Dear Dr Clinton,

Thank you for the e-mail with the press release, which I received on May 17th 2007 from Dr Chris Smal. 

It seems to me that your group may have been formed at just the right time, and I wish you all every success.

Please find below information on some ancient heritage sites, which I know of, and which do not appear on the Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland list. 

Even if you and your colleagues decide not to include any of the so far unlisted sites mentioned below on your list, it seems to me that no great harm can be done by informing you about them, and the many difficulties which seem to exist in connection with their protection, both now and for the future.

Best wishes,

V.

====================
 
Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland
by W. Finnerty.  Fri May 18, 2007 23:32
 
I'm delighted to learn of the newly formed "Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland".
 
One of the sites on the above list, the "HILLFORT AT RAHALLY", is located near my home in County Galway, and I would like to point out that there are several other ancient heritage sites in this particular area under serious threat from the planned N6 Upgrade, apart from the one mentioned at Rahally.
 
The ancient heritage sites I have mostly in mind are part of the huge set associated with Turoe & Knocknadala (Iron Age "Hill of Parliament") complex, which has at its centre the world famous Turoe Stone (see http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/protest/nov21_stone.htm ), and which many well-informed people believe is the most important (by far) piece of Celtic stone-art in the world. 
 
Using information on the Turoe & Knocknadala complex which I received from research scientist Dr Kieran Jordan, I informed several government ministers about this Iron Age "Royal Centre", including Prime Minister Ahern, on March 5th 2001. For irrefutable evidence of this, please the set of five Post Office registered letter receipts at http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/kj1.htm .
 
Later, when all of the senior public officials referred to in the paragraph just above appeared to be completely ignoring Dr Jordan's information, I sent a petition to the European Parliament on September 22nd 2003, which can be seen at http://www.finnachta.com/EuropeanParliamentPetition.htm . 
 
Part of the European Parliament's reply to my petition, i.e. their letter dated October 21st 2004, ended with the following two sentences: "The planning and design of this project has received support from the Regional Development Fund. However it is not expected that the construction of the project will be funded". (The full European Parliament text is on view at http://www.constitutionofireland.com/EuropeanParliamentPetition1018/2003.htm ).
 
I wonder if this means that one or other of the "PPP (public-private partnership) swindlers" mentioned at http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2006/site_packages/econ_recovery_act/3349ppps_rohatyn.html will now be "funding the construction of the project" - i.e. the section of the N6 Upgrade scheduled to go through the middle of the Turoe & Knocknadala complex? - and which, incidentally, is only about thirty minutes drive away from the very well established archaeological department of NUI (National University of Ireland) in Galway City.
 
Despite its closeness, NUI Galway has never (as far as I know) ever seriously examined the Turoe & Knocknadala complex - which appears to me to be a large-scale mystery in its own right: not least on account of the fact that the Turoe & Knocknadala complex appears as the "Regia" (Royal Centre) shown near the Galway Bay area of the map of Ireland produced by the very highly regarded Greek mathematician Ptolemy (87 to 150 AD), and which can be viewed via the following web page (at "Book 2, Chapter 1"):  http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/home.html .
 
On September 22nd 2004, the Turoe & Knocknadala complex also became the subject of a "written submission" which An Board Pleanala invited at the time, and which they also went on to completely ignore (as far as I know). The full text of the written submission in question, which was copied to several senior politicians, can be seen at http://www.finnachta.com/Hotmail22Sept2004/KnocknadalaN6.htm .
 
Allowing for the above, and for reasons which I feel should be obvious, I hope the Turoe & Knocknadala complex might be added to the new Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland's list - especially as it is the case, as stated in the "Aughrim Battlefield Site" section above that: "The contract to build the road was agreed last month (April 2007)".
 
Also, there is what I regard as another very important heritage site in the area which is closely connected with the Battle of Aughrim (1691 AD), and which is at present in an extremely precarious situation, thanks very largely to the newly constructed Greenstar/National Toll Roads "SuperDump" nearby (in the Kilconnell area). The heritage site I refer to here is the "Woodlawn House" complex, which was built by members of the Trench family. (Objections to this huge rubbish dump being located so close to Woodlawn House were raised with An Bord Pleanala, but completely ignored by them. For more on this issue please see at http://www.finnachta.com/BordPleanalaAppeal.htm .)
 
