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Newgrange
Sunday
Today, we visited Newgrange and Dowth.
We were dropped off at 9am by Joanne,
the owner of the campsite.
Newgrange was absolutely amazing.
It is thought
to be older than the pyramids and is Ireland’s most famous monument.
It is
best known for the spectacular phenomenon of
the passage and chamber being
illuminated by the sunrise on the winter solstice.
Every year, it is visited by thousands of people
which was a little over-whelming and the controlled
atmosphere of guided tours was unexpected.
However,
being inside such an ancient monument was absolutely
fascinating
and completely awe inspiring.
Whilst there,
we were aware that the front of Newgrange is
a reconstruction of its original form. However,
the passage and chamber are still nearly in their
original state and was amazing to experience.
The passage of the tomb is long and thin and
travels up into the chamber where the winter
solstice sunrise penetrates. Such accuracy of
alignment shows a highly in-depth knowledge of
the cycles of the Sun, Moon, stars and planets.
A place with such history gives such a sense
of awe. We spent some time outside looking at
the outer kerbstones and evidence that there
was once a wooden henge which has left behind
some pole holes but everything else had rotted
way. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy so
not possible to draw or take many photos. We
sat in a round stone structure and read our Boyne
valley book out loud to each other whilst Tina
fell asleep. The cold eventually encouraged us
to leave and catch a bus back to the visitor
centre.
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After lunch, we walked to Dowth. A mound with two
passageways,
one that points to Newgrange and the
other, to the Hill of Tara.
They are both blocked
up but good to see.
By this time, the sun was scorching
and we were lugging around our warm cloths and waterproofs.
From the top of the mound, we could see Newgrange
and the Hill of Slane.
A beautiful view up there.
The Seven Suns stone was fenced off and with the
bright sunshine we could only just make out
the
engravings of the sun. One of the meanings of Dowth
is “the darkening”
which is appropriate as apparently
with this astronomical centre they could measure
the lunar cycle and calculate when an eclipse would
occur.
The immensity of the place was sometimes overwhelming.
The whole complex covers miles
with so many mounds,
henges, hills and sacred places all connected and
interrelated. |
By the time we had walked back to the visitor centre
it was too late to go to Knowth,
so we visited the
museum, had tea and left for our mammoth 10km walk
back to the campsite. We were able to walk next to
the beautiful river Boyne for a while which was brilliant
as we could see Newgrange on the other side of the
river as we walked
and from afar you can see how
majestically it sits on the top of the hill.
Unfortunately,
the lovely walk along the river came to an abrupt
end
and the walk on the road begun.
A local land
owner has closed their land off which includes the
river.
We walked for two hours in the glorious sunshine
and collapsed in the garden
of our pub in Slane for
a wonderfully refreshing cold pint of Guinness and
then floated home! |
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