Ireland's 'Stone of Destiny' Intentionally Damaged

From Independent.ie

Hammer vandals damage 5,500-year-old 'Stone of Destiny'

By Louise Hogan
Thursday June 14 2012

The Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny, Tara, Ireland. Image from Wikipedia.

GARDAI are hunting vandals who attacked a 5,500-year-old standing stone at the Hill of Tara in Co Meath with a hammer.

Damage has been caused in 11 places on all four faces of the Lia Fail Standing Stone -- also know as the 'Stone of Destiny' -- which is mentioned in ancient texts about the High Kings of Ireland.

Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan last night said his department was examining the possibility of increasing surveillance at such monuments.

An archaeologist from the National Monuments Service carried out a detailed examination of the monument after the Office of Public Works (OPW) discovered the damage at the weekend.

Archaeologist Tom Condit said the damage was visible on the stone's surface but a search of the area did not reveal any of the fragments, which may indicate that they were taken away.

Mr Condit said such "obviously wanton" damage was rare.  "It is disturbing that someone would select a site as well known and as vulnerable as that," he said.

But Mr Condit warned that "short of closing sites off" it was difficult to protect them.  He urged anyone with information to inform the gardai.

Under the National Monuments acts, anyone convicted of interfering with a national monument can face a fine of up to €10m or five years' imprisonment.

Dr Conor Newman, chairman of the Heritage Council, said: "So many of our items are out in the open and it is a terrible breach of the trust that we rely on to protect and guard such monuments. It wouldn't be the right thing or possible to police all monuments. We rely on trust, public vigilance.''

- Louise Hogan

Irish Independent

Stone of Scone a Fake?

This is news? I thought it was well known the Stone of Scone a/k/a the Stone of Destiny is a fake! Story at The Telegraph.co.uk: Stone of Destiny is fake, claims Alex Salmond By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent Last Updated: 1:41PM BST 16/06/2008 Scottish, English and British monarchs have been crowned on the ancient coronation stone since the ninth century. It spent 700 years under the chair in Westminster Abbey after it was seized in 1296 by King Edward I, and was finally returned to Scotland 12 years ago. It has since been viewed at Edinburgh Castle by tens of thousands of people, and is regarded as a symbol of Scottish independence. According to legend, Jacob used the ancient stone as a pillow when he dreamt of a ladder to heaven. But Scotland's First Minister is convinced that it may be no more than a worthless lump of Perthshire sandstone. He believes it was passed off as the real coronation stone when Edward stormed Scone Abbey in 1296. Mr Salmond said: "If you're the abbot of Scone and the strongest and most ruthless king in Christendom is charging toward you in 1296 to steal Scotland's most sacred object and probably put you and half of your cohorts to death, do you do nothing and wait until he arrives or do you hide yourself and the stone somewhere convenient in the Perthshire hillside? I think the second myself." He is not even convinced that the "fake" stone plundered from Scone was the same one that was returned to Scotland by Michael Forsyth, the then Tory Scottish Secretary, in 1996. Rest of story.