Tara
a parish in Meath co., Ireland, 21 miles N. W. of Dublin. It was a royal residence in the early days of Ireland and from the hill of Tara was brought the famous stone long used in the coronation of the Scotch kings at It is now in the chair of Edward the Confessor at Westminster. A sort of Parliament used to be held at Tara, in which all the nobles and principal scholars of Ireland met to institute new laws or to extend and renew old ones, and to examine and correct the national annals and history of the country.
TARAI. See TERAI.
TARA FERN (pteridium aquilina esculenta), a species of bracken, the rhizome of which was used as food by the Maoris before the British settlement of New Zealand. It is found in Australia, Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands.
TARANTISM (tăr'an-tizm), a dancing mania attributed to the bite of the tarantula spider. It was especially prevalent at Taranto in Apulia, Italy.