Tara Maclay 4 and 5
What is Tara's primary role?
What is Tara's primary role?
When Tara and Willow meet, their proficiency at magic is about the same, but Tara's knowledge of the craft far exceeds Willow's. Tara reveals that she has been practicing magic for most of her life, as her deceased mother had also been a powerful witch. Throughout season 4, Tara acts as a partner and guide in Willow's witchcraft, teaching Willow spells and performing magic together. Willow, however, is inherently talented, despite being new to the craft, and begins to progress much faster than Tara in the fifth season, including experimentations in dark magic. Tara struggles with understanding her place among the Scoobies with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the leader, with which has a very friendly relationship; Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow's friend since childhood; and Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), their mentor. Tara's primary role throughout the series is that of Willow's partner. She feels somewhat useless until the fifth season episode "Family" when the entire Scooby Gang (Spike included) makes it clear that she is unquestionably a part of them. The episode introduces some of Tara's blood family: a cold, authoritarian father who has lied to her all her life (telling her that her magical powers are a result of her being part-demon on her mother's side); an overbearing brother; and a judgmental, repressed and repressive cousin; all of whom Tara dismisses at the end of the episode. Tara later reveals in "The Body" that her mother had died when she was 17. In the following episode, when Dawn is acting out, Tara confides to Buffy that she had to deal with her brother after her mother's death. No more of her backstory is revealed in the series.  As Willow's character grows more self-assured and powerful through the seasons, Tara takes over some of the role of being placed in peril and needing to be rescued. The fifth season's primary villain, or Big Bad, is Glory, a goddess too powerful for Buffy to fight alone. Glory tortures Tara in order to gain information on the Key, but Tara asserts willpower and resists Glory, resulting in Glory stealing her sanity, and prompting Willow to go searching for retribution. Glory states she feels "buzzed" after feeding on Tara's mind, indicating Tara's powerful intellect (and possibly suggesting her power as a witch).  Buffy scholar Ian Shuttleworth writes that Benson was able to "admirably" portray the same range of emotions inherent in Tara although the character loses her identity. Willow's powers are significant enough that she is able to battle Glory more effectively than Buffy, if not completely successfully. In the final episode of season 5, Willow uses her magic to restore Tara's sanity, significantly weakening Glory in the process.  Tara also becomes a guide of sorts, and a maternal figure. She appears to Buffy in a dream in the fourth season finale "Restless" to tell her about the arrival of Buffy's sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) and act as a translator for the voiceless First Slayer. Following the death of Joyce Summers and Buffy's sacrifice to save the world at the end of the fifth season, Tara and Willow move into the Summers house, taking Joyce's bedroom and becoming Dawn's surrogate parents. CANNOTANSWER
Throughout season 4, Tara acts as a partner and guide in Willow's witchcraft, teaching Willow spells and performing magic together.
Tara Maclay is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love with Willow Rosenberg, one of the core characters. Together, they help Buffy Summers, who has been given superhuman powers to defeat evil forces in the fictional town of Sunnydale.

Willow was a popular character when Tara was introduced, and the onset of their relationship was met with some resistance from fans. Tara grows from a reserved girl who is unsure of herself to being the moral center of Buffy's circle of friends, named the Scooby Gang. Her relationship with Willow is consistently positive, and the first recurring depiction of a lesbian couple on prime time network series television in the United States. Tara is killed by a stray gunshot toward the end of the sixth season, causing Willow to go on a rampage. Series writers and producers received angry protests from some fans when Tara was killed. Whedon upheld that it was the necessary course to take to propel Willow's story arc further; both the show's producers and Amber Benson deny that there was any malicious intent behind the decision. Tara was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters, ranking at No. 15.

Creation and casting

Tara is introduced in the fourth season episode "Hush" as a college student who attends a Wicca meeting where Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) goes to find some like-minded people. Tara is hesitant to speak out during the meeting and has a pronounced stammer that returns throughout the series when she is upset. She reacts positively during the meeting to Willow's suggestion that the Wiccan group discuss spellcasting, but the rest of the group scoff at the suggestion and silence Tara and Willow. Tara was created to appear in only a few episodes as a friend with whom Willow could learn magic and develop her skills. Amber Benson had known Hannigan previously, but did not tell her she was up for the part. Benson almost missed a callback audition because she left town, but the casting department postponed the session so she could return and read. When she did, Hannigan found her on set and upon learning she was up for the role, told Whedon to hire Benson at the same moment Benson got the call from her agent that she had won the part. Benson and Hannigan had such chemistry that the relationship was written to be more intimate. In "Hush", Tara and Willow each individually attempt to use magic to move a heavy object, without success. They then join hands and easily fling the object across the room. Whedon and the producers found the scene to be very sensual. Network executives also noticed the chemistry between the actresses. After some discussion, Whedon informed Benson and Hannigan that the characters would become lovers.

