We found a short film by Mairéid Sullivan about the importance of the Hill of Tara on You Tube. She writes:

Over the past decade there has been considerable controversy regarding construction of the M3 Motorway through the Tara Valley, especially in light of the discoveries at Roestown and more recently Lismullin. While those finds are extremely significant, they pale in comparison to a more recent discovery at Tara.

This short film by the award winning documentary filmmaker and musician, Mairéid Sullivan, shows that the complexity and importance of The Hill of Tara goes well beyond what we’ve known about the site for the past few millennia.

Support the Anam Cara for Tara Arts Action Campaign
[Source]
(Anam Cara means “Soul Friend” in Irish Gaelic) an initiative of the http://GlobalArtsCollective.org

Originally posted 2009-04-12 08:52:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The CMP Logo

It has only recently become apparent, thanks to kind listeners who have let us know, that episodes CMP 028 (The Realm of the Ever-Living) and CMP 029 (There and Back Again) have become unavailable on the server and the feed. So after a little investigation we’re pleased to be able to let you know that these shows are available again.

So, if anyone has had a problem downloading episodes CMP 028 & CMP 029, please try again. There has been a problem with the files and I’ve re-uploaded them, so they should once again be available on the website, iTunes and our Apps, or wherever else you listen to the show from. Thank you for your patience and letting us know, and many apologies for any inconvenience. Gary & Ruth x x x

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Wizzard-Media-Celtic-Myth-Podshow/dp/B004W8QR58 or by using the QR code opposite.
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Tara Grave Pic: Causes.com

A new cause has been started on causes.com to petition the Irish Government to re-bury the bodies dug up in constructing the M3 motorway through the Tara monuments in accordance with the World Archaeological Congress’s guidelines.   During excavations for the M3 Motorway which desecrated the Irish Valley of the High Kings at Tara, a large number of ancestral remains were removed from their Sacred Burial Grounds. Just one of our group’s many aims and objectives includes the recovery of the remains and artefacts unearthed during excavations of the M3 Motorway from the National Museum of Ireland.

World Archeological Congress  2008 (22/07)

The Vermillion Accord on Human Remains
Adopted in 1989 at WAC Inter-Congress, South Dakota, USA.

1. Respect for the mortal remains of the dead shall be accorded to all, irrespective of origin, race, religion, nationality, custom and tradition.

2. Respect for the wishes of the dead concerning disposition shall be accorded whenever possible, reasonable and lawful, when they are known or can be reasonably inferred. …

[source]

This call has received the backing of the World Archaeological Congress. We wish for the respectful reinternment of these ancestral remains and ask that you the reader, sign the petition just as Actor Stewart Townsend, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon, Musicians Laoise Kelly and Steve Cooney, along with thousands of others worldwide have done.

Sign the petition at this link and please pass it on.

http://www.petitiononline.com/taraeir…

1. www.taraskryne.com

Tara Skryne Preservation Group

About TSPG:
We are an allied group of stakeholders, campaigners and concerned citizens who wish to improve the Tara Skryne Landscape after the destruction wrought by the M3 Motorway through the most Sacred, Mythical, and Historical Valley of Ireland.

We are a volunteer, non politically affiliated organisation comprised of members of various groups who stood against the route of the M3 Motorway through the Tara Skryne Valley. Now that the Motorway has opened we stand together to demand the preservation of what remains of the Tara Skryne Valley ie. its protection against further inapproriate development as well as greater protection for our National Monuments and sacred places countrywide.

Read more about us, our aims and objectives and why we formed at www.taraskryne.comJust one of our group’s many aims and objectives includes the recovery of the remains and artefacts unearthed during excavations of the M3 Motorway from the National Museum of Ireland. This call has received the backing of the World Archaeological Congress. We wish for the respectful reinternment of these ancestral remains and ask that you the reader, sign the petition just as Actor Stewart Townsend, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon, Musicians Laoise Kelly and Steve Cooney, along with thousands of others worldwide have done.

Sign the petition at this link and please pass it on.

http://www.petitiononline.com/taraeire/petition.html

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The CMP Logo Pic: Gary

In this show we start to summarise the Irish Mythological Cycle as we’ve met it so far in the first 29 story episodes. Not only is this show finishing off a whole branch of Celtic Mythology, but it also celebrates the Autumn Equinox for 2011, so we’ve made it a real cracker and split it into two halves. We’ve got an epic poem, 4 great songs in this first half and we take a look at the Origins of the Manuscripts which these stories come from and highlight some of the themes we’ve noticed in the stories.

