Newgrange Stone Age Passage Tomb

I was incredibly excited to finally arrive at Newgrange. I have listened some of the stories by our tour guide about Newgrange but nothing could prepare me to see the real thing. Newgrange isn’t really very well known outside of Ireland. Here, it is probably the most well known of the monuments here at the Brú na Bóinne or the Boinne Valley. The Newgrange monument here is one of the latest and best maintained tombs in the area. When you speak of ancient tombs, you would think about the pyramids of Egypt, incredibly, the Newgrange Passage Tombs pre-date the pyramids by five hundred years! I was struck at the age of this place and how well maintained it is now.

The tomb is estimated to have been built between the year 3200 – 3100 BC. That makes it even older than nearby Stonehenge. In contrast with Stonehenge, Newgrange seems to be far more spectacular. As the name implied, this was built during the Neolithic period of Ireland, meaning the New Stone age. As you can see from the photos, this was made largely of stone as that was probably the most durable material in the area. The stones however, weren’t just taken nearby. The stones here have been traced to nearby counties which are quite far away in stone age standards. There were massive stones used and it is not exactly known how these stone were transported to the site. It is thought that the nearby River Boyne played a role in the transport of the stones from far away places. Regardless, it seems to be an incredible feat of engineering.

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