Other Publications

Mairead Carew & Ian McCarthy, Tara The Guidebook (Dublin, The Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation, August 23, 2016)

The Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland has been researching the great ceremonial complex at Tara, County Meath and its wider landscape since 1991. In that time, a series of interdisciplinary books have been published that have changed our understanding of Tara and its exceptional kingship. Tara: The Guidebook is a richly illustrated guidebook that presents this new information in an exciting and accessible format to a global audience. This is more than a guidebook. Readers can peruse the story of Tara at their leisure and find answers to numerous questions:

• Who built Tara and why?
• When were the monuments built and what were they used for?
• Did the people of Tara worship the stars?
• Who was Niall of the Nine Hostages?
• Did Romans live on the Hill of Tara?
• Did Queen Victoria wear the Tara brooch?
• Was the 1916 Proclamation read at Tara?

Dr Mairéad Carew is an archaeologist and cultural historian. Her book Tara and the Ark of the Covenant (Discovery Programme/Royal Irish Academy, 2003) tells the story of the British-Israelites quest to find the Ark of the Covenant at Tara between 1899 and 1902 and the international campaign to stop them led by many leading characters of the time, including W.B. Yeats, Douglas Hyde and Maude Gonne. Ian McCarthy is a graphic designer who works on the Discovery Prorgamme's publications and online material. He designed the guidebook to Dún Aonghasa on the Aran Islands.

Purchase Online:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tara-Guidebook-Mairead-Carew/dp/0953697320

Claire Cotter & Ian McCarthy, Dún Aonghasa The Guidebook (Dublin, The Discovery Programme, May 26, 2014)

Description

Purchase Online:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dun-Aonghasa-Guidebook-Claire-Cotter/dp/0953697312/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531910563&sr=1-4

Mairéad Carew, Tara and the Ark of the Covenant (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy for the Discovery Programme 2003), 172 ++

During 1899 and 1902, members of the British-Israel Association of London came to County Meath to dig up the Hill of Tara. These 'British-Israelites' believed they would find buried there the Ark of the Covenant, the chest said to contain the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets. Their strange and unlawful activity provoked a protest from cultural figures such as William Butler Yeats, Douglas Hyde and Maud Gonne - who lit a bonfire and sang ‘A nation once again’ on Tara. The Press supported their protests, making this the first media campaign to save a national monument. This book tells the story of the British-Israelite excavations on Tara in its archaelogical, historical, cultural and political context. Who were the excavators? Was their mission entirely eccentric, or part of the deeper story of class acrimony and emergent nationalism? How successful was the backlash? Historian and archaeologist Máiread Carew pieces together the narrative of Tara and the Ark in lively and meticulous detail, showing how the clash between the British-Israelites and the cultural nationalists represented colonialism versus emergent nationalism. While the British-Israelites dreamt of sacred treasure, the Irish patriots battled to save a national monument, making this more than just a strange interlude in history.

Purchase Online: https://www.ria.ie/publications/books/discovery-programme/tara-and-ark-covenant

Discovering the Bronze Age - Resource Teachers Pack (The Discovery Programme in association with Blackrock Education Centre, 1997)

The Discovery Programme A resource pack for teachings to help enhance lessons on The Bronze Age. Includes an A4 format, 38pp teacher's notes and teaching suggestions guide. Also includes 8 A4, double sided, photocopiable information sheets for students, on topics such as 'Homes and Settlements', 'Farming, Food and Cooking', 'Clothing and Jewellery', and others. A very useful resource for both primary and secondary school teachers instructing on the Bronze Age. Developed by The Discovery Programme in association with Blackrock Education Centre in 1997.