Newgrange: Ireland's Stonehenge: 33 Fun Facts

For more on Ireland, Christmas and the Winter Solstice, please visit our sister sites WinterSolsticeMusic.com and www.CelticChristmasMusic.com and the articles there.

Just the facts ma'am!

Newgrange is an ancient burial tomb located about an hour north of Dublin. It remains in darkness throughout the year except during winter solstice when the tomb floods with light, illuminating the beautiful spiral designs on the stones. Yes, the double spirals all over this web site are from the Newgrange stones!

Lots of fun factoids here:

1,000 years older than Stonehenge (see Stonehenge slideshow below)
Discovered in 1969 by laborers searching for building stones
Charles Campbell was the landowner at the time
On Campbell's instructions, stones were sought and the entrance discovered
The mound is in the shape of a kidney (Riverdance, Liverdance?)
Constructed around 3200BC (Stone Age)
600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt
Covers an area of approximately one acre
Surrounded by 97 kerb-stones
Megalithic art on many of the kerb-stones
Arwork includes spirals, lozenges, zigzags, and other symbols
These designs are similar to designs found in Brittany (France), at Gavrinis
Entrance stone has the most famous designs; triple spiral
Long passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof
Historians building time estimate (passage tomb): 300 workers 20 years +
200,000 + visitors to Newgrange each year
Most visited archaeological monument in Ireland
One of the finest European passage-tombs
Located in the Boyne Valley in a 3 square mile area
Within this 3 mile area, there are 30 prehistoric monuments
The stone circle was probably built about 1000 years later (Beaker period).
Over the entrance passageway is the 'roof box' (allows the light in)
The roof box aligns perfectly with the sunrise on the winter solstice
At sunset on the winter solstice, the center of the tomb floods with light
The illumination lasts about 20 minutes
You can see the spirals for those 20 minutes....
The cruciform chamber inside the mound measures 6.5 x 6.2m (21ft 6in x 17ft)
The corbelled roof stretches 6m (20ft) above the floor
Considered to have have been the burial place of the Kings of Tara
Home of those pre-historic supernaturals, known as the Tuatha De Danann
Home of King Dagda, leader of the Tuatha De Danann
When you go to Ireland, visit this place.... special....
If you can't manage a visit. Check out the webcast of the solstice from 2007: http://www.newgrange.com/webcast.htm.

Slideshow of Newgrange coming soon! In the meantime, you can check out Stonehenge, Glastonbury & Stonehenge...