Willow was featured from the beginning of the series and already had a strong fanbase. Earlier in the fourth season, she had a boyfriend named Oz (Seth Green), who abruptly left town. Oz returns in the episode "New Moon Rising", determined to win Willow back. That episode marked the first time Tara is introduced to the Scooby Gang as a whole, and Willow is faced with choosing between Tara and Oz. She favors Tara in the end, causing some of the show's fans to react angrily on the fansite message boards, with some leaving homophobic remarks and characterizing Benson as overweight and unattractive. Benson, who was referred to as "astoundingly non-Hollywood" by a Scottish journalist, frequented the boards and read the comments, finding them hurtful and taking some of them personally. She responded, protesting that she was, at  and , quite slender, although she appears larger than her more petite costars. She went on to write:

Network executives encouraged the lesbian element in the relationship, but put strict guidelines on what could be shown. For several episodes in the fourth season, Tara and Willow's friendship grows as they practice magic. To work within the censorship imposed on their relationship, writers used allusions to spells and witchcraft to symbolize their affection and growing sexuality. Willow does not tell her friends about Tara for several episodes, instead just expressing the wish to spend time with Tara, where she can have something just for herself. Tara is unwaveringly supportive and committed to Willow.

Seasons

4 and 5
When Tara and Willow meet, their proficiency at magic is about the same, but Tara's knowledge of the craft far exceeds Willow's.  Tara reveals that she has been practicing magic for most of her life, as her deceased mother had also been a powerful witch. Throughout season 4, Tara acts as a partner and guide in Willow's witchcraft, teaching Willow spells and performing magic together.  Willow, however, is inherently talented, despite being new to the craft, and begins to progress much faster than Tara in the fifth season, including experimentations in dark magic. Tara struggles with understanding her place among the Scoobies with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the leader, with whom she has a very friendly relationship; Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow's friend since childhood; and Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), their mentor. Tara's primary role throughout the series is that of Willow's partner. She feels somewhat useless until the fifth season episode "Family" when the entire Scooby Gang (Spike included) makes it clear that she is unquestionably a part of them. The episode introduces some of Tara's blood family: a cold, authoritarian father who has lied to her all her life (telling her that her magical powers are a result of her being part-demon on her mother's side); an overbearing brother; and a judgmental, repressed and repressive cousin; all of whom Tara dismisses at the end of the episode. Tara later reveals in "The Body" that her mother had died when she was 17. In the following episode, when Dawn is acting out, Tara confides to Buffy that she had to deal with her brother after her mother's death. No more of her backstory is revealed in the series.

As Willow's character grows more self-assured and powerful through the seasons, Tara takes over some of the role of being placed in peril and needing to be rescued. The fifth season's primary villain, or Big Bad, is Glory, a goddess too powerful for Buffy to fight alone. Glory tortures Tara in order to gain information on the Key, but Tara asserts willpower and resists Glory, resulting in Glory stealing her sanity, and prompting Willow to go searching for retribution.  Glory states she feels "buzzed" after feeding on Tara's mind, indicating Tara's powerful intellect (and possibly suggesting her power as a witch).

Buffy scholar Ian Shuttleworth writes that Benson was able to "admirably" portray the same range of emotions inherent in Tara although the character loses her identity. Willow's powers are significant enough that she is able to battle Glory more effectively than Buffy, if not completely successfully. In the final episode of season 5, Willow uses her magic to restore Tara's sanity, significantly weakening Glory in the process.

Tara also becomes a guide of sorts, and a maternal figure. She appears to Buffy in a dream in the fourth season finale "Restless" to tell her about the arrival of Buffy's sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) and act as a translator for the voiceless First Slayer. Following the death of Joyce Summers and Buffy's sacrifice to save the world at the end of the fifth season, Tara and Willow move into the Summers house, taking Joyce's bedroom and becoming Dawn's surrogate parents.

