Gathering at Newgrange in Brú na Bóinne County Meath to witness the winter solstice sunrise.
Newgrange the most magnificent of passage tombs is just one of a number of similar structures in this part of the country. Built five thousand years ago by the Neolithic or Late Stone Age people who lived in this part of the Boyne Valley for the purpose of laying their dead to rest, it is the oldest roofed structure in the world, predating Stonehenge and the Pyramids at Giza.
What makes this monument so unique is its roof box, which on the morning of 21 December, the shortest day of the year, allows the rising sun to light up the small cruciform chamber inside.
A strict lottery system is in place by the OPW (Office of Public Works), and the lucky few ticket holders who were permitted to enter this morning as well as a dignitary or two, waited there in hope but to no avail.
Unfortunately the weather gods decided not to shine this morning, and cloud obscured the rising sun.
Despite the disappointment there is at least one consolation from this point the days start to get longer, and the nights shorter.
Those who were outside were in good spirits however,
It's certainly beautiful when the sun comes up...and it is the real start of a new year.
We come here every year, it's a day out for us.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 21 December 2005. The reporter is Richard Dowling.
