Newgrange Day Tour

It was Walt who came upon information about Newgrange while browsing the web for things to do in Ireland. We had never heard of it before. This amazing collection of passage tombs and megalithic art was built about 3200 BC which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Unfortunately, you can only visit as part of an official site tour, tickets are very limited, and it would be pretty much impossible to get there without a car. Luckily, we were able to book a day tour from Dublin which seemed to have special access to the official tour tickets.

There was a bit of confusion finding the bus in Dublin. We had been told that the pick-up point was in front of a hotel, but the valets at the hotel told us the bus would actually arrive across the street and down a block. We were, however, much luckier, than other people who had been told the wrong time and missed the tour entirely. The drive to the Visitor Center took about an hour, and once there we were set free to view the exhibits, drink coffee, or wander outside to view the River Boyne.

When our tour time arrived, we were directed onto a small bus and driven a short distance to Knowth where there is a large passage tomb surrounded by 17 smaller tombs.

As we listened to the site guide, dark clouds accumulated overhead, but we were already learning to expect both sunshine and rain in the course of an Irish day. The entrance to the large mound is shown in the picture on the right. Inside there are two passages with entrances on opposite sides. I think visitors used to be able to go inside, but unfortunately that is no longer permitted. The white stones on the ground are quartz. They were probably collected about 65 miles away and brought to the site as decoration.

Amazingly, more than a third of all the megalithic art in Western Europe was found here. Most of it was found by the tomb entrances.

You can climb a wooden staircase to a viewing platform at the top of the large mound and look out at a lovely view of the peaceful countryside.

After touring Knowth, we boarded the bus again for the short ride to Newgrange. The immense passage tomb lined with white rocks is an impressive sight. At Newgrange, the white quartz that you see on the ground outside the passage tombs of Knowth have been pressed into the side of the mound because of the findings of an archaeological survey conducted between 1962 and 1973. This "restoration" is somewhat controversal.

This is the entrance to the tomb. After a short presentation, small groups of about 12 people are escorted through the lower entrance which is maybe 4-1/2 feet tall and down a very narrow passage way to a tomb chamber with 3 smaller chambers on the sides. At the narrowest section, you have to squeeze through sideways. It's a bit challenging and definitely not for the claustrophobic - especially when the guide turns off all the lights to illustrate how the sunlight enters the chamber at the equinox.

Our last stop of the tour was the Hill of Tara, home of the high kings of Ireland from about 600 BC to 400 AD. Although there are still supposedly things to see like the great coronation stone, they all seemed to be a long walk from the place where the bus dropped us off so we just wandered up the hill and walked through the grounds of the church which is now a visitor center.

As we walked back to the hotel in Dublin after the tour, lightening flashed in the sky, and we were drenched by a heavy rain when we were still a couple of blocks away.