Question of the Day – How did the Irish ever develop a sun-centric religion?

Ready to explore Newgrange

Today we toured the pinnacle of Stone Age Culture – the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bru na Boinne, or the Boyne Valley http://www.worldheritageireland.ie/bru-na-boinne/ . Collected in this geographic area are the most extraordinary constructions and historically significant sites from that era: Knowth, Dowth, Newgrange, and Tara.

First, let’s get all the climatological complaints out of our system. The weather in this nation needs medication or some sort of therapy – rain pouring from a beautiful blue sky, or intense, icy downpours for 10 minutes accompanied by gale-force winds, shutting off magically for 10 minutes of glorious azure sky and warbling bird song, repeat X100000000. The heaviest rain is, obviously, at the most exposed sites; cerulean skies and gentle breezes are reserved for bus rides and visitor centers. Okay, back to paeans in praise of all other things Irish.

The Entrance Stone in front of the passage
opening and the light box above..

The ride out to the site was one postcard after another – lush, rolling hills dotted with picturesque cows or sheep, enchanting villages, and charming cottages. The visitor information center for Bru na Boinne is a beautiful structure with very effective presentation of the major sites and the methodology used to excavate and restore or conserve them. The path from the car park is planted with native species accompanied by informational panels about their uses and symbolic meanings and affords lovely views of the river. Equally impressive is the selection of pastries in the tearoom – our selection was a marvelously decadent chocolate éclair roughly the size of a Chihuahua.

To access the sites, you cross the River Boyne, take a shuttle to either Knowth or Newgrange (Dowth has not been fully excavated) Knowth is the most impressive and developed site, but it is in the process of being excavated and can only be viewed from outside. Newgrange allows a limited number of visitor each day to enter the passage tomb. We were fortunate enough, by virtue of the fact that we were so early, to get a chance to go in. The structures at Newgrange et. al. are known as “passage tombs”. They are large mounds with a narrow stone passage leading to the tomb in the center. Newgrange is special as its passage is aligned with the sunrise on December 21. There is an opening above the entryway (light box) that is level with the floor inside the chamber. For 17 minutes at sunrise on the winter solstice the passage is flooded with shimmering sunlight and the back wall is illuminated.. Which brings us to the question of the day, How many years of observations did it take to record enough information to build the tomb? From what we have seen of Irish weather, it may have been hundreds.

We exited the bus into a raging gale. An archaeologist met us and led us up to the tomb. The grassy dome is surrounded by 97 large curbstones, some of which are decorated with spirals and chevrons. By “large” we mean 8 to 10 feet long and 3 to 4 feet wide. Each one certainly weighs many tons. In front, the entrance stone is etched with spirals and likely marked a spiritual boundary beyond which most of the Neolithic people would not have passed. The facade is made of quartz blocks brought from 50 miles away and inset with rounded stones. This front was reconstructed by the archaeologist O’Kelly who is largely responsible for the restoration of the site. Sadly, no photography is allowed inside the tomb. The passage is quite narrow and low but then opens up into a high chamber perhaps 20 feet high. It is a corbelled dome made of large, overlapping stones that were levered into place before the construction of the pyramids in Egypt and have not moved since. (Newgrange is different than many other Stone Age sites in that it was never modified by later cultures, so it is exactly as the makers intended. Unitl the 19^th century vandals crawled in to carve their names, that is.) Inside are 3 recesses, each with a stone basin which would have held the cremated remains of important people in the community.

The site at Knowth, while much more extensive – the central mound is surrounded by 127 curbstones, several of which are extensively inscribed with traditional spiral, chevron, and triskele motifs – has very limited visitor access and we were only able to see the exterior. The decision at this site is to comprehensively excavate and conserve it rather than attempt reconstruction. The “light box” and passages here are aligned for the equinoxes rather than the solstice. There are 19 smaller mounds around the central passage tomb.

All the sites and excavation of the surrounding area yield evidence of a much higher degree of technological and social sophistication than we had ever associated with the term “Stone Age”.

We headed next to Tara http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/hilloftara/ . Tara is loaded with so much mythological, symbolical, and historical significance that it is difficult to know where to begin! The most unexpected part for us was the discovery that is isn’t one specific location, but rather several structures clustered on a prominence. The summit provides spectacular views of up to 3/4^ths of the entire island on a clear day. It afforded us an incredible view of the masses of banked raincloud headed straight at us as well.

The rainswept summit of  Tara Hill

North of the ridge of the summit is an Iron Age enclosure, known as the Royal Enclosure. In this space are two linked enclosures, Cormac's House and the Royal Seat. In the middle of the Royal Seat is the Stone of Destiny where the High Kings were crowned. According to legends shared by our guide, the stone would scream if a series of challenges were met by the king candidate. The challenges included a Cinderella-like episode with fitting into a royal robe, taming 2 wild, white stallions, hitching them to a chariot, and then driving it between two monoliths a hand’s width apart. When these tasks were successfully completed he could proceed to the stone and at his touch it would let out a scream that could be heard all over Ireland.

The oldest remaining part of St. Audoen

There is also a small Neolithic passage tomb known as the Mound of the Hostages, which dates to around 3,400 BC. There are several more features, but to tell you frankly, it was raining cats and dogs – ice cold cats and dogs – sideways. Sheep have free range of the hill and the challenges of avoiding their leavings on the steep, slick hillsides in a blinding downpour made a quick getaway essential.

On our return to Dublin we went to see St. Audoen’s church. Parts of it date to the early 12^th century, but it was continuously added to over the centuries. The interpretive center has a series of models showing the original Norman rectangular building and each of the subsequent iterations. The church currently occupies a space roughly equivalent to its original foundation and rest functions as a history exhibition. A section of the original medieval city walls and a gate survives adjacent to the church.

We ended our day with a visit to the Brazen Head – established in 1198, it is the oldest inn in Ireland. Brad went to have the requisite pint of Guinness, while Z & I celebrated other Irish gustatory treasures such as chips, soda bread, and cheese!