The passage tomb at Newgrange is the best-known monument in the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, situated on the north bank of the River Boyne, 50km north of Dublin. The site, which predates the Pyramids by some 400 years and Stonehenge by 1000, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The monuments had social, economic, religious and funerary functions.
Inside the large kidney-shaped Newgrange mound, a long passage lead to a chamber that branches off in three directions. At dawn on December 21, the shortest day of the year (the winter solstice), the Newgrange chamber is lit up by a solitary beam of sunlight that enters the chamber via a specially designed opening over the doorway. It wasn’t until 1976 that this phenomenon was documented in the 20th century, with Professor MJ O’Kelly credited as having been the first person in modern times to witness the specatcle.
