§ SIR THOMAS ESMONDETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if the Government can take any steps to prevent the devastation of Tara; and whether he will introduce a Bill in the Autumn session to make these historic remains national property with a view to their preservation.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) The mounds at Tara are amongst the works included in the Schedule to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act of 1882. The effect of their being so scheduled is that any person, other than the owner, who injures or defaces the mounds maybe prosecuted. The owner cannot be restrained unless the custody of the earthworks has been vested by deed in the Commissioners of Public Works. 1109 No such deed has been executed in the present instance, but I am informed that the owner stopped in June last the excavations which were then in progress, and that it is extremely unlikely that they will be renewed.