Feis Teamhra: A Turn at Tara

The fourth annual Feis Teamhra: A Turn at Tara, which features readings and performances by internationally-recognised Irish writers and musicians, will be held at 3pm on Sunday August 28th 2011 on the Hill of Tara itself. Those taking part this year are Aidan Brennan, Peter Fallon, Laoise Kelly, Susan McKeown, Paul Murray and a surprise musical guest who just happens to be one of Ireland's greatest singer-songwriters. The MC for the event is Paul Muldoon.

While the Hill of Tara has in recent years become a contested spot, the note the organisers hope to strike is not one of confrontation but celebration. Feis Teamhra: A Turn at Tara is a celebration of the continuity of the linked traditions of Irish writing and music, traditions that have almost certainly flourished here since at least 2000 BC.

We're delighted to welcome Paul Murray, the Dublin-based author of An Evening of Long Goodbyes (2003), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award, and Skippy Dies (2010), a book quite accurately described by the New York Times as "extravagantly entertaining." The New Yorker, meanwhile, praised its "remarkable dialogue, which captures the free-associative, sex-obsessed energy of teenage conversation in all its coarse, riffing brilliance." Skippy Dies, a book that's reminiscent of A Portrait on peyote, was shortlisted for the Costa Prize, the National Book Critics' Circle Prize and the Irish Book Award.

We also extend a particular welcome to the Meath-based poet and publisher Peter Fallon, who is celebrated for the unfussy but nonetheless fusillading nature of his poems. They speak softly but carry a big stick, one cut from a local hedge. Some of Peter Fallon's best work is to be found in News of the World: Selected and New Poems (1998) and his translations of The Georgics of Virgil (2004/2006). A member of Aosdana, Peter Fallon received the 1993 O'Shaughnessy Poetry Award from the Irish American Cultural Institute.

The musical component of Feis Teamhra: A Turn at Tara is curated by Susan McKeown, the Dublin-born, New York-based, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter. Susan McKeown released her seventh solo album, Singing in the Dark, in October 2010. In addition to her career as a solo artist, Susan McKeown's heart-felt, heart-breaking singing has led her to work with, among others, Natalie Merchant, Linda Thompson, Pete Seeger, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Billy Bragg, Arlo Guthrie, and the Klezmatics.

Among the other musicians featured this year are Aidan Brennan and Laoise Kelly. Aidan Brennan is an inspired guitarist who has worked not only with Susan McKeown (Sweet Liberty, 2004), but Kevin Burke (Kevin Burke in Concert, 1999) and Loreena McKennitt (Book of Secrets, 1997, and Midwinter Night's Dream, 2008). Born in Dublin, Aidan Brennan now lives in Laois.

Laoise Kelly, generally considered to be the foremost Irish harper, lives in her native Mayo. The Irish Times has described her as "a young harpist with the disposition of an iconoclast and the talent and technique of a virtuoso." In addition to her own CD (Just Harp, 2000), Laoise Kelly has worked with Sharon Shannon, The Chieftains, Natalie MacMaster, Sinead O'Connor and Kate Bush.

The Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara in Meath is where Irish myth and Irish archaeology meet most visibly. Teamhair appears in the earliest literature as the seat of kingship, while scientific excavation has mapped tombs, pits, and enclosures that were already ancient when those tales were first written down.

Recent research, including work published on monuments such as the Mound of the Hostages, shows Tara as a cemetery and ceremonial centre used across the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The hill's later reputation as capital of the High Kings grew from that deep ritual past.

The Mound of the Hostages

Dumha na nGiall is a passage tomb raised around 3500 BCE, the oldest built feature on the ridge and a near contemporary of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Excavation found cremated remains and grave goods from later periods, including material that links Tara to wider European Bronze Age practice. The passage aligns with sunrise near Samhain and Imbolc.

The Lia Fáil

The Stone of Destiny on the Forrad embodies inauguration lore: the Tuatha Dé Danann brought it from Failias, and it supposedly answered a true king with a cry. Nineteenth-century rearrangement of the summit altered its setting, and debate continues about whether this stone matches the Lia Fáil described in the earliest manuscripts.

Rath of the Synods

Double banks and ditches ring this enclosure, one of several on the hill designed to mark sacred space. Medieval synods may have gathered in the Tara area, but the earthwork itself belongs to prehistory.

Teach Chormaic

Teach Chormaic is linked in saga to Cormac mac Airt, a ruler famed for wisdom. The monument visitors see is an earthwork circle rather than a house, reflecting how Tara's physical remains and literary embellishment often diverge.

Ráith na Ríogh

Ráith na Ríg frames the Forrad and the Mound of the Hostages inside a large bivallate enclosure. Survey has revealed buried structures within the ring, supporting the view that Tara's centre was set aside for periodic assembly and royal ritual rather than permanent palace life.

Interview with Michael Slavin on the Hill of Tara

The Book of Tara

The Book of Tara by Michael Slavin is written by a local historian with a lifelong connection to the hill. It examines why the Hill of Tara became Ireland's symbolic capital, weaving together archaeology, early literature, and the legends that still shape how visitors understand the ridge.

Slavin guides the reader through the major monuments on the summit, from the Neolithic Mound of the Hostages to the royal enclosures, the Lia Fáil and the associations with St Patrick and the High Kings. He also traces Tara's later history, including its place in political memory and the events of 1798.

For anyone planning a visit to Tara, the book offers a readable companion to the landscape itself, a blend of factual account and affection for one of the most evocative sites in the Boyne Valley.

Purchase at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk