Guinness and Newgrange

Yesterday another couple joined us at the AirBNB (the house has three rooms for rent), and we walked to a nearby pub so everyone could have some Guinness (cider for me, YUM). 

The country pub

Jay, in a comfy chair at the pub.
Apologies for the graininess.
It was dark and sometimes you just
don't feel like hauling around a DSLR.
Cell phone cameras, for the win!

We managed to stay up all the way till 10! The sun sets really late here. Not sure I'll ever manage to stay up late enough to actually see some stars. 

We'd already decided that we could go to Newgrange, but the lady at the tourism office in Drogheda had told us that we didn't need to get there early. The couple staying at the house with us, however, had heard differently. So we all headed to the Bru na Boinne visitor center (which is the only way to see Newgrange) and they were already almost sold out of the first tours. 

The path to the visitor center

Jay and I just wanted to see Newgrange, while our new acquaintances wanted to see Newgrange and Knowth, so we went our separate ways. Jay and I got on the 9:30 bus to Newgrange, which took us probably 2-3 km to Newgrange through some very pretty countryside. 

The view from Newgrange was stunning

Apparently, Newgrange is just the largest of approximately 40 similar passage tombs in this area. 

The Boyne Valley has an abundance of riches when it comes to neolithic sites. It's amazing to think of what the people were able to accomplish in a time before the wheel. Newgrange is very cool and we got to go inside, but there are no photos allowed in the inner chamber. The passage inside was low and narrow, so we had to do some ducking and twisting. On the way in you can see some 200-150 year old graffiti from the time that Newgrange was rediscovered and opened to the time the state took over its care and limited access. 

The face is all reconstruction, but using the materials that were already there.

The outside is almost all reconstruction, but it was all done with the rocks that were on the hill, and enough were still in place that they had something of an idea of how it was supposed to look. There were four types of stone involved in the construction and some of them came from as far as 80 km away. Scholars have estimated that it took 80 people 4 days to transport one of the large stones that sit at the base of the mound. 

The entrance to the chamber and some 5000 year old pictographs.

The inside is really well preserved and aside from a light bulb or two and a couple of supportive beams (for safety) its exactly how it was 5000 years ago when it was built. They also have a light bulb that mimics what it looks like on the winter solstice when the sun rises in just the right spot to shine in through a window above the entrance to the passage. It's amazing that they were able to create something with such precision. Apparently, you can sign up for a lottery to be one of the people that gets to witness the solstice sunrise. Only about 100 people get to do it every year, and I imagine that is divided up over the 6 days (3 before the solstice and two after) that the sun lines up. The whole thing was an awe inspiring experience and I recommend it to anyone who ever comes to the area. 

It was a GORGEOUS day