This was the question we asked you: what themes do you think are the most important, and this show includes your ideas as well as ours.

We conclude our examination of the Irish Mythological Cycle in the Second Part of this show which will be dropped into the feed and available for download 2-3 days after this one so you have chance to listen to the show and keep it fresh in the old brain box before we finish of the show with the end of the poem, the other observations we’ve made and yes more great music!

Phew!

How to Listen

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the Shownotes for this episode in the Shownotes section.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Hope you enjoy it,

Gary & Ruthie x x x

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Sliabh Coillte Pic: Great Korean Adventure

This could be one of the most important posts we’ve ever made. Is the Irish Book of Invasions myth or history or both?A small mountain outside New Ross is Ireland’s Mount Arrarat where the first invasion of Ireland look place, Simon W. Kennedy, told a conference at JFK Arboretum last Thursday evening, in what he said would be a revelation to most people, reports the New Ross Standard.

He said this 275 metre high mountain and its hinterland has the significance of ‘another Newgrange’ and is probably connected to Newgrange in an alignment of a cosmic graph.

The well-known solicitor and author told the conference that he believes Sliabh Coillte is one of the country’s most ancient sacred places and of great significance.

‘Historians have ignored or have not known the significance of place names including Kilmokea, Whitechurch and Slieve Coillte as the first and foremost place of ancient priority and importance in the Irish experience,’

said Simon.

‘Whitechurch was the site of an ancient temple known as the Temple of Brightness, nearby Kilmokea or Mileadoc was the spot at which Cessair the granddaughter of Noah, escaping the flood, made the first incursion or invasion into Ireland, and Sliabh Coillte was where the first invasion of Ireland took place in 2242 B.C.,’

he explained.

‘Historians have up to now failed to join the dots in tracing Sliabh Coillte’s central connection with Irish mythology, its association with Kilmokea, the confluence of the Three Sisters – the Barrow, the Nore and Suir – an amazing alignment of standing stones, the true translation of local place names and their meaning in the context of the rise and setting of the sun, folklore and topography,’

he added.

As part of his conference, Simon displayed various pieces of evidence of his findings following many years of research.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Stone of Uisneach (‘Catstone’) Pic: Festival of Fires

One of Ireland’s greatest living historians, Ruth Illingworth, is to give a guided walk and tour of the Hill of Uisneach, formerly regarded as the centre of Ireland, at 2pm this Saturday August 27th 2011. This is a rare chance to hear the real stories of Uisneach whilst walking Uisneach. Meet at the lay-by at 2pm.

In Irish mythology, it was considered to be the omphalos or mystical navel of Ireland, upon which rested a great stone (Ail na Míreann, which means “stone of divisions”) which was said to indicate the meeting point of the provincial borders of Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster, and Mide (which was once a separate, fifth province). Tradition tells that the Hill of Uisneach was a site favoured for Beltane fires and Druidical ceremonies, and as a ceremonial site it was regarded as second only to Emain Macha. In the poetic history Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of the Takings of Ireland), the Nemedian Druid Mide lit the first fire there. A fire was also lit on the Hill of Uisneach on the feast of Bealtaine. This fire could be seen from Tara, and when they saw it, they lit their fire. [Wiki]

We covered this story, which is usually known as “The Settling of the Manor of Tara” in Episode 18: The Judgement of Fintan. Fintan is called upon to decide how the land is to be divided and he gives his final decision or judgement by the Stone on the Hill of Uisneach at the Centre of Erin. This is the stone picture above – I would love to hear Ruth Illingworth tell the tale and what the Historians have discovered in the area!

The Festival of Fires and Uisneach

My impression is that the Festival of Fires organisation, recently formed and doing such worthy work in trying to restore the importance of Tara, Bealtaine and Fire in Erin, have arranged for this guided tour. They are certainly publicising it – if I’m wrong, I apologise and will happily credit the organiser(s). If you’re able to attend the tour, they have the following information and guidance:
It has been a very busy summer on the Hill of Uisneach and David and Angela Clarke and their family are to be commended on their courtesy and kindness to all visitors who check in with them before walking the hill. Uisneach is still very much a working farm so please follow the instructions on the signs at the parking lay-by if you intend walking it.

