St. Patrick & The Hill Of Tara...
I absolutely love the Hill of Tara! The history of this place is amazing! It once was the seat of the Árd Rí na hÉireann, or the High King of Ireland, and is thought to have been a place where 142 kings made sacrifices during the pagan / prehistoric days of Ireland. This sacred site was believed to have been the dwelling place of gods and an entrance into the afterlife. That is until St. Patrick came here and confronted the pagan religion in a gutsy move. Patrick directly asserted the authority of his God by lighting a competing ceremonial Easter bonfire on a neighboring hill before coming to Tara. Needless to say, this gutsy move didn't go unnoticed and has gone down in history as one of Patrick's boldest moves in converting the Irish. As you know, the Irish soon converted to Christianity and eventually this site lost importance and the strong role in Irish life that it once played.
