A crowd of around a thousand people gathered outside the Newgrange passage tomb in Co Meath this morning for the winter solstice.
The light from the rising sun, if visible, lights up the inner chamber of the 5,000-year-old passage tomb.
Last year was the first time in six years that the light entered the chamber.
However, this morning a blanket of cloud obscured the sunrise.
Big crowd outside the chamber entrance for #solstice pic.twitter.com/LwHe48KYv9
— Richard Dowling (@richardowling) December 21, 2014