6 and comics
Tara becomes more outspoken during the sixth season about the ethics of Willow's use of magic, cautioning Willow that she depends too much on it. The dynamics of their relationship suddenly turn during "Once More, with Feeling". Willow had cast a spell on Tara to alter her memory in the preceding episode and Tara finds out about it during "Once More, with Feeling", the musical episode of the series. Tara was given a prominent role in the musical due to the skill of Benson's voice: she sings a love ballad to Willow, a duet with Giles, and backup in two other songs. The musical nature of the episode compelled the characters to express what they had been feeling secretly, or had refused to admit to themselves. Tara's song is a fervent and explicit expression of love for Willow which she had not made clear to the audience until this point. Tara later sings with Giles that she will leave Willow if she does not change. Self-conscious about her singing abilities, Hannigan requested not to be given a song and sings only a few lines in the episode. Critics saw this as Tara's personality becoming more forceful as Willow begins to show signs of weakness as she is overtaken by her addiction. Tara challenges Willow to go for a week without using any magic. Willow almost immediately breaks her promise, however, and Tara leaves her at the end of "Tabula Rasa". Tara remains a part of the group, spending time with Dawn, and non-judgmentally acting as Buffy's confessor when Buffy divulges she has a painful and compulsive sexual relationship with Spike, a vampire whom she loathes.

Despite their separation, Tara remains devoted to Willow's recovery and supports her in her decision to abstain from using magic. She is, according to author Lorna Jowett, one of the few characters who is never seduced by evil. Shuttleworth notes that most Buffy characters go through a rite of transformation except for Tara. Among female characters she is the most virtuous. Like the other Buffy characters in the series whose names have symbolic interpretations, Tara's name resembles the Latin terra, meaning "earth." She is solidly grounded, with Willow attached to her, and Benson's body more naturally representative of women. Tara is wholly feminine both in dress and demeanor, as opposed to Buffy and (less) Willow mostly dressed with trousers and jackets, but never seeks male approval. She is clad in earthy, natural colors, long flowing skirts and clinging blouses, with an intent to comfort instead of arouse as other women on the show are dressed. Her admonishments to other characters are always made with love, with their best interests at heart. Even Tara's last words, commenting that Willow's shirt is stained (with Tara's own blood), indicate her preoccupation with the welfare of others.

Tara has also appeared in The Long Way Home, Always Darkest, Retreat, and the one-off Willow.

Death and response

After tentatively courting each other in "Entropy", Tara returns to Willow, and they reconcile through the next episode, "Seeing Red". Throughout the season, Buffy is dogged by three techno-nerds calling themselves The Trio, who envision themselves to be supervillains, with Buffy their nemesis. She continues to foil their plans, and during "Seeing Red", Warren Mears, one of the Trio, arrives at Buffy's house with a gun. He shoots several rounds, hitting Buffy, and the last stray shot hits Tara through the heart, killing her as Willow looks on. Willow is taken over by a dark alter ego, going on a rampage, torturing Warren and skinning him alive. She then attempts to murder the other two members of the Trio, but is unsuccessful. To end her pain, she attempts to end the world. Xander stops her by forcing her to deal with her grief in a healthy, non-violent way.

During the fifth season, Whedon informed Benson that Tara would be killed off. He saw it as necessary to further Willow's character; she had to deal with her dark powers, but nothing short of Tara's death would allow them to come out so forcefully. Tara had become popular among fans, and Whedon and series writer David Fury decided that her death would elicit a strong response, something that Whedon felt sure was the correct course to take. He was unprepared, however, for how forcefully viewers reacted to Tara's death. Fans were so upset that some stopped watching. Because the death came at the end of an episode where Willow and Tara were portrayed in bed between sexual encounters, critics accused Whedon of implying that lesbian sex should be punishable by death, a familiar trope in film. Producers were inundated with mail from people—women especially—who expressed their anger, sadness, and frustration with the writing team. Series writer and producer Marti Noxon was unable to read some of the mail because it was so distressing, but she counted the response as a natural indication that television simply had few strong female role models, and no lesbian representation.

