Donegal Square Travels

06/30/2024

Ireland

10/05/2023

Leaving our hotel in Kensington on our way to megalithic remains at Stonhenge , Bath and Cardiff

10/04/2023

British Mueum

10/04/2023

Anglo Saxon imagery from 600AD

10/04/2023

British museum

10/03/2023

Just landed in London with group of customers- look out Wales !!!

07/21/2023

Planning 2024 October trip - as soon as Wales - England with Beatles and Shake A Spear trip completed

The mystery continues...

07/08/2023

The farming life

07/08/2023

Rathbaun Farm in county Galway

07/06/2023

Tour group loving Di**le

02/10/2023

Experience a taste of Ireland and the British Isles with authentic, from scratch food and an Irish pu

12/22/2022

newgrange 4500 year old megalithic tomb - on winter Solstice the sun illuminates inside for 30 minutes at noon - who said the ancients didnt know geometry

December 21st is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and in pagan Ireland, it was a time to celebrate a turning point in the earth’s cycle when the sun makes it shortest journey around the planet.

While the winter solstice takes place in the dead of winter, for the ancient Celts it was also a time of hope that the sun and its warmth would return to help with the growing of food and ultimately, provide sustenance for a people that were dependent on the land.

So how exactly did the Celts celebrate the Winter Solstice?

Large fires were a central part of these and other celebrations in ancient Ireland that coincided with the change in the seasons.

Many experts believe that the nearby Hill of Tara, which became the seat of the High Kings, was a place where ceremonial fires were frequently lit.

However, Newgrange, the Stone Age monument in County Meath, is the best evidence we have today of how our ancient ancestors venerated the Winter Solstice.

Through sheer ingenuity, the peoples of the time were able to construct a monument complete with a roof-box enabling a beam of light to pe*****te through the opening. As the minutes tick away at sunrise from Dec. 19-23, the light travels up the 19-meter passageway and into the chamber within, illuminating it completely.

The interior is really quite spectacular, with 17 roof slabs in the passageway alone. Many of the large stones found within the chamber form a circular mound, with many of them covered in megalithic art. We can only imagine today what it must have been like in this sacred place over 5,000 years ago.

There is no doubt that there was a mystical reason for the construction of this great monument, which is now one of Ireland’s most popular attractions.

All visits to Newgrange start at its visitor center. There is no other way to access the attraction.

To find out more, click on the link below. And if you're lucky to enough to win the lottery that is organized by Ireland's Office of Public Works, you can be among the handful of people allowed into the chamber at this special time of year.

📸 Tourism Ireland.

OPW - Office of Public Works Ireland's Ancient East Discover Boyne Valley Discover Ireland

https://irelandonabudget.com/news/newgrange-visitor-center/

10/09/2022

Looking forward to seeing some of these Heelan Coos (Highland Cattle) on our upcoming tour

10/03/2022

Wild Atlantic Way next july

10/03/2022

10/03/2022

10/02/2022

10/02/2022

Hello World ! I'm 15 minutes old