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264 THE TARA BROOCH.
Tara
Brooch — a name which serves well enough to distinguish it from other
brooches, but which cannot be said to have any historical
appropriateness. Whatever truth there may be in the legendary
magnificence of " Tara's Halls," there is no reason to suppose that
this brooch was ever displayed within its walls. These walls, whatever
their nature, were represented by green mounds and grassy rath-circles,
such as may be seen to-day, when the so-called Tara Brooch left the
hands of the craftsman who made it.
After
a time the Tara Brooch was sold to the Royal Irish Academy for two
hundred pounds (one thousand dollars) which, though by no means an
exorbitant price, was again a very fair profit for Messrs. Waterhouse.
The
form and workmanship of the Brooch are of an early Celtic type, and it
is believed by competent authorities to be extremely ancient, dating
probably from before the eighth century. At any rate, it may with
confidence
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