The Royal Irish Academy published a book, Tara and the Ark of the Covenant, describing the conflict between Irish patriots and groups that believe the Ark of the Covenant was buried in Ireland:
During 1899 and 1902, members of the British-Israel Association of London came to County Meath to dig up the Hill of Tara.
These 'British-Israelites' believed they would find buried there the Ark of the Covenant, the chest said to contain the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets.
Their strange and unlawful activity provoked a protest from cultural figures such as William Butler Yeats, Douglas Hyde and Maud Gonne - who lit a bonfire and sang ‘A nation once again’ on Tara.
The Press supported their protests, making this the first media campaign to save a national monument.
This book tells the story of the British-Israelite excavations on Tara in its archaelogical, historical, cultural and political context.
Who were the excavators? Was their mission entirely eccentric, or part of the deeper story of class acrimony and emergent nationalism? How successful was the backlash? Historian and archaeologist Máiread Carew pieces together the narrative of Tara and the Ark in lively and meticulous detail, showing how the clash between the British-Israelites and the cultural nationalists represented colonialism versus emergent nationalism.
While the British-Israelites dreamt of sacred treasure, the Irish patriots battled to save a national monument, making this more than just a strange interlude in history.
These "strange" beliefs weren't actually as strange as they were presented though.
There are many arguments that actually support this belief.
For instance, the booklet, The Throne of Britain: Its Biblical Origin and Future, describes in detail:
- how David's throne was promised to last until the Messiah could claim it.
- how the Davidic line didn't end with the death of King Zedekiah.
- how Jeremiah was given a commission "over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant".
- how the King's daughters were taken by Jeremiah and Baruch to Egypt, then to Spain, and finally to Ireland.
- how they took with them Jacob's pillow, David's harp, and the Ark (containing the original Torah).
- how the Ark was buried in the Hill of Tara (=Torah).
- how princess Teia Tephi joined the Irish royal family.
- how that line was transferred to Scotland (taking Jacob's pillow = Liá Fail = Stone of Scone = Stone of Destiny).
- how that line was transferred to England.
As a whole it sounds somewhat fantastic, but most of the individual pieces are supported by reputable historians.
For instance:
Harvard professor Barry Fell wrote: "One of the ancient names of Ireland is Ibheriu, pronounced as Iveriu, a fact that suggests the word is derived from a still-earlier pronunciation, Iberiu.
Now this is very interesting, for the Gaelic histories assert that the ancestors of the Gaels came to Ireland from Iberia, the old name of Spain.
Could Iberiu be the same as Iberia, the name of the older homeland having been transferred to the younger? Many people, including some linguists, think this may well be the case" (America B.C.: Ancient Settlers in the New World, 1976, p. 43).
The connection between Iveriu and Hebrew is even stronger when we realize that the Hebrew word for "Hebrew" is actually pronounced Ivri.
and:
“‘Tara,’ says Dr. Hanan, is almost pure Hebrew for Torah, which means ‘law,’ and the original tables of the law were in the ark which, curiously enough, Irish history says is buried with Tea.”
— Irish archæologist Dr. Denis Hanan, quoted by R.H. McDonald in his article “The Hill of Tara” in The Journal of the British Archæological Association, Volume 1, 1985.
and this description is very much like Jeremiah and Baruch:
Many of the ancient Irish records, when making reference to an ‘eastern king's daughter’, also mention an old man; ‘a patriarch, a saint, a prophet’ called ‘Ollam Fodhla’ and his scribe-companion called ‘Simon Brug, Brach, Breack, Barech, or Berach’, as it is variously spelled.
Reportedly, they carried with them many ancient relics.
Among these were a harp, and ark or chest, and a stone called in Gaelic, ‘Lia-Fail’ (pronounced Leeah-Fail), meanding ‘Stone of Fate’ or ‘Hoary of Destiny’.
— Israelology - The Birthright, House of Israel, Kingdom, and Sons of God - Paul H. Andree, III - Google Books
and:
ELSEWHERE, mention has been made of the Irish Lia Fail, Stone of Fate, Fatal Stone, or Stone of Destiny, generally believed to have been the Irish Kings' Inauguration Stone, afterwards used for Pictish and Scottish kings at Scone, ultimately becoming the Coronation Stone in Westminster Abbey.
— The Lia Fail, or the Stone of Destiny - Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions
Queen Victoria herself, believed that the British royal family was directly descended from the Israelite royal family.
It is the royal family’s tradition to have their male babies circumcised by a Jewish mohel.
One listing of the genealogy appears in Queen Victoria Heir to King David's Royal Throne:
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- K David, b c 1085, 1015, Bathsheba
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- K Solomon, b c 1003, 975 Naamah
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- K Rehoboam, b c 1016, d 958, Maacah
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- K Abijam, b c 958, 955
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- K Asa, b c 955, 914, Azubah
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- K Jehosaphat, b c 914, 889
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- K Jehoram, b c 889, 885, Athaliah
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- K Ahaziah, b c 906, 884; Zibiah
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- K Joash, b c 885, 839, Jehoaddan
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- K Amaziah, b c 864, d 810, Jecholiah
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- K Uzziah, b c 826, d 758, Jerushah
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- K Jotham, b c 783, d 742
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- K Ahaz, b c 787, d 726, Abi
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- K Hezekiah, b c 751, d 698, Hephzibah
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- K Manasseh, b c 710, d 643, Meshullemeth
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- K Amos, b c 621, d 641, Jedidah
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- K Josiah, b c 649, d 610, Hamutah
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- K Zedekiah, b c 578, 599
…
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- Duke Edward of Kent, 1767, 1820, Princess Victoria of Leinengen
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- Queen Victoria, b 1819, cr 1838, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg > …
which extends down to the present royal family.
Searching for "Jeremiah Baruch Ireland" will find many (both good and bad) articles on this topic.
