Harvesting the Stars – A Pagan Temple at Lismullin, Co. Meath by Aidan O'Connell et al

Can be found on Amazon 

This archaeological monograph provides an account of the pre-historic ritual landscape discovered during the preparation for the construction of the M3 in Ireland.

There is always a challenge in the interpretation of “ritual” features when there is no written record of the belief system that created them. There must always be a certain degree of creativity in the development of the account of their meaning.

What becomes clear, at least, is the sophistication of the culture – there are a number of different phases to the landscape and a wealth of interrelated features.

Central to the account is the “temple” at Lismullin – this is the most significant feature discovered during this archaeological programme of work – but it sits within a wider landscape of other significant known features.

Of particular interest is its alignment to the Pleiades star cluster – we are familiar with pre-historic monuments being aligned to astronomical features – but mostly, like Stonehenge, these seem to be sun rises on key dates in the year. To be aligned to the stars seems to suggest that where ever happened in the enclosure must have happened at night, when the stars would be visible – but what happened and what it meant is largely closed to us.