Sir, - How would the people of Ireland feel if a mobile phone company proposed to put a 100foot mast on top of the Hill of Tara? Well Tiachtgha may not be Tara, but it is an ancient historical site of significant dating back to Neolithic times. It was the principal religious centre of the Druids; Samhain was celebrated there. It was of such importance that when King Tuathal was crowned High King in the 2nd century, he selected the Hill of Ward (Tiachtgha) for his royal residence. An earthwork (now a National Monument) remains.
Archaeology, and our understanding of times long past, suffered a great loss recently when the great earthworks at Teltown were almost completely destroyed because Meath County Council did not know they were a National Monument. On the Hill of Ward, to add to the beauty of the two concrete water towers Meath County Council decided to place there, ESAT Digifone would like to put a 100-foot mast. As the Hill of Ward is the highest point of land in an eight-mile radius, this thing of beauty will be a joy to behold, not only for the lucky few, but for the very many, native and tourist alike.
Thomas Davis said: "Why shall we seek for histories, why make museums, why study the manners of the dead, when we foully neglect, or barbarously spoil, their houses, their castles, their temples, their colleges, their courts, their graves? He who tramples on the past, does not create for the future .. . " - Yours, etc.,
Mitchelstown, Athboy, Co Meath.