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— Brú na Bóinne - Newgrange and Knowth (@newgrangeknowth) December 21, 2022
IT WAS A cloudy morning over the River Boyne this winter solstice as crowds gathered to watch the sun rise at Newgrange.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) welcomed lottery winners back into the ancient passage tomb chamber, which was partially illuminated by this morning’s sunrise, for the first time since the onset of the Covid pandemic.
For the last two years, sunrise at the neolithic monument has been live-streamed from inside the chamber by OPW. However, the popular measure was scrapped this year, with OPW having described the streams as “exceptional”.
— Brú na Bóinne - Newgrange and Knowth (@newgrangeknowth) December 21, 2022
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Each winter solstice it is possible for sunlight to enter the Newgrange monument through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the ‘roof box’. The phenomenon can last for up to 17 minutes.
The OPW have said that “analysis of high-resolution imagery taken during last year’s research programme, now adds to the convincing body of evidence that the solar illumination of the tomb was intentional”. It is estimated that the structure was built around 5,200 years ago.
This morning’s event saw the chamber illuminated briefly before cloud cover wiped out the effect of the sunrise.
Minister Patrick O’Donovan, T.D., Minister with responsibility for the Office of Public Works said: “I am delighted to welcome the lucky winners of the very popular OPW Solstice Lottery competition to Newgrange to witness first hand this archaeological phenomenon.
“For many people, the Winter Solstice is a very significant and special occasion, where we bid farewell to the long dark evenings and herald a bright beginning for the year ahead.”
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Is the solstice sunrise (sunset) in the EXACT same direction now as it was 5000ya when Newgrange was built? If have heard that it has changed by about 1.5deg. but if anybody can give me an answer (with reference! I would be MOST grateful!
@Alan Wright: Ah! But by how much ‘not exactly’? Anybody know where I would find out? I’m not so much interested in Newgrange but 2 or 3 monuments in the SW, and this information would be useful. Cheers!
@sean o’dhubhghaill:
Dear Sean
You will find answers to your question(s) in my paper (link below) available on the digital research repository of TU Dublin ‘ARROW’.
I have numerous other papers on the same topic also free to download under my name.
Best wishes
Dr Frank Prendergast
TU Dublin
The ‘window’ in which the sunlight shines is a relatively recent construction. You will see in older images take of the front of #Newgrange, the portal didn’t exist and there is no record of it ever existing. The crew at the time took some artistic licence with the reconstruction.
The simple fact this is not pointed out dilutes the creditability of the modern interpretation of this site.
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