The return of the summer is being welcomed in Westmeath today as The Bealtaine Fire Festival celebrates one of Ireland's oldest traditions.
Although it stands just 596ft above sea level, the summit of the hill commands extensive panoramic views over Ireland's central plain.Around 5,000 people are expected to attend the cultural festival today with talks and tours of the hill also taking place, before the fires are lit just after sunset tonight.
"And we would presume those fires go back a lot earlier than even that, back to prehistoric times," he said. "She meets them at the summit of the Hill of Uisneach and says that she will give the Gaelic people the land as long as they promise to name it after her.""We think the idea of the fires, and Bealtaine itself, goes back to the movement of cattle twice a year."
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