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Built
some 5,300 years ago, this holy place is one of the oldest built structures
in the world. Known in Gaelic as Uaimh na Gréine,
'the cave of the sun', Newgrange is a pagan monument,
with a vaulted roof and a cruciform |
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design. Its history is interwoven with intriguing myths and the mysteries of
its construction. The lore of its past calls ever-growing numbers of visitors
to this chamber of light. Newgrange is at the centre of an entire Boyne valley
megalithic culture and religious ritual. |
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Over
5,000 years old, the great tomb at Newgrange rises by the river Boyne just to
the East of Slane. The tomb is the passage grave which on the morning of the
winter solstice becomes filled with the dawn sunlight for one memorable moment
every year. At all other times of the year the tomb of a shrouded in darkness.Known
as the Bru Na Boinne, the tombs at Newgrange and at the neighboring sites of
Dowth and Knowth were built during the stone age, long before the pyramids of
Egypt. In all there are thousands of stone age monuments and structures surviving
in Ireland, and these "palaces by the Boyne" are among the grandest. During
pagan times, the sites were viewed with awe, indeed as palaces of the gods. |
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Newgrange
was said to have become the burial place of the high Kings of Tara. The funeral
procession would cross the Boyne river valley from the Hill of Tara to the mounds
at Newgrange. Cremation was normal mode of burial. In each of the recesses of
the cloverleaf chamber within the structure, a mammoth granite bowl would hold
the ashes of the King. |
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The
walls of the recesses are carved with intricate, swirling designs evoking the
sun,solar radiance, waves and perhaps the river. |
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Perhaps the waved lines repeating signify a medium through
which the spirits could travel or be transmitted to the next or other world.
It is hard not to conjecture vivid imaginings when beholding the markings hidden
for thousands of years within the great mound. These carvings are illuminated
by the sun during the winter solstice. Today and electric light at the entrance
of the passage simulates the effect for visitors. The waiting list for the real
event is decades long and the list has been closed for some time. |
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It
is belived the stones contain the geometry that the ancients applied to understanding
the sun and the stars. The stones were therefore a repository of the ancients
learning, cotaining the secrets of the heavens, powerful information for a people
of farmers. The synbols may represent a sun-dial, calendars, a map of the heavens
and other scientific tools discovered by the elders. |
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Dates
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Opening Hours
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November - February
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9:30 -17:00
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March - April
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9:00 -17:30
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May
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9:00 -18:30
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June - Mid September
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9:00 -19:00
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Mid - End September
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9:00 -18:30
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October
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9:30 -17:30
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Important ! Newgrange is open all year round
but Knowth is open only from May to October.
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