Benson defended Whedon in 2007, saying he "is 100 percent behind the LGBT community. I know this for a fact." Author Rhonda Wilcox writes that Tara's death is made more poignant by her earthy naturalness representing the "fragility of the physical". Roz Kaveney comments that Tara's murder is "one of the most upsetting moments of the show's seven seasons", and Nikki Stafford states that the episode in which Tara dies is possibly the most controversial of the series, causing divisions about whether it was necessary, or assertions that Tara was created only to be killed. In response to fans and critics who accused the writers of being motivated by homophobia, Stafford comments, "they seem to forget that it was those same writers who created such an amazing, gentle, and realistic portrait in the first place; that Tara is certainly not the first character to be killed off on the show; and Tara was a lot more than just 'the lesbian', and her character deserves better than that." Kaveney concurs with the opinion that the series avoided playing a cliché, "proving that it is possible for a queer character to die in popular culture without that death being the surrogate vengeance of the straight world".

While other deaths of main characters in the Buffy universe have been reversed in some form (as has been the case with Buffy herself, Cordelia, Giles, Angel, Spike, Anya, Connor, Gunn, Fred, Illyria and Wesley), Tara remains dead as of the season 10 comic series. She remains one of only three main characters not to have been resurrected in any way, the others being Doyle and Lorne (whose actors have died).

Cultural impact

Although lesbianism had been addressed on U.S. television before Tara was introduced to Buffy, her relationship with Willow was heralded as a milestone. Previously depicted lesbian relationships had not shown characters as sexual beings, or even touching each other. Despite this, Tara and Willow's relationship was not heralded with any specific fanfare on the show; they are treated as other couples. Their relationship was frequently the subject of storylines, but no specific focus was on their identity as lesbians or the coming out process. Limited to what could be shown by the network, Tara and Willow are shown as consistently affectionate but not overly sexual. Manda Scott in The Herald wrote in 2002 that the lack of realistic displays of touching or kissing between Willow and Tara made their relationship implausible, but because no other portrayals of lesbian relationships were on television, its importance is undeniable. Tara and Willow did not kiss until the fifth season episode "The Body", which focused on the death of Joyce Summers. Not until Buffy moved from the WB to UPN in 2001 were Tara and Willow shown in sexual situations. Benson later recalled the issues of working with censors:

Like Whedon, Benson was surprised at the strength of the reaction to Tara's death. It indicated to her what kind of impact the characters had:

The Big Bad of the seventh season is the First Evil, who taunts Buffy and her friends by appearing as loved ones who previously died. Whedon asked Benson to appear as Tara to Willow in "Conversations with Dead People", but Benson turned down the role, concerned about what fans of the show would think about an evil Tara. Instead, the producers used Cassie, a character who dies early in the seventh season and speaks for Tara, telling Willow to kill herself. Whedon also considered bringing Tara back in a storyline where Buffy would be given one wish to be granted, but the possibility did not come to fruition.

Writer Peg Aloi calls the backlash at Whedon "staggering", and summarizes Tara's effect with Willow, stating that they were a single unit the moment they met: "Willow's need for approval and Tara's need for unconditional love allowed their supernova trajectory its singular, incendiary thrust toward its triumphant but tragic end; like all witches who burn, martyred by flames, they move on to a place where their gods are the right ones."

References

Bibliography

 Holder, Nancy; Mariotte, Jeff; Hart, Maryelizabeth (2000). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2, Pocket Books. 
 Jowett, Lorna (2005). Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan, Wesleyan University Press. 
 Kaveney, Roz (ed.) (2004). Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel, Tauris Parke Paperbacks. 
 Mitchell, Claudia; Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline (2008). Girl Culture: Studying Girl Culture — A Readers' Guide, ABC-CLIO. 
 Ruditis, Paul (2004). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 3, Simon & Schuster. 
 Stafford, Nikki (2007). Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ECW Press. 
 Tropiano, Stephen (2002). Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV, Applause Theater and Cinema Books. 
 Wilcox, Rhonda (2005). Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I. B. Tauris. 
 Yeffeth, Glenn (ed.) (2003). Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show, Benbella Books.

External links
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0004937/

Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters
Buffyverse characters who use magic
Female characters in television
Fictional characters from California
Fictional college students
Fictional LGBT characters in television
Fictional lesbians
Fictional witches
LGBT characters in comics
Television characters introduced in 1999
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional demon hunters
Fictional vampire hunters
Fictional telekinetics
Fictional stutterers
Fictional murdered people
American female characters in television
Tara Rafferty is a character in Irish legal drama "Striking Out". Tara is shown as a solicitor who goes out on her own after breaking up with her fiancée. Tara is the central character of the show. Tara is played by actress Amy Huberman. Huberman was nominated and won an IFTA award for her role as Tara in 2017. Tara's main storylines within the show have centred around her establishing herself as a lawyer on her own after she leaves the inner circle of Dunbar and Calloway solicitors due to end her engagement with her fiancée Eric.

