Moving on

As much as I loved it, 
Dublin isn’t Ireland 
any more than New York City is the US and, 
after a few days, 
I was eager to kick the dust of the city from my shoes 
and start exploring the rest of the country.

Our first stop wasn’t that far out of the city actually

 – only about 40K north – 
 and I was totally taken aback by what we stopped for.

 How is it I’ve never heard of this place before?

Bru na Boinne (in County Meath) – 
one of the world’s most important prehistoric landscapes 
dating from the Neolithic period.

A series of mounds, standing stones, henges and prehistoric enclosures
from as early as the 35^thcentury BC.

It has been designated as a World Heritage Site since 1993.

The area (which covers slightly less than 2,000 acres) 
is almost completely surrounded by water; 
surrounded on the southern, western and eastern sides by the various twists and bends 
in the River Boyne 

 and on the northern side by the Mattock, 
one of the Boyne’s largest tributaries.

 The structures at Newgrange (where we visited)  are older than the Egyptian pyramids!!  

I mean, seriously? 
How are we NOT as familiar with this image as we are with the pyramids??

This whole area has been a center of human settlement for at least 6,000 years – 
with the major structures dating back to 5,000 years ago.

It’s estimated that the passage tombs took almost 300 years to build 
(best guess from 3,300 BC – 2,900 BC) 
which points to a sustained unifying importance of belief 
in whatever the structures represented, 
not to mention the ongoing dedication of a society of people 
committed to continue the work.

The stones were quarried hundreds of miles away, 
transported by river and assembled on site 
in a design which is incredibly sophisticated 
and demonstrates more advanced knowledge of construction principles 
than anything I can even begin to imagine. 

 (Like part of the roof, 
perfectly overlapping layers of slopping stone,
carrying rain off the roof while keeping the insides dry!)

There are three main megalith sites 
(Newgrange, Dowth and Knowth);
 and all have significant archeo-astronomical significance.

Newgrange and Dowth have Winter solstice solar alignments 
 Knowth is oriented toward the spring and autumn Equinox.

The entry at the passage tomb at Newgrange takes you slightly upward 
through a small tunnel to a center room 
with 4 antechambers off the main enclosure.

 The ‘window’ at the top of image is just above foot level 

when you’re inside the enclosure.

During the Winter Solistice, 
at noon,
rays from the sun come directly through the window 
and focuses light on the ‘altar’, 
a hollow bowl (a scooped out boulder) in the center of the room.

(No pictures have been allowed inside the tomb since the 1990's;
the picture below is courtesy of a postcard.
The actual engraving is far more impressive and has a green cast to it.)

Between the petroglyphs on many of the boulders used in the construction 
(both inside and outside) of the main tomb 

 and the other structures on the grounds 
(the meaning and use of which are not fully known), 

it was literally mind blowing.

If you’re ever in Dublin, don’t miss this! 
Even if you don’t rent a car, it’s an easy bus ride away.

Next time I go back, I’ll definitely spend more time at the other two sites.

A group of people 
(seemingly smart, creative and knowledgeable - 
about weather, the solar system, design, transportation etc.) 
labored long and hard 
(or had designated laborers labor long and hard for them)
to erect these massive, culturally significant structures – 
and absolutely nothing about these people -
their belief systems or their culture - 
is known today 
beyond conjecture.

The beauty and reality of the area is only surpassed by the mystery of it.

And as a bonus, 
on my way there,
I got to see my first thatched roof house!

Our first excursion out of Dublin was a total win/win!