"A fascinating insight into Ireland's ancient burial sites" - Irish Independent
ENTERS THE NEWGRANGE CHAMBER
dawn on Winter Solstice every year, just after 9am, the sun begins
to rise across the Boyne Valley from Newgrange over a hill known
locally as Red Mountain. Given the right weather conditions, the
event is spectacular.
four and a half minutes past nine, the light from the rising sun
strikes the front of Newgrange, and enters into the passage through
the roofbox which was specially designed
to capture the rays of the sun.
the following fourteen minutes, the beam of light stretches into
the passage of Newgrange and on into the central chamber, where,
in Neolithic times, it illuminated the rear stone of the central
recess of the chamber. With simple stone technology, these wonderful
people captured a very significant astronomical and calendrical
moment in the most spectacular way.
photograph on left was taken in the chamber of Newgrange on December
21st 2003 by photographer Fran Caffrey.
photograph (above) clearly shows the event as it happens viewed
from the entrance to the passage. The sunlight appears to be
split into two beams - a higher beam and a lower beam. This
is in fact true, the lower beam being formed by the doorway
to the passage. It is the light which enters through the roofbox,
however, which reaches the central chamber. The beam is roughly
illustrated in the image on the right.
dawn of December 21, 1999 was a beautiful one. A large crowd
of onlookers was present at Newgrange for the unofficial dawn
of the new Millennium. This modern pilgrimage by over 150 people
echoes ancient ritual activity which would have occurred at
the mound 5,000 years ago.
a very short time, the beam of sunlight enters the chamber, illuminating
the floor. It is a narrow beam, only 34cm wide at the entrance
and narrower in the chamber. Originally, the beam would have struck
the rear chamber orthostat (C8) and, possibly, would have been
reflected onto another chamber stone, C10, which contains the
famous triple spiral, pictured below. After just 14 minutes, the
shaft of light disappears and once again the chamber returns to