Newgrange and Boyne Valley

This picture was taken from the front of Newgrange and shows the amazing view of the Boyne valley.

Way back on July 7 I went on a field trip with the whole group to Newgrange and the Boyne Valley. It was only about an hour north of Dublin so not a bad day trip at all. Newgrange is a very old Irish passage grave that was built before Stonehenge. This old passage grave was built into a hillside in the Boyne valley in such a way that the passage is lit up only on the winter solstice. The three days prior and after the solstice light may also come into the passage but only when the weather is clear. The whole site seems hidden in a hill but when you walk inside of it you are actually walking up an incline into a chamber that was built around 3200 BC. The ceiling of the chamber is made of large slabs of rock that were stacked up on top of each other long ago and have never fallen or leaked yet. At the entrance of the passage grave there is a large carved kerbstone that had some swirl-like designs that are believed to symbolize the 5 days the light will illuminate the chamber.Above is a picture of the front of the passage grave called Newgrange.

I can't even describe the feeling of being inside of Newgrange, it was amazing. We all walked into the passage grave (it is light up with lights for you to see where you are going) which was not an easy walk. There are many places that even I (who is rather short) had to duck or crouch down to make it to the center where there are 3 recesses. Once we got into here there was room to stand comfortably and look around. At this point the guide demonstrated using lights how the passage way works on the winter solstice. Needless to say the tomb without modern lights (which is how it would have been 360 days of the year) is pitch black darkness. I couldn't see my hand right in front of my face!! As the sun comes up on the solstice though a warm orange glow permeates the darkness for about 15 minutes and then the passage is back into darkness. Overall just an amazing experience.


It is hard to believe that a place I was standing in was created way back in the 3000s BC, it just defies thinking. What is also astounding is that these prehistoric people were able to create this place probably over many generations to be so precise with the solstice that it is still working in the same way today!


After we left Newgrange we went to an old 5th century monastery called Monasterboice. On the grounds of the medieval monastery there are two amazing high crosses and the ruins of a round tower. The high crosses have sculpted biblical scenes in them that are still very much visible and amazingly detailed. The round tower was used as a defensive look out and hide-away from viking attackers. One of the ways they were effectively defensive is that the door to get into it was about 5 meters off the ground and one needed a ladder to make it inside. Then to get to all of the other levels within one had to climb more ladders. Most of the tower is still in tact today except for the top of it, but it is still an amazing thing to see.


Below is a picture of the round tower.
We then moved towards the town of Drogheda which is a rather important town for many reasons but we really only had time to stop here for food and to look in the Catholic St. Peter's church. One of the coolest things about St. Peter's church in Drogheda is that there are actually two of them, one is Catholic and the other Protestant. the catholic one is the only one left indecent condition in the town but it shows the religious division in Ireland that you always hear about but don't necessarily see. In my religion class we talked about how the dual names for the rival churches actually ended up hurting both churches because the people were always confused and never really knew what was going on.