Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology.

It is believed this comes from Proto-Celtic *Temris and means a 'sanctuary' or 'sacred space' cut off for ceremony, cognate with the Greek temenos (τέμενος) and Latin templum.

[6] The oldest visible monument is Dumha na nGiall (the 'Mound of the Hostages'),[7] a Neolithic passage tomb built around 3,200 BC.

[6] During the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, a huge double timber circle or "wood henge" was built on the hilltop.

On top of the Forradh is a standing stone, which is believed to be the Lia Fáil ('Stone of Destiny') at which the High Kings were crowned.

In the Annals of Inisfallen (AI980.4) is a description of the Battle of Tara between Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill and the son of Amlaíb Cuarán.

[13] A 1791 illustration shows the church building internally divided into a nave and chancel, with a bell-tower over the western end.

The building is now used as a visitor centre, operated by the Office of Public Works (OPW), an agency of the Irish Government.

[16] The passage is shorter than monuments like Newgrange, making it less precise in providing alignments with the Sun, but Martin Brennan writes in The Stones of Time that "daily changes in the position of a 13-foot long sunbeam are more than adequate to determine specific dates".

[17] Early Irish literature records that a royal gathering called the 'feast of Tara' (feis Temro) was held there at Samhain.

[18] Historian Dáibhí Ó Cróinín writes that Tara "possessed an aura that seemed to set it above" the other royal seats.

[19] It is recorded as the seat of the High King of Ireland (Ard Rí) and is "central to most of the great drama in early Irish literature".

[20] Irish legend says that the Lia Fáil (Stone of Destiny) at Tara was brought to Ireland by the divine Tuatha Dé Danann, and that it would cry out under the foot of the true king.

[18] The reign of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, a historical king of Tara in the sixth century, was seen as particularly important by medieval writers.

[20] According to Irish mythology, during the third century a great battle known as the Cath Gabhra took place between High King Cairbre Lifechair, and the Fianna led by Fionn Mac Cumhaill.

[25] A group of British Israelists, led by retired Anglo-Indian judge Edward Wheeler Bird, set about excavating the site having paid off the landowner, Gustavus Villiers Briscoe.

Irish cultural nationalists held a mass protest over the destruction of the national heritage site, including Douglas Hyde, Arthur Griffith, Maud Gonne, George Moore and W. B. Yeats.

Maud Gonne made a more flamboyant protest by relighting an old bonfire that Briscoe had lit to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII.

[28] The religious order Missionary Society of St. Columban had its international headquarters at Dalgan Park, just north of the Hill of Tara.