Newgrange

Entrance to Newgrange

About an hour outside of the city is Newgrange, a neolithic tomb older than the Pyramid of Giza. I had the pleasure of going there with Dorothy and the Quinn Business School Study Abroad Program. I attended with Stevie, and I also brought along a couple of guests. Dorothy is the sweetest woman and if there is room on the bus she lets us bring friends, so I brought some of the girls that I met at the trivia night and I think that they had a great time.

Mound

We got on the bus around 9:30 am and headed over to Newgrange. When we got there we walked around the visitor centre, which was extremely nice for being in the middle of nowhere and had a good video about the neolithic people and the purpose of the mound, until we boarded another bus to go see the tomb itself, which was a short drive away. When we arrived at the tomb it was impressive, but so was the surrounding countryside. It was everything that one pictures Ireland to be. I just can't get over it; it takes my breath away every time.

Mound with countryside

Sally, Elizabeth, Stevie, Ellie, Melissa, me

Outer wall that was reconstructed after it collapsed. When it collapsed it was very well preserved so this is original material. The marble and granite comes from many miles away and took over 100 trips by boat to retrieve.

We had to go into the tomb in two groups of about 15 each. The tour guide, who absolutely loved Newgrange, you could tell by the tone of her voice, explained about the tomb. The special features of it is that it is watertight, has swirly carvings, and the sunlight pours into it on the winter solstice.

1) The tomb at Newgrange is watertight which was quite an accomplishment because it is in Ireland, which is very wet, and it was built over 5000 years ago. The ceiling on the tomb is like a dome and very impressive.

2) There are various carvings of swirls and shamrocks in the tomb. I took some pictures of the rocks of the outside that have some of the same carvings.

3) During the five days of the winter solstice, the light of the rising sun goes through the window above the entry way and illuminates the interiors of the tomb. It is supposed to be absolutely amazing. It is thought that the tombs was used as a burial mound as well as symbolism of the coming of spring and rebirth.

We got back to the visitor centre and Dorothy treated us to lunch, something that I am always grateful for. I had the chicken, leek, and mushroom pie (pies are big here) and it was delicious and filling!

Yum!

All in all it was another great day taking in Ireland.