Neolithic

Bru na Boinne visitor centre interprets the Neolithic sites of the Boinne Valley including the most famous site, Newgrange passage tomb. We decided to visit Newgrange on our last day in Ireland as a last minute addition to our itinerary that required an early start in Ballyshannon for our drive to Dublin Airport to fit in a guided tour.

Passage tombs are found throughout Europe, and we saw several in The Orkneys including Maeshowe where the guide told us about Newgrange, a site not then on our itinerary. Whilst the tomb is largely intact, the outer walls are reconstructed to represent what it may have looked like in Neolithic times. I am always uncomfortable with modern reconstructions but the while the patterning may be incorrect the imposing white-walled structure is certainly a fitting place for our Neolithic ancestors to start their journey into the next life.

The passage itself is as it was three thousand years ago, a long narrow entrance opens out into six metre (20 feet) high dome that has withstood the elements for thousands of years and is testament to the ingenuity of Neolithic people that their stone structures endure into the modern age. The entrance is aligned to direct sunlight into the dome around the Winter Solstice and a lucky few visitors (determined by lottery) are allowed in those days each year. For the rest of us, the tour includes a short artificial sunrise to demonstrate how the tomb looks when the sun is aligned.

A visit to Newgrange takes an hour, and can only be accessed through the Bru na Boinne visitor centre guided tour. To make the most of your visit explore the visitor interpretive displays before heading out to the tomb.

Looking beyond Newgrange

Passage Tomb Entrance

Prehistoric Pictagrams

Ireland invokes a vision of rolling green fields and rich farming land, yet its landscape yields unexpected surprises like the rocky expanse of The Burren. It reminded me of Australia, a seemingly desolate and savage landscape that hides a richly diverse and productive ecosystem. Created out of the geological chaos of the Ice Age, and the acidic mixture of limestone and rain that drilled holes into the surface to harbour the meagre Burren soils to support the greatest diversity of plants in Ireland. Arctic and Mediterranean wild flowers bloom together in The Burren, and drench the grey landscape in colour throughout June and July.

Poulnabrone Dolmen is an ancient portal tomb originally mistaken for a Druid’s altar because the cairn of tones that once surrounded it have been carried away to build cottages and fences. Like similar tombs, the tomb is orientated to the Sun’s annual cycle of life. The effort expended by people to build this edifice to their gods and ancestors drew me into the sacredness of the landscape. Successive generations have worked with the Burren’s natural gifts to create an abundant environment within which they survived and thrived into the modern era.