Development
Prior to the series starting, Huberman described Tara as "a woman who feels she has everything going for her and then finds the rug being pulled from under her, both professionally and emotionally." Huberman later said that in her role you can be "voyeuristic".

In an interview Tara said about her character "Listen, I’m really happy to be playing a lead in a show, that she has a lot to do, she has important stuff to do in a legal capacity, she’s a strong character who has her flaws and has her strengths. You see both of them, and see that’s important as well that someone – especially a female character – can be flawed like male characters, with wins and losses and everything. I feel really grateful to be playing her."

Huberman explained in an interview about Series 2, "Amy Huberman: Even though she derailed, Tara found her feet on her own, and that independence fueled something in her that ended up meaning a lot more to her. I think she, in retrospect, looked at her life, and even though she thought that she had been happy, questioned what that happiness was. So we see her recovery, and even though she's still raw with the wounds of what happened, I think she's massively grateful."

Storylines
Tara is first introduced at her hen party before she marries fiancée Eric Dunbar (Rory Keenan). When she comes home from her hen party she finds Eric in bed having sex with Caroline (Natalie Radmall-Quirke) who is one of their colleagues. Tara ends the engagement with Eric and quits her job at his family firm. She then has to defend Ray Lamont (Emmet Byrne) who was caught trying to get a passport while already being out on bail. She successfully gets him keeping his bail. Tara then has to help a celebrity who had a sex tape leaked. She enlists Meg Reilly (Fiona O'Shaughnessy a private investigator to help her find where the sex tape was made. Tara then tries to assist an old friend who is being evicted from her home by her sister, Tara initially believes that the sister has no reason to evict her but soon learns differently. Due to helping her friend, Tara has to ask her mentor Vincent Pike (Neil Morrissey) to deal with Ray's trial. Tara then takes on a bigamy case after a man is admitted to hospital. She reluctantly uses the man's son to win the case for the wife who truly loved the bigamist. Tara then is asked by Ray to defend his friend who has had his child taken away by social services. Tara learns that the child was taken away due to drugs being in the home. Tara successfully gets custody of the child to its father but then finds that Pete  who owned the cafe where she was operating out of has been evicted due to breach of contract she learns that the Dunbar family are still out to get her. Tara briefly goes on a date with Pete (Brahm Gallagher) but it doesn't go anywhere. She is then shocked to find that Ray has been arrested and that she has been betrayed by Meg.

In the second season, after saying her goodbyes to Pete, Tara enlists Eric to help her bring down his father. Tara rents office space from solicitor George Cusack (Maria Doyle Kennedy) who in turn helps her get Ray out of jail. Tara confronts Meg about her betrayal to which Meg makes clear that Tara isn't the person she exclusively works for. Tara helps a father get custody of his daughter from a cult by unwillingly destroying the mother in court. Tara is forced to face her demons with Caroline when Caroline is representing the Catholic church in a case where a former nun is suing them. Tara and Caroline have a talk in a hotel bar but don't sort out their differences. Tara then takes on a case with a man claiming to have whiplash. She initially believes him but then doubts him and she reluctantly calls Meg in to investigate. Meg finds proof that the man was telling the truth so Tara gets an out of court settlement but is disturbed to learn that the man actually was committing fraud when Meg finds evidence to the contrary to what was found earlier. Later on Tara is shocked to learn that Vincent's inquiry that she was helping out on is being suspended because it is believed she has a conflict of interest. After a fight with Eric, Tara ends up having sex with his brother Sam (Moe Dunford). Tara helps Barry O'Brien the bigamist again when one of his wives is looking financial retribution over her split with him. Tara gives advice to his son Finbar who is unhappy with all the fighting between his parents which helps her get a resolution. After a meal with Vincent an unknown person was photographing her giving Vincent a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye.

Reception
In 2017 Amy Huberman won an IFTA award for her role as Tara. She was also nominated in 2018 but lost out to Caitriona Balfe. Liam Fay of The Times called Tara a "fluffy hero" of the drama. James Williams  that Tara was played so well by Huberman.

