Newgrange, Sun's rays illuminate the main chamber
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, was among a group of spectators inside the ancient burial mound at Newgrange in County Meath who witnessed the midwinter sunrise illuminate the inner chamber. The first shaft of light penetrated the monument just before nine o'clock and lit the chamber for seventeen minutes. The event was broadcast live on RTÉ Television and to several countries including the United States and Britain. The event was also broadcast live on the RTE website.
Newgrange is Ireland's foremost Stone Age Site, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex in the Boyne Valley, County Meath. Brú na Bóinne is the most substantial, and certainly the best preserved, Stone Age Passage Tomb cemetery in Ireland, perhaps even in the world. The three main prehistoric sites; Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, are situated on the North bank of the river Boyne.
It is the finest individual example of the passage tomb tradition in Ireland and is probably most famed for its alignment with the rising mid-Winter sun that makes Newgrange one of the oldest solar aligned buildings known. The Newgrange tomb was built around 3,200 BC, during the Neolithic period. The tomb consists of a massive mound covering a long passage and inner chamber, the walls and ceiling of which are constructed from large overlapping slabs without mortar. Newgrange was a "house for the dead" and was built to contain the bones of the leaders of the society about 5,000 years ago.
Coverage of the event was on RTÉ One, and is available on the RTÉ Online Winter Solstice website.