Hundreds of tourists from all over the world have visited the hill this summer and among those was the American musical group The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. In Ireland to play with Prince, they took time off their busy schedule to visit the centre of the country and learn some its history before they continued their world tour with Prince, playing to hundreds of thousands across the globe. The band are back in the country in the Autumn with Damon Albarn and they are always welcome back to Uisneach.

If you have never visited Uisneach with an expert then this Saturday is a must.

Ruth Illingworth was a key member of the team at Festival of the Fires, giving tours and talks throughout the three festivals to date, and in historic circles in Ireland she is among the highest rated and most passionate historians. A widely published author and expert on all things in the midlands, Ruth is also a Mullingar Town Councillor. She has served as mayor of Mullingar on two occasions and were it not for Ruth’s voice being on the Council, much of Westmeath’s history would have been lost forever.

What is the Festival of Fires?

Festival of the Fires is a rekindling of Ireland’s oldest recorded festival, Bealtaine. The dawn of May will see Ireland illuminated as the festival returns to the Hill of Uisneach and selected sites nationwide.A cultural celebration on a national scale, the Festival’s epicentre is the Hill of Uisneach in Co. Westmeath. Started in May 2010, 73 other sites & communities joined in the main Uisneach celebration, with 14 international fires also lit in solidarity. In 2011 the festival is to grow, with a full weekend of celebrations planned…

The Fire Festiaval Pic: Festival of Fires

The dawn of May will see Ireland illuminated as Festival of the Fires returns with very special musical guests The Saw Doctors. From its Hill of Uisneach Epicentre, the festival will spread to communities across the country with over 100 hills all across Ireland uniting to welcome in the summer.

Celebration in 2010

The main festival takes place on the Hill of Uisneach, with a unique festival village featuring three musical stages, food & beverage villages, art installations, heritage trails, guest lectures, comedy, spoken word, debate, hundreds of horsemen and women, arts and crafts, and of course a spectacular night-time Fire Parade led by the multi-award-winning Luxe group from Donegal.

Musical guests will include the aforementioned Saw Doctors, playing their ONLY Midlands show of the year, and they will be joined by a diverse and exciting line-up which will be revealed over the coming weeks.

Tickets are on sale now from all Ticketmaster outlets and ticketmaster.ie priced €35. Camping tickets are also on sale price €40. Tickets are also on sale at selected venues throughout the midlands and major cities (see festivalofthefires.com)

Arts, Culture and Heritage – Reignite your passion with Festival of the Fires!

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

THE World Archaeological Congress has urged the Government to ensure that no large commercial or residential development is allowed along the route of the controversial M3 motorway. And the forum, made up of practising archaeologists, has said that excavations carried out along the motorway route in Co Meath — which runs near the hill of Tara — were performed to the “highest professional standards”.

Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-07-30 01:38:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Branwen Pic: Gary Colcombe

There are many Gods and Goddesses that can be considered to be the Celtic Gods or Goddesses of Love. Amongst those of Irish mythology we can count Aengus Og, Brighid and Aine or Anu. Amongst the Welsh we can count Arianrhod, Branwen and Blodeuwedd. The Scottish Celts also have young Angus as the God of love as does Manx Mythology. In general there seems to have been a great crossover and exchange of mythological material between the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Welsh stories. It is probably true that many of the religious practices of the Ancient Celts travelled between the tribes and were adopted, adapted or rejected depending on the customs and beliefs of the tribe involved in the meeting. I don’t know of any Cornish or Breton Love deities at the moment, so if any Celts of those nationalities can enlighten me that would be absolutely brilliant.

Gods in Irish Myth

Aengus Og

In Irish mythology, Óengus (Old Irish), Áengus (Middle Irish), Aengus or Aonghus (Modern Irish) is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably a god of love, youth and poetic inspiration. He was said to have four birds symbolizing kisses flying about his head (whence, it is believed, the xxxx’s symbolizing kisses at the end of lovers’ letters come from).
He is also called Aengus Óg (“Aengus the young”), Mac ind Óg (“son of the young”), Mac Óg (“young son”) or Maccan. [wiki]

We also find him in Scottish Mythology as Angus mac Og.

