Some of you, like us, may be visiting Stonehenge for this Saturday’s Spring Equinox celebrations (see event listing here). Yet I suspect a fair few more of you will be sinking pints of Guinness in homage to Saint Patrick tonight, staggering home wearing a green top hat which looked oh-so-cool a few hours ago.
But if you’re going to be on the Emerald Isle this weekend, why not combine the two, by visiting Loughcrew, Ireland’s best-known megalithic cairn. At the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, Loughcrew’s cairn T is bathed in light, and the sun symbols on its back chamber can be seen in their full glory.
As you can see from the picture and video here, it’s an occasion well worth watching, especially as entry to the 5,000-year-old landmark is free. Here’s a video of last year’s Spring Equinox at the site.
While we’ll be wrapping up in about every item of clothing we own to visit Stonehenge this weekend, Loughcrew’s organisers stress you’ll need warm clothes and stout shoes to safely navigate the cairn’s steep sides. Only half a dozen people will be allowed inside the cairn at one time, and visits inside will be limited to a few minutes at a time. If you’re heading off to the cairn, please – we want to see your pictures and video!
Of course if you’re not willing to freeze your proverbials off to see the sun rise over Stonehenge, or Loughcrew come to life, I wish you all a happy St. Patrick’s Day – I can’t say the same for tomorrow morning…