If you are seeking the spirit of the nation, take the old road to Tara

IN September 2004 the Meath Chronicle reported that Meath county councillors had agreed a motion “to invite Pope John Paul II to light the Pascal fire (for Easter) on the Hill of Tara as part of his proposed visit to Ireland in 2005”.

Cllr Alison Byrne, who proposed the motion, said: “It is in Meath that St Patrick, our patron saint, is said to have begun converting pagan Ireland to Christianity and explain the Holy Trinity with the aid of the three-leaf shamrock.”

Valerie J Keeley Archaeological Consultants Inc (VJK) had reported this tradition to Meath county council in their 1999 archaeological assessment of the N3 corridor between Navan and Dunshaughlin.