Tara of the Kings Weekly Lecture Series Continues

Sat, Nov. 4th 2006

'The Kingship of Tara: The Views of the Four Masters'

- Dr Joseph Flahive, Dept. of Old and Modern Irish, UCC

TARA OF THE KINGS - Weekly Lecture Series

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND (RSAI)

TaraWatch presents a free lecture series by internationally renowned scholars who are opposed to the routing of the M3 motorway. They will present cutting-edge research into history, literature, archaeology, geography and law relating to Tara, every Saturday at the Royal Society of Antiquaries (RSAI)

This Saturday, 4th November, at noon, the public are invited to attend a free lecture entitled, 'The Kingship of Tara: The Views of the Four Masters' by Dr Joseph Flahive, Dept. of Old and Modern Irish, University College Cork.

Dr. Flahive shall be looking at the manner in which earlier text was used by the Four Masters for the ideological end of driving home the point that Ireland is and always was a kingdom with a national monarchy. Tara finds itself torn in their views between being the seat of that kingship, but also a sign of its pre-Christian origins, destroyed by the purification of that monarchy. The views of the Four Masters, along with those of Keating, stand at the core of the romanticist idea of the High Kingship that dominated until quite recently.

Sat, 11th November

"Tara and the rebellion of 1641"

- Dr. Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin, School of History and Archives, University College Dublin.

The Tara of the Kings free lecture series is proudly presented by TaraWatch, who are campaigning for the preservation of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex.

The proceedings of the series will be edited by Professor Paul Muldoon, of Princeton University. Professor Muldoon, who won the Pulitzer Prize, is vehemently opposed to the M3 route through Tara. He has been described by The Times Literary Supplement as "the most significant English-language poet born since the second World War." The series takes its name from his poem, entitled Tara of the Kings.

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland was founded in 1849 in Kilkenny 'to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquities, language, literature and history of Ireland.'Mrs. Aideen Ireland, President of RSAI said:

"Over one hundred years ago this Society campaigned vigorously to have ill considered excavations by the British-Israelites on the Hill of Tara stopped. On that occasion the excavations ceased and the site was preserved. It would be a scandal if Tara, saved on that occasion, were now to be sacrificed in the interests of short-term progress."

12.00pm EVERY SATURDAY

Helen Roe Lecture Theatre

63 Merrion Square - Admission Free

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