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Faery Tree - Hill of Tara

Samhain Get-together (8th November 2023) visited the tree after holding a gathering in the Western Woods.

Thanks to John for this updated photo on 29th May 2023

Aileen visited July 2022

Where once you stood with majestic grace,
And oft times you did offer a place
To think, to dream and to compose
Lines of poetry and of prose.

Such happy times with memories grand
In this most sacred, peaceful land
As I sit and ponder in this place,
Where once you stood with majestic grace.

©️
Aileen M 2022

John and Nora M at the Fairy Tree on Hill of Tara 21st December 2021

There was a lovely energy in the air. A definite feeling of positivity. Everyone was in great form, smiling and greeting each other. The fairy tree looks as if it may never bloom again.

7th June 2021 - amongst the nettles the hawthorn flowers.

Thanks to Anne N for these photos taken 13th May 2021

.... as she says...

I’m betting that as well as still being slightly attached at the main trunk that she is also putting new roots down. It may end up like the hawthorn at the pipers circle in Wicklow.

Regrowth on the hillside of the tree.

19th April 2021

The fairy tree is down but Bernadette has seen some new growth as well. Maybe rebirth going on there, you just never know. Rebirth is an important aspect of the Magic of the Land?

16th September 2020

Sid shared this picture and reported that all the leaves are dead now.

As Bernadette says: Maybe time to let go, move on. Very sad. Love that Tree.

19th July 2020

Although it's trunk is split the tree lives on.

June 2020 by Bernadette Mac.

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I wrote something in the Magic of the Land so I would like to write about the fairy tree on the Hill of Tara.

These pictures are just a few of many many photos I've taken of the fairy tree on the Hill of Tara.

The tree has been on my mind a lot lately, and others too who have visited her on many occasions, so I would like to share a little about the tree and my experience of it.

I remember the first time I was brought to the fairy tree many years ago I wished for healing. My life was in turmoil and I needed help to change it and it was a major change I needed.

A very good friend took me there. I made my wish. It was back in the late 90s. It took a long time, but my wish did come true. My life then changed in ways I never expected and today I am very grateful.

I've recently visited the Hill of Tara, just before the solstice, and after being in the Banqueting Hall I took a visit to the fairy tree where I see that she is going through major changes herself. I felt sad when I seen that. This beautiful tree is starting to let go in a big way.

Maybe there is a big message in nature and she's telling us that we need to let go. Maybe some of her shadows she is letting go of to show us balance.

There have been many of Celebrations done by the fairy tree down through the years on the Celtic calendar, the solstice, winter and summer, the equinoxes and many more or drumming, singing, chanting, picnics , and just being still.

Even though she's gone through major changes not only did I feel sadness but still felt the magic when I was there the other evening.

I gave great gratitude for all the wishes she had granted me and of course the trickery and the fun as some of my wishes came to me. I'm sure many of you experienced the fun of the fairy tree on the Hill of Tara.

I plan to follow her progress of her major changes over the next coming months, maybe year, as I have been thinking about a lot since I came home on Thursday evening the 25th of June 2020.

The photos are some of my favorites. I did take some the other evening which I will post at a later date but I just wanted to share with everybody the magic and wonder of this beautiful tree. The memories I have of spending time with friends who are no longer with us, friends who are still around today. The tree surely holds so many many memories and so many many wishes, and her major changes? maybe they're necessary.

Some might say that nature reflects what's going on in our world today and we can learn from nature and that is so true. Just like the first time I stopped at that fairy tree and made the wish as I was going through major changes. And I realised the other evening that it's time now to give this beautiful tree not only many hugs but a lot of healing and give back as she has given to us deep within our hearts.

So l end this just saying, YES. This tree is surely magical.

Bernadette Mac.

and previously.....

28th December 2018

John has provided a photo of the current state of this beloved hawthorn.

It has been looking in trouble for a while now. it looks like the left branch is just about holding on, it is touching the ground otherwise it would have broken off.

In spring it was full of blossom and in summer we sat under it's welcoming branches.

Other Fairy Trees on Hill of Tara


Venue: Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, Ireland

Shops and toilet block. Maguire's cafe and shop.

Read more on the monuments and a general map here

Navan Historical Society page on Tara - included is an excellent explanation of the word Bóthar - a type of road. Go to the link to discover the King's question after the response:

The King asked his lawyers one day on Tara why the Bóthar was measured as the length of one cow and the breadth of a second cow, and the lawyers answered; " A cow using a bóthar must have enough room to turn around and look at her calf trotting at her heels "

Link here to Samhain at Tara and Tara at Christmas

Faery Tree - read Bernadette Mac's blog for up-to-date info on the state of the Faery Tree - Hill of Tara

Info updated 22 October 2020

Tara - Temair in Gaeilge - is a unique heritage site maintained by the State OPW department. Open to the public 24/7, with a visitor centre in the decommissioned church open in the summer. There is a cafe with gift shop (Maguires), a small book shop and art gallery, and toilets. Parking is free but can get very congested in small car parks or on the roadside. Busy and noisy with tourists, there are places where one can be alone, in the western woodlands, and furthest ends of the grassland ridge. Magnificent distant views over the central plain of Ireland, with Loughcrew in the northwest, Dublin in the east and the white stone fronted Newgrange often sunlit and visible in the north east. Many are drawn to experience the changing energies at sunrise and sunset, the sky wide and expansive above your head. At night the moon hangs low over the Mound of the Hostages, the Milky Way aligns with the Banqueting Hall and The Plough circles overhead.

Arriving on the bus or driving up from the Gabhra valley The Hill appears as a ridge, just another roll in the landscape, apparently insignificant in the rise and fall of the surrounding countryside.

Yet, if you hear a call, a desire, a gut feeling, you will follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, climb the gentle hill and discover what you came for. Whatever we hold within ourselves Tara will enlarge, enhance, embolden and clarify. Tara has a child-like quality, no agenda, and will weaken or strengthen you. It will greet you with open arms or push you away for no apparent reason. But it is probable that you will leave knowing that you have had 'an experience', accepted or rejected.

The energies are often seen as yellow and maybe it is no coincidence that part of the area is known as Castleboy (boy = bui = yellow). Yellow, the colour of the 3rd chakra, the solar plexus, your 'will-power'.

A prayer for Tara

Gurbh míle maith agat Tara agus céad mile Buíochas duit.

May the rain fall softly on your fields and the sun shine warmly on your stones. May you always have a friend at your back. May you have wise and articulate council to carry your voice. May you have a community that love, support and value you. May you go forward with a sense of hope and enthusiasm. May your essence live here as long as you wish. May the aurora light your starry filled night skies. May you always be alluringly beautiful. May all peoples find succour from your rounded breasts. May you continue to nourish the world and may the world be nourished by you.

Tara go deo.