Brighid

In Irish mythology, Brigit or Brighid (“exalted one”) was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadán. She had two sisters, also named Brighid, and is considered “a classic Celtic Triple Goddess”. [wiki]

When her son died, she is said to have lamented his death with the first ‘keening’ (a sort of unearthly death-wail) heard in Ireland. She is also said to be the Goddess of the Hearth. Her love is that of the family and the home.

Danu/Aine/Anu

In Irish mythology, Danu  is the mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Old Irish: “The peoples of the goddess Danu”). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land. [wiki]

The Goddess known as the primordial Mother Goddess giving birth to the Gods, her children, known as the Tuatha De Danaan. Her love, again,  is that of the Mother. Some commentators see Brighid as a form of the Mother Goddess also, equating their roles.

Gods in Welsh Myth

Arianrhod

Arianrhod is a figure in Welsh mythology who plays her most important role in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. She is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy; the Welsh Triads give her father as Beli Mawr. In the Mabinogi her uncle Math ap Mathonwy is the King of Gwynedd, and during the course of the story she gives birth to two sons, Dylan Ail Don and Lleu Llaw Gyffes, through magical means. [wiki]

Due to the ‘improper’ nature of her conceptions and later births (i.e. the unknown father), she is seen as the Goddess of Lust and Desire.

Blodeuwedd

Blodeuwedd Pic: Wiki

Blodeuwedd or Blodeuedd, (Middle Welsh composite name from blodeu ‘flowers, blossoms’ + gwedd ‘face, aspect, appearance’: “flower face”), is the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes in Welsh mythology, made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and the oak by the magicians Math and Gwydion, and is a central figure in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi. The hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes has been placed under a tynged (a doom or fate) by his mother Arianrhod that he may never have a human wife. So as to counteract this curse, the magicians Math and Gwydion: [take] the flowers of the oak, and the flowers of the broom, and the flowers of the meadowsweet, and from those they conjured up the fairest and most beautiful maiden anyone had ever seen. And they baptized her in the way that they did at that time, and named her Blodeuedd. Some time later, while Lleu is away on business, Blodeuwedd has an affair with Gronw Pebr, the lord of Penllyn, and the two conspire to murder Lleu. [wiki]

Blodeuwedd’s story is primarily about Love – real, fallible mortal love, It is more than the ‘lust’ that the births of Arianrhod suggest and it is yet something that we can all relate to in our long-term relationships, our married lives. It is a human love.

Branwen

Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr is a major character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which is sometimes called the Mabinogi of Branwen after her. Branwen is a daughter of Llŷr and Penarddun. She is married to the King of Ireland, but the marriage does not bring peace. In Ireland, Branwen is eventually treated cruelly by her husband Matholwch as punishment for Efnisien’s mutilation of the horses (though not before she gives birth to an heir, Gwern). She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother and Bendigeidfran brings a force fromWales to Ireland to rescue her. [wiki]

The love that Branwen shows is the true love that brings about sacrifice, she agrees to go to a foreign country to pledge peace with her marriage – she gives her self in sacrifice. This purity of heart is where she gets her name Branwen from: meaning white (or pure) breast. The earlier version of her name is Bronwen and its derivation is white crow, again her singularity and value as the most beautiful woman in the world is made clear here.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Hill of Tara Pic: Irish Central

The Hill of Tara (Irish Temair na Rí, “Hill of the Kings”), located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland. It contains a number of ancient monuments, and, according to tradition, was the seat of Árd Rí na hÉireann, or the High King of Ireland. Recent scholarship claims that despite the rich narratives derived from mythologies, Tara was not so much a true seat of kingship, but a sacral site associated with kingship rituals. Other historians have argued that the concept itself is mostly mythical. [Wiki]

The Destruction caused by the Motorway

The M3 motorway, which opened in June 2010, passes through the Tara-Skryne Valley – as does the existing N3 road. Protesters argue that since the Tara Discovery Programme started in 1992, there is an appreciation that the Hill of Tara is just the central complex of a wider landscape. The distance between the motorway and the exact site of the Hill is 2.2 km (1.37 miles) – it intersects the old N3 at the Blundelstown interchange between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skyrne.

