Burr... It was very cold the day we went to see Newgrange, a Neolithic passage tomb, built around 3200 BC. Archeologists aren't sure exactly what it was built for- a tomb, temple, or religious gathering place.
I don't have a whole lot of historical information on Newgrange, but what I do have, I'll share with you. :)
Arbor Way
Walking into the Newgrange visitor's center.
Brú na Bóinne
The visitor's center took Heritage cards, so we were able to get in free! It was recommended that we get there early so that we could reserve a place on the bus that transports you to Newgrange before it fills up. When we got there, there was already a long line of people, so we had an hour to wait before our bus left.
Dee Cayed
This was one of the displays at the visitors center. It showed different places that you can look on a skeleton to tell what age the individual was at time of decease, how they died, etc.
Trepanation
Disc removal from the skull of a live patient with a flint knife. Yuck!
A Little Leaky?
What the people of that time may have lived in.
Boat
Suit of Clothes
Boulder
This boulder would have been about the size of some of the stones that were transported to Newgrange... With no modern equipment!
Archeological Display Site
Suspension Bridge
To get to the bus take off, you had to walk a good clip over paths and this suspension bridge over the Boyne River. Since it was just suspended, the bridge bounced up and down and swayed in the wind as you walked on it. :)
Boyne River and Valley
Just a side note... In 1690, a famous battle (known as the Battle of the Boyne) was fought in the Boyne Valley near Drogheda, between two rival claiments of the English, Scottish and Irish thrones.
Newgrange Bus
That's our transport bus!
On the Bus!
Newgrange at last!
I'll explain now what little I do know about the construction of Newgrange.
Newgrange was built somewhere between 3300-3200 BC, which makes it about 500 years older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza. Newgrange mound is 39 feet high and covers 1.1 acres of ground.
In this area of Ireland there are three major passage tombs, Nowth, Dowth, and Newgrange. Geological analysis suggests that much of the stone (around 600 kerbstones) was gathered from a rocky beach near Clogherhead, nearly 13 miles north of Newgrange. These giant stones were most likely transported by sea, then up the River Boyne. They would have had to have landed the stones down river from Newgrange, then transport them up the hill to the work site. Wow! It has been estimated that the Newgrange mound alone has over 200,000 tons of stone and might have taken 400 people 30 years to build.
Entrance to Newgrange
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and interesting. We were very fortunate to get such a good one!
Remains from Ancient Stone Buildings
Hive Hut
Kerbstone
This is one of the many decorated kerbstones that surround Newgrange's foundation.
I'm sure you're thinking that I've lost my marbles since I keep spelling curb as kerb, but that's how the Irish spell it. :)
Sweeping View
You can kinda see how high up Newgrange is. Just think about carting 200,000 tons of stone that far!
Celtic Triple Spiral
Notice the three spirals on the large kerbstone? It is unknown exactly what these would have meant to the pagans, but Wikipedia has an interesting article on it if you care to read more.
Also, pay close attention to the small rectangle opening above the doorway. I'll be talking about that later. :)
Narrow
Our tour guide warned us that it does get pretty narrow at one part of the passage. She also told us to "mind your heads" when you walk through the doorway.
Sorry, we weren't allowed to take pictures while inside. I did get one picture offline (below) just to show you what the passage looks like.
Winter Solstice Image credit, newgrange.com
The cruciform shaped inner chamber is at the end of the 60 foot long passage. It is very hard to describe the feeling that floods over you as you touch the same ancient stones and tread the same path that a Neolithic pagan priest may have trod. A truly amazing experience!
Remember the small opening over the door? Once a year, during the winter solstice, the sun shines directly through that specially contrived 'roof box' above the entrance. Because of the natural slope of the ridge that it sits on, the passage inclines the farther back you go, making it dark enough to be a cave in the inner chamber on any regular day. But, as the sun rises during the solstice, it shines through that opening above the door and is reflected into the inner chamber making a box of light that moves steadily along the floor until it reaches the top of the farthest recess of the inner chamber.
Just think how much forethought, planning, watching, and measuring must have went into that! It is amazing to me how they could have done something so delicate with the little amount of tools that they had.
Dark Walk
On the way back to the car!
Boat
This boat was huge!
Passenger Boat
This boat was even bigger than the other one. For comparison, look at the little speed boats around it. That thing was huge! If I counted right, it's around 12-13 stories high!
Tunnel
On the way back to our B&B, we stopped at the city of Swords to get another suitcase for all of our souvenirs. :) It was quite the experience driving around there.
Flowers
After resting at the B&B for awhile, we thought that it would be a good idea to find our next place to stay, Mespil Hotel in Dublin, so that we wouldn't have to try to find it the next morning. (You'll learn why we did this in the next post.) :)
Wow! What a nightmare! We got turned around so many times... But, we did find the hotel, only after driving down a street and alley where a movie was either being filmed or getting ready to be filmed, then coming upon a Garda blocking the very road that we needed to drive down to get to the hotel. How frustrating! Leave it to us to do things like that. :)
Ah... Rest and Relaxation...
Woo! After that harrowing drive through Dublin, we were more than ready to get back and rest. I wrote in my journal, "I'm so looking forward to getting back to nice orderly America, but mostly our lovely state, Iowa!"