References

Television characters introduced in 2017
Female characters in television
Fictional Irish people
Fictional lawyers Tara Hill (Torrchoill in Irish) is an isolated hill and associated village near the Irish Sea coast in north County Wexford, Ireland. Though only  high, it dominates the landscape of northeast Wexford. It provides extensive views of the Wexford coast line, from Courtown harbour to Castletown.

Location 
Tara Hill is situated at a particularly high point along the south east coast of Ireland and is surrounded by flat residential and agricultural land. There is a small village located at the heart of the hill. Tara Hill is located approximately 7.1 km from Gorey Town Centre and 107.5 km from Dublin.

Contemporary village 
Tara Hill has many facilities including a church, a primary school (St Kevins), the local shop selling general groceries shut her doors in 2018 and a drumming school is using the building now. Businesses in the area include Sound Out Rhythm Music School, Tara Hill Honey and Ballinglen Stud.

The closest villages to Tara Hill are Castletown, Ballymoney and Courtown. Nearby Gorey serves as a market town for the area, with a range of grocery stores, fashion boutiques, and restaurants including, Katie Daly's, The Kitchen, and The Duck Restaurant at nearby Marlfield House.

Tara Hill has two main walking trails around the Marilyn starting close to the village centre [see Tourism].

The village is closely linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network from gorey connects it to Rosslare Europort.

Geography 
Due to its height relative to the surrounding landscape this hill qualifies as a Marilyn. It should not be confused with the much better known but much less prominent Royal Hill of Tara in County Meath, which is only 159m high.

The summit is marked by a cairn from where one can see nearby Gorey, Courtown and other villages and town-lands and views of the North Wexford coast.

Though only 253 metres high, it dominates the landscape of northeast Wexford and can be seen from Gorey Town Centre.

History 
Saint Caemhan or Kevin or Cavan, as the name is variously spelt is the Patron Saint of Tara Hill and the site of the old church founded by him is situated at Kilcavan at the north side of the hill under a cliff by the road.

The community in Tara Hill and Ballymoney announced in 2009 that they were making efforts to preserve the past, with plans to produce a new book on the social history of the area. A 'Minding Memories' night was held in Tara Hill to offer locals a chance to record their memories of the area back as far as the war years, and even earlier. It is said that several locals recalled Spencer's Hall on the bank of the North Beach, where dances were held in the 1940s and 1950s. Its foundations can still be seen. Others recalled Clince's Hall at the bottom of the Sea Road, where there was also a guest house. The hall is now a private dwelling. It too was used for dances and also for a table tennis club. Other people recalled the farming enterprises which were used to make money but also provided for the families themselves. Accounts have been given how Tara Hill Church also doubled as a school until the 'new school' was built in 1939. Other people recalled going to Gorey for the cattle fair day on a Friday, and how there were four different grocery stores in the town, each one patronised by people from different villages. The people of Tara Hill used to shop in Dwyers close to where the Loch Garman Arms is now. Several accounts of sightings of apparitions and strange lights in the woods of Tara Hill have also been recorded in local history adding to legend that it is reportedly haunted.

Tourism 
B&B's in the area include Tara Hill Lodge, Hillside House Bed & Breakfast, Daru House B&B, and Tara Haven. Seafield Hotel & Spa Resort in nearby Ballymoney, serves as a hotel for tourists staying in the local area. The area also has a number of beaches, including Clone Strand and nearby Ballymoney Beach. There are two trails on Tara Hill, starting from two different trailheads (Crab Tree – Blue and Cemetery – Red). The Red Slí an tSuaimhnais trail begins from Tara Hill cemetery just beyond the village itself. The Blue Slí na n-Óg trail, beginning from the Ballinacarrig parking place (known locally as the Crab Tree) goes to the higher slopes of Tara Hill itself.

Schools 
St. Kevin's National School is located in Tara Hill Village. The school caters for junior infants to 6th class pupils. The school regularly organises outings to nearby Tara Hill and Glendalough, and has a vegetable garden on its premises.

Sports 
The local GAA club (Castletown Liam Mellows) is located just meters down the road on the Castletown, Tara Hill border.

Religion 
St. Kevins Catholic church is located at Kilcavan Lower in Tara Hill.

See also
 Gorey
 Wexford
 List of towns and villages in Ireland

References 

Mountains and hills of County Wexford
Marilyns of Ireland