The presence of this interchange situated in the valley has led to allegations that further development is planned near Tara. An alternative route approximately 6 km west of the Hill of Tara is claimed to be a straighter, cheaper and less destructive alternative. On Sunday 23 September 2007 over 1500 people met on the hill of Tara to take part in a human sculpture representing a harp and spelling out the words “SAVE TARA VALLEY” as a call for the rerouting of the M3 motorway away from Tara valley. Actors Stuart Townsend and Jonathan Rhys Meyers attended this event.

The Hill of Tara was included in the World Monuments Fund’s 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world. It was included, in 2009, in the 15 must-see endangered cultural treasures in the world by the Smithsonian Institution.

The Curse of Tara and its Fairy Forts

Irish Central reports that Activists claim desecration of Tara for highway sparked ancient curse.

An ancient curse of Tara has been unleashed in Ireland by the destruction of the Fairy Forts. That’s according to anti-highway activist Carmel Divine who says a “modern day Curse of Tara” has been unleashed on Ireland by the “destruction and desecration of the M3 Motorway.” She said that Seannachaí Eddie Lennihan warned the Irish Government in early 2007 against destroying the Fairy Forts in Ireland’s historic Tara Skryne Valley. She said the Seannachaí warned the Irish Government that they would be cursed. At the time, a spokesman for the National Roads Authority, mocked the Seannachaí and said they weren’t concerned. Diviney says all of Ireland’s woes date back to July 2007 when work began on the new M3 motorway. She lists the following incidents as evidence of the Fairy Fort curse.

Wakeman Plan of the Tara Complex Pic: Wiki

The Fey in Action

In June 2007 Minister for the Environment Dick Roche signed an order destroying the Lismullin Henge. Lismullin Henge was a 4,000 year old astronomical observatory and place of worship and hailed as one of the most important archaeological finds of the century.

Roche was since held up by an armed gang in the Druids Glen Hotel and also lost his job and was then demoted.

Martin Cullen the then Minister for Transport nearly got sucked out of a helicopter when the door fell off on one of his extravagantly expensive trips.

The chief Health and Safety Officer was seriously injured by a falling tree when felling began at Rath Lugh in 2007.

A worker was killed when he became trapped at Fairyhouse where there have been many accidents on this stretch of road.

A human tooth was discovered in a digger which was used to destroy the famous ancient feasting grounds and gathering place of ancient Harpers at Baronstown. Shortly afterwards the stairs in the National Museum collapsed.

And finally, just last summer, several large wasp nests were found throughout the valley. In Celtic Lore the appearance of the wasp was associated with the anger of Mother Earth.

Diviney says that Ireland will continue to be cursed as long as it continues to meddle with sacred ground.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Proposed Slane Bypass Pic: Save Newgrange

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange tells us that the Irish Times has reported that new consultations are being ordered to discuss the Slane Bypass that is threatening the ancient home of Angus Og, the Brugh na Boyne – the monument that is now called Newgrange. Click on the image to the left to see the detail.

The Irish Times reports:

A NEW round of public consultations on controversial plans for a dual-carriageway bypass of Slane, Co Meath, has been ordered by An Bord Pleanála, with October 15th set as the closing date. A public notice advertising the new round of consultations was published recently in national newspapers. The original consultation period closed on February 25th last.

An Bord Pleanála had sought additional information from Meath County Council on the road scheme, including whether an alternative route running to the west of Slane had been examined. The current proposal, which is being advanced on behalf of the National Roads Authority (NRA), would run to the east of Slane, some 500 metres from the boundary of Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site.

The appeals board also sought alternative designs for a new bridge over the river Boyne, noting that the cable-stayed bridge originally proposed would be visible from the World Heritage Site. It also wanted the council to produce more detailed archaeological and geophysical reports on investigations of 44 archaeological sites that would be affected by the original scheme.

The information was sought “in order to clarify certain points in the environmental impact statement [EIS] and assist the board’s assessment of the likely effects on the environment” of the road. This followed complaints to An Bord Pleanála by the Save Newgrange group, former attorney general John Rogers SC and leading archaeologist Prof George Eogan that the EIS was flawed.

Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said:

“We will be waging an international campaign over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections as possible filed with An Bord Pleanála.”

Save Newgrange

Irish Times

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.