Members of the Trench family played a leading part in the Battle of Aughrim: frequently described by reputable historians as the "most decisive battle in recorded Irish history (i.e. 'Ireland's Gettysburg')". According to local legend, the whole tide of the battle, which was heading in the direction of a victory for Catholic King James, very suddenly turned when, late on this day of wholesale slaughter (possibly 20,000 or so killed), an officer in the Protestant army of King William took off one of his boots, rolled it up and placed in under the wheel of a cannon for the purpose of getting the aim he wanted: and decapitated St Ruth (the French general who led King James's army at Aughrim) with the resulting shot he fired. 
 
Correctly or otherwise, it is widely believed locally, that what was later to become "Woodlawn House", and thousands of acres of land surrounding it, was the reward for the officer in question: who was a member of the Trench family. In addition, that branch of the Trench family was also given the title of "Lord Ashtown". More on Woodlawn House and the Trench family, including some photographs, can be seen at http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/wh/index.html .
 
I hope, and again for reasons which I feel should be obvious, that the "Woodlawn House" complex might also be added to the new list drawn up by the Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland (as shown under the May 17, 2007 21:59 posting above). 
 
Related Link: http://www.europeancourtofhumanrightswilliamfinnerty.com 
 
====================
 
The above text has been copied from the following Indymedia (Ireland) location:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82427&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment194667
 
 ===========
 
Members of the Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland may be interested to know that all of the above mentioned heritage sites, 1) the HILLFORT AT RAHALLY, 2) Turoe & Knocknadala, 3) "Aughrim Battlefield Site", and 4) Woodlawn House, are either located on, or very close to, the Esker Riada, which I believe might perhaps also qualify for addition to your list of heritage sites in need of protection at the present time. As you may already know, the Esker Riada is know as "An Sli Mor" ("The Big Road") in the Irish language, and much of it has already been destroyed as a result of sand-mining operations. If it is not watched and protected, it seems likely (to me) that much more of the little that now remains, will also disappear.
 
For those who may not know, and allowing for the fact that modern Irish historians and archaeologists seem to have largely ignored it, the Esker Riada appears to have been the most important of "The Five Great Roads of Ancient Ireland". Formed naturally at the end of the last Ice Age (approximately 10,000 years ago), it consists of gravel and rock deposits which remained after the huge ice-face, which was moving towards the equator apparently, had melted, and which meant the rocks and gravel it contained were laid down in a fairly straight line that runs across the centre of Ireland in an east/west direction, between what are now know as Counties Galway and Dublin. In some places, it consists of parallel ridges, as is the case between Ballinasloe and Galway Bay, where all four of the above mentioned heritage sites are located. 
 
At the Galway end, the Esker Riada runs close to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean at the most easterly point of Galway Bay, around the area where the Dunkellen and Clarenbridge rivers flow into the sea. These two rivers, with their plentiful supplies of freshwater, close to a ready-made thoroughfare right across the centre of Ireland, appear to have made this place an ideal port for long-distance mariners (of all kinds!!) during ancient times. In such times this renowned seaport was know as "Ath Cliath Magh Ri", and it is referred to as such (I understand) in numerous ancient texts. 
 
"A dindshenchas tale tells that 'the swift ships which sailed the high seas frequented Ath Cliath Magh Ri in Galway of the harbours"  (For more on this and closely related topics please see http://www.handofhistory.com .)
 
However, the event which seems to make the Esker Riada REALLY important, from a human history viewpoint, relates to the fact that  a group of Celtic monks founded the monastery at Clonmacnoise in 548 AD, at the point where the river Shannon cuts through the Esker Riada, a little to the south of the town we call Athlone today. Accompanied by their wives and children it seems, this now extinct order of Celtic monks went on to construct what eventually become (in effect) the world's first major Christian university; and, from Clonmacnoise this group of monks, together with their many students, who came from all over Europe, re-launched western civilisation and culture: during and after the fall of the ancient Roman Empire. Sadly, as some will see it, the Celtic monks, known at the time as the "Ceile De" order, which roughly translates to "Partners of God", were "decommissioned" by Rome shortly after the Anglo Norman Invasion of Ireland in 1169 AD. For anybody interested, more information on these Celtic monks of ancient times can be found via http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Celtic+Monks,+Ceile+De,+Culdees,&btnG=Search .
 
Some additional information on the Esker Riada, of a general nature, can also be found at http://homepage.tinet.ie/~williamfinnerty/chaplefinnerty/esker/riada1.htm .  
 
===========
 
Related web site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheCelticParty