Newgrange June 5

Tuesday, June 5

The other item on my “must see” list was Newgrange, which is on the Boyne River, north and a little west of Dublin. Jane programmed Fred to take us to Newgrange, which he did. Unfortunately, you can’t go directly to Newgrange by just parking outside and walking up. You have to go to a visitor center a few miles away, get on a bus and THAT brings you to the entrance at the site

You Can't Get There From Here

Boyne River

 Newgrange is older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids. In 1699 landowner, Charles Campbell had his workers dig up part of Newgrange for access to the stone that was inside the mound of earth. At some point the encountered this "entrance" stone that has spirals cut into it. Knowing that this was man-made and not a natural phenomenon he called in a local antiquarian to examine it. Speculation is that if the workers had started in any other location around the perimeter of this mound it would have been destroyed before they even knew what it was. By finding this carved stone this National Treasure was saved.

The passageway into the main chamber is VERY narrow and the tour guides are cognizant of people’s claustrophobia issues. They tell people who have this issue to be the last person in (if they want to go in) so they can be the first person out if the need to be. They only take 15 or 20 people in at a time as it’s a very small interior space. I managed to not freak out over the narrowness of the passage. Fortunately it is a very short passage! The central chamber is round with three smaller chambers, one at the end of the passage and one on either side of the passage, forming a cross shape. When it was originally excavated remains were found in each of the smaller chambers. One of the reasons Newgrange is so famous is that on the morning of the Winter Solstice the rising sun shines through a “window” above the entrance to the passage and illuminates the central chamber. This also happens a couple of days before and after the solstice. This place was deliberately built in this alignment to the solstice sunrise. Also, the “window” and the main chamber align with the altitude of the hilltop across the valley, allowing the morning sun to shine directly down the passage. It’s very cool inside the chamber and the stone walls are actually cold to the touch. The ceiling is vaulted and very high. The entire chamber is made with only stone and no mortar. They have installed electric lights in order to do the tours but they shut them off and simulate the solstice sun shining into the chamber. It was an other-worldly experience.

  This is a panoramic view of the valley looking out from the entrance to the passage. The height of the window above the door is the same height as the hill across the valley.

 

After that magical experience we hopped on the bus and went back to the visitors center, looked around there for a bit, got a bite to eat and then started home. On the way we stopped in Skerries (LOVE that name) and went for a walk along the beach. I got to stick my fingers in the Irish Sea and collect a couple of sea shells. Jane went shoe shopping and found a couple of pairs of shoes for her upcoming trip to Greece.