No matter where you find yourself on the Emerald Isle, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get to Donore by car or bus. Here, you’ll find three incredible Neolithic structures: Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth, which make up the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. The structures are mounds of earth in the seemingly-infinite green fields of County Meath, disrupting the horizon with a stoic presence shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about the people who built these tomb-mounds, or why they set out to complete such an epic task, but when you step inside and stand where people stood 5,000 years ago, it takes your breath away. Built in approximately 3200 BC, Brú na Bóinne is older than both England’s Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza.
The smallest of the three mounds, Dowth, was the victim of a shoddy 19th century excavation and, unfortunately, is not part of the tour. Knowth is slightly smaller than Newgrange and is the second oldest. It has two passages on opposite sides of the mound, and is surrounded by 18 smaller mounds in a circular pattern. Newgrange is the largest of the three, the best maintained and the most popular. It has one passage, and is surrounded by large stones that may have originally been part of a much larger group.
The mounds have deep connections to Irish mythology, and are sometimes referred to as Fairy Hills. The carvings found on stones both inside and outside the monument are designs often seen throughout the country, and are credited as Celtic designs or ‘tri-spiral,’ though the carvings supposedly date 2,500 years before the Celts inhabited Ireland. Of course, the original meanings are unknown, but they do share a curious similarity to carvings found in Brittany.
When you arrive at the visitor’s center on the south side of the River Boyne, you’ll be able to purchase tickets and visit the exhibition. It’s a rather impressive exhibition, as far as visitor’s centers go. From here, a shuttle bus will take you up to the sites where a tour guide will give you some information about the Neolithic people, theories on why they built the site, and what it was used for.
Once inside, the guide will tell you the most impressive thing about the Newgrange monument. Every year on the winter solstice the sunrise will line up exactly with the passage opening, illuminating the chamber for 17 minutes with the warm, soft light that only the sun can give. Because this is such a spiritual experience, and the passage is only so big, the center does not allow tours to be booked on the days leading up to, and following the solstice. Instead, 50 names are drawn from a lottery that you can enter at the visitor’s center. In the case that your name is drawn you’ll be allowed to bring a plus one to this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even if your visit doesn’t coincide with the solstice, the experience is certainly worth a day trip.
