Mystery, Myth and Magic

This one day tour focuses on that part of human history where real events blur with myths and legends to produce something almost mystical and otherworldly yet centred on places we can still visit today.

The sites we will visit are:

Tara has been an important centre of ceremony since the earliest times. It was sacred to the goddess Medb and was a crucial location for much of the action of early Irish literature. Personages such as Medb, Niall of the Nine Hostages, Ollamh Fódhla and St. Patrick all have associations with Tara. It is the present home of the Lia Fáil or stone of destiny. It has remained a place of powerful symbolism, with a custom of gatherings being held there as part of political and military campaigns. The hill of Tara was a focus of activity in the rising of 1641 and there was a skirmish there in the rising of 1798. Daniel O’Connell held
one of his ‘monster meetings’ there in 1843 reputedly attended by 1 million people. Most recently it has been the focus of the ‘Save Tara’ campaign.

Castlekieran just outside Kells which offers both pagan and early Christian survivals to explore. Here you will see a surviving ogham stone, the oldest form of script in Ireland which dates from the 4th to 8th centuries AD. The stone is in the site of a monastery founded by St. Ciaran who died in 770. Three high crosses are also to be found here, to which a number of legends are attached. We will also visit St. Ciaran’s Well, which offers an excellent and continuing example of popular religious worship in Ireland, that part of belief where religion, superstition and magic often mingle. It was described by Sir William Wilde (father of Oscar) as “one of the most beautiful holy wells in Ireland”.

Sliabh na Caillí or the Loughcrew Cairns, near Oldcastle, are a group of passage tombs built over 5000 years ago. They predate the pyramids of Egypt. A site of massive spiritual and symbolic importance, Sliabh na Caillí - the Hill of the Witch - has numerous legends associated with it. One such is that they were formed when the witch - An Cailleach - leapt from one mountain to the next and dropped stones from her apron. At spring and autumn equinoxes the rising sun illuminates the backstone inside the main chamber, thus indicating the site’s importance as a marker for astronomical purposes.

Check here for 2011 tour dates and booking details.

Mystery, Myth and Magic

Cost: €60*