Dear Ms Smith,
Please note that I have only very
recently got to know of your Sixth World Archaeological
Congress (at present taking place in Dublin, Republic of
Ireland).
Before your conference ends this coming
Friday (July 4th 2008), and for the purpose of trying to
ensure that similar heritage sites are better protected in
future, I would like to draw your attention to the destruction
(during recent years) of two heritage sites (located in the
Republic of Ireland) which I believe were both very
important.
1) The first was located at Baronstown,
and information (including some aerial photographs taken
shortly before destruction) can be found at the following
location:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/IndyMediaIreland/4July2007/Article.htm
.
I feel I should point out that the very large man-made
heritage site shown at the address just above was close to the
Great Banqueting Hall on the Hill of
Tara, which is believed by many to be the home of
Brehon Law -- which as you may already know,
is thought by some to have been the oldest and most
compassionate system of law ever used in Europe, and which
survived in parts of Ireland up to the mid 1600s AD.
Further information on King Ollamh Fodhla, the king
most closely associated with Brehon Law, and who (according to
the Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters, which was completed
in 1636 AD) ruled Ireland for the forty year period between
1317 and 1277 BC, can be found at the following address: http://www.kingollamhfodhla.com .
(Incidentally, there are many people who believe that the word
"Ulster" has evolved from the "Ollamh" part of King Ollamh
Fodhla's name.)
2) The second man-made site I
would now like to draw your attention to was located near the
world famous Turoe Stone (believed to be the
most important piece of Celtic stone-art in the world), and
some photographs (taken before, and after, the site in
question was destroyed) can be seen at the following location:
http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/grange.htm
.
I feel I should point out that the above site was
located between the Hill of Grange and the Esker
Riada - which, from a national heritage and
cultural viewpoint, is probably the most important of
Ireland's natural heritage monuments.
As you may already know,
and not without reason, the Esker Riada is known in the Celtic
language as "An Slí Mór", which literally
translates to "The Great Highway". (Some
further information on this 10,000 year old road, lengthy
parts of which are still in use, can be found at http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/chaplefinnerty/esker/riada1.htm
.)
Some information on the nearby Turoe
Stone can be found at: http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/protest/nov21_stone.htm
.
Finally, I believe it might (hopefully) be useful for
me to point out to you and your colleagues that I wrote to a
mixed group of people yesterday in connection with matters
relating to the Sixth World Archaeological
Congress (at present in progress), and that a copy of
the e-mail in question can now be viewed at the following
address: http://www.humanrightsireland.com/Media/1July2008/Email.htm
.
Yours sincerely,
William
Finnerty.
Related Link: http://www.humanrightsireland.com
