No
doubt we will see magnificent photographs of the Newgrange burial chamber
being lit up by the rising sun in our national newspapers, as the cycle
of rebirth at Newgrange coincides with the celebration of the birth of
a new Millennium.
This amazing festival of light and rebirth, which has been celebrated
for the last 4,500 years at Newgrange, leads us to the reasoning behind
the diligent construction of this Megalithic masterpiece. For it was from
this
light that the souls of the dead could be guided
safely into eternity.
Yet, these souls were not destined for the ordinary native, nor even the
builders who gave most of their life to its construction. So whatever
is bred in the bones of those buried here, they must have been special
in one form or another.
For not only do they get to enjoy the, light of eternity, they also get
to rest in a constant temperature of 10º centigrade.
Newgrange is situated about one kilometre north of the river Boyne. Along
with its two neighbours, Knowth and Dowth, it forms a royal necropolis,
a city of the dead.
It was here that Neolithic man travelled from across Europe and, like
their predecessors, the Mesolithics, who inhabited the fertile soil of
Antrim, began to settle on the rich land of the Boyne, where it was to
take them over 400 years to build the first ever Megalithic tomb.
A phenomenon, which has remained a mystery to this day, is the typically
Irish passage grave art, consisting of spirals, zigzags, circles and lozenges
etc. Some regard these designs as mere scribbles, others suggest that
they might tell us something about the bodies which lie within.
Another theory suggests that they may be obscure astrological drawings,
many depicting the sun, the inspirer of creativity. Some even suggest
that Newgrange and the forty other passage graves surrounding it are linked
in the same way as the planets in the sky.
Neolithic farmers were far different from their predecessors. This was
due to the fact that they did not need to hunt for food. Pigs and other
animals were enclosed in pen-like structures. Berries and hazelnuts we’re
plentiful.
In other words, these people formed a commune, where they worked and prayed
together. Religion became the backbone of their society. It was this devotion
that inspired them to build one of the most awesome archaeological structures
known to man. Newgrange predates the pyramids of Egypt by at least 1,000
years.
The story to date tells of a race of intelligent and skilled natives,
who possessed remarkable talent in engineering, architecture, art an asrology.
They worked laboriously, transporting the stones (200,000 tonnes in total)
from as far afield as the Dublin and Wicklow Mountain for the quartz blocks,
and the Mourne Mountains in the north for the granite.
The famous ‘kerbstones’ that lie around the base of the structure
weigh several tonnes, the equivalent of about half the weight of a large
bus, such as the tourist might use to travel from Dublin to the site.
This photo, taken fron the end recess, shows the central chamber of Newgrange,
The passage in the centre is 19 metres long and 2 metres lower at its
far end. The light in the passage indicates the path of sunlight to the
central chamber on the winter solstice each 21st December.
Newgrange today, after decades of archaelogical examination, is encased in a protective concrete shell.
