of the Mound of the Hostages on the summit of the Hill of Tara and in terms of style this example also bears a remarkable similarity to that found in this monument.
The decorated stone was noticed on Friday by campaigners who took the accompanying photographs over the weekend. It exhibits a series of motifs commonly found in passage tomb contexts - concentric circles, nested arcs and zig-zags. It is likely this stone was robbed from a nearby passage tomb during the construction of the souterrain in the early centuries AD. Indeed, it has been suggested that the large mound in the grounds of Lismullin house may be that of a passage tomb.
The promontory fort of Rath Lugh (under temporary preservation order) overlooks the henge (a declared national monument) and the souterrain complex that have been unearthed at Lismullin and the discovery of the stone is further evidence of the importance of this area and its continued use through the millennia of Irish history.
The excavation of the henge and the souterrain continues and will probably be completed before Christmas. This will allow the NRA to begin the construction phase of the motorway in this delicate and sensitive area of the Gabhra Valley.
The motorway will pass within 20/30m of the huge monument of Rath Lugh despite NRA assurances that it would be 110m away from it.
The EU is taking Ireland to the European Court of Justice because of their ongoing breaches of various environmental directives in particularly in relation to Environmental Impact Statements.
EU Environment Commissioner Dimas said in a recent press release: "I am disappointed that Ireland has not accepted the Commission view that improvements are needed in its legislation on impact assessments in order to better safeguard, and give the public more say in decisions affecting, its rich archaeological heritage, and to better guarantee that industrial projects will be comprehensively assessed".
Save Tara campaigners are asking the EU and the Commissioner to take an injunction against the Irish Government to stop all attempts at construction in the short disputed section of the M3 in the Gabhra Valley until the ECJ has completed its deliberations on this case.
It just gets worse. More desecration, more ignorance and yet more flagrant disregard for any of us who find our heritage a major componant in our indentities, let alone the many who regard these places as their sacred holy grounds. Bet we'll wait a while to see a new bypass being dug through st Pauls, or the houses of parliament.
The Irish government could be implementing new and visionary standards by going all out to conserve and diliberate with interested groups, showing themselves as sensetive to their ancient and amazing landscape, but in order to "progress" in these enlightened times, they have to trash what is esentially their biggest draw!!! MORONS.