The Hill of Tara is located in the south central part of County Meath, between the towns of Dunshaughlin and Navan. It consists of a limestone ridge, approximately 2km in length, running north-south and rising to 155m above sea level. Its aesthetic value lies in the extensive views that can be seen from its summit over the surrounding countryside which extend from the Mourne Mountains in the north-east to the Dublin/Wicklow mountains in the south. It is part of one of the largest and richest archaeological landscapes in Ireland. The hill is the site of approximately 150 recorded monuments, which span a wide period of usage stretching over five thousand years from the Neolithic to the medieval period.
Most of the monuments were used for burial and for religious and communal ceremonies associated with the exceptional kingship of Tara. The surviving monuments include a passage tomb, several barrows, circular and linear earthworks and sacred springs. A fortified church was built on the hill during the late medieval period. The existing Church of Ireland church was erected in 1823. Tara is a place of considerable cultural value and was the setting for many historic events as well as early myths and legends. As the centre of a pre-eminent kingship in Ireland, it has attracted the attention of kings, clerics and historians from the 7th century AD to the present.
