Newgrange is the best known of Irelands many passage tombs, though its present form is the result of major reconstruction works and very thorough excavations of the mound, the passage and the standing stones outside that form part of a theoretical circle around the mound.

A mixture of sand and burnt clay was used to waterproof the inner chamber when the tomb was built and this allowed us to carbon date the chamber to around 6,000 years ago.

Although the nearby mounds at Knowth feature far more megalithic art, and is a larger more complex site, Newgrange has become world famous after observations made during excavations cofirmed what local folklore had always attested.
The small aperture above the door of the entrance with its intriguing carved lintel, though it is pretty inconspicuous, allows one of the worlds first known solar observatories to function with amazing accuracy today as it has done for the past 6,000 years. The midwinter sunrise on the shortest day of the year shines through this aperture, up the sloping passageway and into the very heart of the inner chamber 19 metres inside the mound. The thin ribbon of light allows the observer to determine the traditional festival at winter solstice with stunning accuracy.

Today the mound and circle are major tourist attractions and in the mid-nineties an interpretive centre was built across the river to manage the huge number of visitors who come here each year to see both Newgrange and Knowth. The centre holds an exhibition on Neolithic life, the excavations and artifacts found in the tombs plus an audio-visual presentation speculating on the motives of the builders. The film also explains very well the alignment here and how it functions.

The quality of the carvings on certain kerbstones in prominent positions is spectacular, directly opposite the famous entrance stone is Kerbstone 52. Like the entrance stone, Kerbstone 52 is divided in two by a vertical line with distinct motifs on either side.

The mound itself covers an area over one acre in size and is surrounded by 97 kerbstones, many of which are carved with designs and motifs which are typical of the Neolithic megalithic art but like all passage tombs that bear carvings, Newgrange has themes and patterns unique to this tomb.

The entrance of the tomb was heavily modified to allow easier visitor access, originally entering the tomb meant climbing over the entrance stone but after the excavations were complete the entrance was scooped out to allow steps to cross the kerb on both sides of the entrance. This part of the facade has been walled with grey stone to indicate it is not an original feature of the tomb though this inference is not clear to the first time visitor.

During the excavation the quartz stones which had fallen forward from the mound were built into a dazzling white facade after experimentation and analysis of how the stones fell indicated that a tall, steep outer wall was the most likely method of construction originally, though this wall fell within hundreds of years after the tomb was finished.

The entrance stone, Kerbstone 1, is profusely carved on its front face, this would have been done after the stone was positioned as can be seen by the line where the carving stops at old ground level.

Behind the entrance stone the passage entrance and the roofbox above can be seen. The slab which originally closed the tomb entrance but which had since fallen forward and used as a paving step into the chamber, is now bolted to the external wall.

Intriguingly, a quartz block was found near the roofbox opening which had been used to close half the opening and though some accounts also place another similar and corresponding stone here also, this has since dissapeared. The excavators found scratch marks on the passage roof where these stones had been moved to open and close the roofbox.

Some more stunning carving work seen here on a detail of Kerbstone 67 on the eastern side of the mound.

The passage of Newgrange on the morning of the Winter Solstice, as the sun retreats down the passage.

Engineering though is only part of picture, astronomers observed the rising sun over many years and marked out the orientation of the passage and chamber to allow its alignment to function. Artists picked the many designs including the celebrated 'triple spiral' inside the rear chamber and on the entrance stone using only stone tools, picking away for many, many hours, days and weeks to create extraorinary artwork still vibrant today even if its original 'meaning' if one existed, has been lost in the intervening millenia.

The mounds prominent position at the top of a ridge overlooking the Boyne river and visible from miles around must indicate this place was an extremely important part of Neolithic life, religion, art and burial.

Many discoveries made during the excavations demonstrate that the builders not only were able to move vast quantities of heavy stone over long distances, they were also very adept engineers who planned and executed a pre-planned design that has stood for 6,000 years and still performs its primary functions. Grooves were carved into the roof stones to channel water seeping through the mound away from the passage and camber, the corbeled roof is still intact as it was the day it was finished and towers over five metres above the ground.