County Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, for the area between Oristown and Donaghpatrick Kells. It was named for the Irish mythological figure or goddess,
Tailtiu
Tailtiu or Tailltiu (; modern spelling: Tailte) (also known as Talti) is the name of a presumed goddess from Irish mythology. The goddess's name is linked to Teltown (< OI ''Óenach Tailten'') in Co. Meath, site of the
< ...
. The
Tailtin Fair
The Tailteann Games, Tailtin Fair, Áenach Tailteann, Aonach Tailteann, Assembly of Talti, Fair of Taltiu or Festival of Taltii were funeral games associated with the semi-legendary history of Pre-Christian Ireland.
There is a complex of ancient ...
was held there in medieval times as a revival of the ancient ''
Aonach
An aonach or óenach was an ancient Irish public national assembly called upon the death of a king, queen, or notable sage or warrior as part of ancestor worship practices. As well as the entertainment, the óenach was an occasion on which kings ...
Tailteann'', and was revived as the Tailteann Games for a period in the twentieth century.
While mound structures near Teltown have been asserted in legends in the
Book of Invasions
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical a ...
to be ancient man-made
earthworks
Earthworks may refer to:
Construction
*Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour
*Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil
*Earthworks (military), mi ...
2500 years old, modern archaeological reports of the area suggest they date to at least the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
. Part of one of the
mounds
A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand.
Mound and Mounds may also refer to:
Places
* Mound, Louisiana, United States
* Mound, Minnesota, United States
* Mound, Texas, United States
* Mound, West Virginia
* ...
in the area called the Knockauns ( ga, na Cnocáin) was partially destroyed by
bulldozers
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous trac ...
for
urbanization
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...
in 1997. John O'Donovan claimed that loughs near a fort in the area called the
Rath Dhubh Rath may refer to:
Places Ireland
*Ráth Cairn, village in County Meath
*Rath, County Clare, a civil parish in County Clare
*Rath, County Offaly, a village in south-west Offaly
* Rath, County Tipperary, a townland in County Tipperary
* Two differ ...
"have the appearance of being artificial lakes and may have been used when the Olympic Games of Tailteann were celebrated by the Irish". He also mentions a tradition that the shade of Laogaire, the King of Tara, was imprisoned by
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints b ...
until
Judgement Day
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
to the east of Rath Dhubh in the Dubhloch.Malcolm, Nigel., & Quinn, Billy., Teltown Impact Assessment Report for Moore Archaeological and Environmental Services Limited, 2009. {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025210036/http://www.eirgridnortheastprojects.com/media/14.8%20Telltown%20Impact%20Assessment%20Report.pdf , date=2014-10-25
Annalistic references
The
Annals of Inisfallen
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between ann ...
states that " Muiredach son of Bran, king of Laigin, harried UíNéill as far as Sliab Fuait, and the Fair of Tailtiu was held."'' AI875.1 Kl.''