The equinox days themselves are of course the days when there is
perfect balance between the hours of daylight and darkness throughout the entire
world. It is this natural presentation of perfect balance in the world (closely
and symbolically connected to the idea of perfect justice) which is possibly
responsible for the fact that Cairn T is claimed by some to be the burial place
of King Ollamh Fodhla, who, according to the "Annals of Ireland by the Four
Masters", ruled Ireland for the 40 year period between 1317 - 1277
BC.
====================================
Equinox
Celebrations (September 21st 2007)
by W. Finnerty. Thu Sep 20, 2007
22:00
Though not nearly
as well known about at the present time as it might be, there is an amazing
Bronze Age "Equinox Detector" in County Meath (Republic of Ireland): which still
works accurately to this day, and which is also thought to have important
connections with the Hill of Tara.
The Equinox Detector is
located in "Cairn T", which is one of several cairns (ancient burial places) in
the Loughcrew area.
Loughcrew is approximately 25 miles to the
north-west of the Hill of Tara, and a few miles to the south of
Oldcastle.
An excellent animated display, which shows how
this detector works, can be viewed at
http://homepages.iol.ie/~tobrien/general.htm .
As
indicated in the display at the above address, there are normally 14 days each
year when this ancient and very finely-tuned device can be seen working: on the
Equinox days themselves, i.e. March 21 and September 21, and on three days
either side of both these dates.
To watch the sun light up
the "Backstone" at Cairn T, it is necessary to be there just after daybreak;
and, it takes about 20 minutes for the beam of light to pass across the stone.
Unfortunately, the sky needs to be free of clouds at the critical time. Usually
there are a few people from the Office of Public Works present to explain
things, and they also help visitors to get in and out of the cairn (which has
several chambers) in an orderly way. Normally the entrance to Cairn T is locked,
though it is possible to always get a fairly good view of the inside by peering
through the bars of the iron gate now in use.
In some respects,
including the strange, almost Aboriginal-like symbols it contains, Cairn T
seems even more important than the nearby "Winter Solstice Detector" at
Newgrange - which, as many know, is world famous at the present time. (Both
of these very sophisticated sunlight-based detectors are believed to be in
excess of 5,000 years old.)
Writing in 1873,
Eugene Conwell (who
discovered the Loughcrew set of cairns) was certain that "some successful
student in archaic sculptures would discover the key to unlock the mysteries
contained in the 'curious', and at present mystic, characters inscribed upon the
stones in Cairn T".
Eugene Conwell also believed that Cairn T was
the burial place of King Ollamh Fodhla, who is closely connected with Brehon Law
(thought to be the oldest and most compassionate system of law in Europe), and
the once regularly held "Great Feast of Tara".
According to some
historical reports, this "Triennial Convention", held in "The Great Banqueting
Hall", "met about the time called 'Samhain' (November 1st) for making laws,
reforming general abuses, revising antiquities, genealogies, and chronicles, and
purging them from all corruption and falsehood that might have been foisted into
them since the last meeting." (Clear traces of The Great Banqueting Hall, which
really was huge, are still easy to view from on top of the Hill of
Tara.) The equinox days themselves are of course the days when
there is perfect balance between the hours of daylight and darkness throughout
the entire world. It is this natural presentation of perfect balance in the
world (closely and symbolically connected to the idea of perfect justice) which
is possibly responsible for the fact that Cairn T is claimed by some to be the
burial place of King Ollamh Fodhla, who, according to the "
Annals of Ireland by
the Four Masters", ruled Ireland for the 40 year period between
1317 - 1277
BC.
As far as I know, there is NOTHING remotely like the very
ancient Cairn T set of stone arrangements anywhere else in the world - at least
nothing that still detects the equinoxes in the very obvious and accurate way
that the one inside of Cairn T does.
Related Link:
http://www.kingollamhfodhla.com
.
====================================
The
above text has been copied from the following
Indymedia
(Ireland) location:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84263#comment207523 