The spiritual and religious beliefs associated with Tara, the former seat of the High Kings of Ireland, will be considered by the consultants retained by the Heritage Service, formerly Dúchas, and Meath County Council to draw up a management plan for the 100 acres of State-owned lands there.
The official visitor centre on the Hill of Tara attracts approximately 20,000 visitors a year, but it is estimated that up to four times that number visit the site without contacting the centre or taking an official guided tour.
Many tours are organised, particularly by groups based in the United States, which include Tara as part of a journey around a number of Ireland's ancient Celtic sites, focusing on their mystical and mythical associations.
Tara is also popular with druids, pagans and other earth-based religions, and a number of people associated with these went to the hill at the weekend to mark the summer solstice.
"Tara is unlike other sites in the Boyne Valley where there are castles to look at or feel or touch and that are accessible," said consultant Mr Declan O'Leary.
"Tara is very difficult for the visitor to get a sense of what it was like unless their imagination is allowed to wander."
He believes that a more philosophical approach is needed to explain what gives something a sense of place.
"A thing that is very intangible can be very real for those who stand at the top of the hill and feel the wind there.
"Other sites have occupied a window in time, but Tara has been the focus of Irish political life for over 5,000 years, and even into the 19th century, when Daniel O'Connell had a monster meeting there," he added.
Mr O'Leary is part of a multi-disciplinary team which will examine all aspects of the brief and contribute to the final plan. Submissions are still being accepted from the public and from those identified by the consultants as having an interest in Tara.
The objectives of the management plan are to assist in understanding the site "in space and time", assessing its significance, identifying its vulnerability and drafting policies for retaining its significance.
The Heritage Service, under the auspices of the Department of the Environment, and the county council want to develop a conservation framework for the site although there is no evidence at the moment of any damage to the hill or any or its features.
Among those contacted by the consultants are academics and other individuals and groups, including Friends of Tara, who have made a submission.
The consultants are welcoming all submissions. To facilitate these, they will be on the site and available to the public next Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on the following Thursday evening.
It is believed that the recent controversy over the lack of appropriate toilet facilities was a catalyst for the decision to proceed with the plan.
Meath Tourism is on record as saying it is important that toilets be built, and a number of visitors have complained, some in the local press, at their shock that a national monument would not provide proper facilities.
Among those expected to make a submission is the archaeologist Dr Conor Newman, the State's leading authority on Tara, who believes that the hill and the landscape around it are integrated and should be declared a World Heritage Site.