This slideshow was taken on the 20th September 2005, the only morning around the equinox where the weather conditions allowed the alignment in Loughcrew Carin T to be seen.
Click
here to see a sequence of photographs from the Autumn equinox in 2006.
07:56am The beam, shaped into a rectangle by the stones of the passage, moves down to the right hand corner of the stone during the sunrise, passing over many rock carvings which Martin Brennan believes were intended to measure the beam to accurately predict the day of equinox.
Click here to continue to page 2 of this gallery...
07:58am The beam enters its final stage of illumination, highlighting the 'sun symbol' at the bottom right of the stone.
08:03am The beam now moves from the backstone to the right hand side of the main chamber, hitting the sun symbol visible here on the sill stone.
08:11am Partially blocked by a person in the passage way, you can however see how the beam is moving off the backstone and lighting up a barely visible sun symbol carved on the sill stone just in front of the back chamber and is moving towards the walls of the main chamber.
08:17am As the beam leaves the chamber it moves lower along the central chamber walls. The whole chamber glows golden orange for almost an hour during the event.
The scene being captured by an RTE cameraman for a broadcast which will be shown on all the major bulletins on the 20th September.
A fresh autumn morning at Loughcrew.
Cairn T around 8.30 am when all the visitors have left.
Cairn V, looking over the ruins in the direction of Kells to the south east.
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