Some Neolithic Ireland and a visit to Brú na Bóinne (The Palace of the Boyne)

 Ireland is rich in ancient sites. Some years ago Pauline and I stayed in Carran, Co. Clare and one of our first sights was in the evening when the majority of tourists had drifted away. It was Poulnabrone, an icon of Megalithic Ireland - an amazing sight, almost floating above the limestone pavement of the Burren. My supposition is that it is probable that the landscape at the time, 3800 -3200 BCE, was not so different - Hazel would probably have been extensive in the grikes in the pavement (it remains so where there is sufficient soil), but would be easily harvested for manufacture of baskets, fences etc. The free-draining geology would have militated against bog formation.

Poulnabrone Portal Tomb

 A year later saw us in Co. Mayo visiting the Céide (pronounced Kaydje, apparently!) Fields.

Céide Fields, Co. Mayo

Céide Fields are the site of the first known landscapes of stone walled fields in the world, possibly dating back some 6000 years*. This is a wholly different landscape to that of the Burren. There is not much to be seen in the open as the walls were covered by metres of depth of peat bog. A local landowner, Patrick Caulfield, discovered stones while turf cutting. The stones were in a regular pattern. Using the iron rods that were driven into the bog to find tree remains, his son Seamus, an archaeologist, uncovered the ordered nature of the stone walls. Since then artefacts have also been found. I am anything but a paleobotanist, or paleo-anything, so the following must be taken as approximate (the Céide Fields Visitor Centre has far more information).  It is thought that at around 3500-3000 BCE the forested lands (Pine and Birch) were cleared for grazing. With the warm wet post-glacial period, blanket bog took over and covered the land, burying the farmland, walls and remaining trees. 

* UPDATE, 20/08/25 On seeing 'The Mystery of the Desert Kites' on BBC Channel 4, I found it intriguing that to the SE of what is considered the fertile crescent of the Middle East, thousands of huge 'desert kites' have been found stretching from SW Saudi Arabia round to the Mediterranean and NE to Kazakhstan. These 'kites' comprised sails - enclosures - and 'tails' of stone walls believed now to have guided gazelle on migration into sophisticated traps. The kites are considered to date across the neolithic, perhaps to 7000 BCE. There are similarities with other structures to my mind - carvings of human figures that echo what I saw at Filtosa, Corsica, dating back 4000 BCE (although these latter carvings have been modified over time).

On visiting Ballycroy Nature Reserve nearby we were lucky enough to be told where to find the exposed stumps and roots of Pines that predated the overlying peat bog.

Pine Stump and Roots, possibly 6000 years old, below the Peat

 

 Although we had seen megaliths before, from across western Europe, it was with these sites in Ireland that we were truly bitten by the prehstoric landscape bug, and Newgrange, being on the Boyne just 30 minutes from our friends in Dundalk, was now in our sights. A speciality of Newgrange is seeing the Winter Solstice from within the tomb passage. Having my birthday at the Winter Solstice, we twice entered the raffle to see the sunrise on that day, but without luck.

 This year, for unrelated reasons, I was visiting P and M in July and took advantage to book a 3.5 hr tour of the Newgrange site, including Knowth. The Newgrange website is a little frustrating in that it provides limited information and urges booking for tours, with the focus very much on Newgrange. On the day, I visited with D and M as P felt 3.5 hrs was too long. I did wonder whether I should have booked the shorter 2 hr visit just to Newgrange but that would have been to miss the main bulk of the neolithic landscape.

Arrival: timing is stressed; the visitor centre is nowhere near Newgrange and parking at the centre gives a 5 minute walk to the centre itself where there are numerous staff to welcome, put on colored wrist bands (very important for the tour), and direct visitors where to go.  Built into the arrival time is an allowance to familiarise oneself and grab a cup of tea from the reasonable cafe. Then it is another 5 min walk across the River Boyne to the coach pick-up point. Then, onto the coach and off, along private tracks and narrow lanes until the arrival at Knowth.

 

 

Arriving at Knowth we were warmly welcomed by a very knowledgable guide who 'opened our eyes' to the value of Knowth. The site is astonishing! The first impact is that the main passage tomb is partly hidden by a number of smaller mounds:

 

Arriving at Knowth

 The main tomb has 17 smaller mounds surrounding it. It is larger than Newgrange and has two entrances (not accessible) which face East and West but are not solsticially aligned (although, like much else, there are different theories). The main feature seen are the kerbstones - 124 of what would have been 127. Many are intrically carved. There have been various reasons given for the carvings. Currently 'art' seems to be in favour - and why not, given the culture that erected the tombs was clearly sophisticated, simply lacking metal:

 

 

 

It was put to us that the Newgrange sites hold more than 50% of all neolithic art in Western Europe and that the vast majority of it is at Knowth.

 

From the top of the tomb at Knowth it is possible to see across the neolithic landscape to Newgrange:

Newgrange from Knowth

 

The remaining passage tomb making up the Newgrange complex is Dowth, which was iredeemably damaged during ill-thought archaeology in the past. The site is freely accessible and I hope to visit it on another trip!
 

 Scattered to the foreground of the tomb at Knowth is white quartz. It is thought, somewhat controversially, that this was a revetment of the wall of the tomb. There are a couple of examples of such in France, but the most striking is the reconstruction at Newgrange, which apparently, was based on reverse modelling the assumed fallen positions of the quartz stones:

 

To enter the tomb, we had to split into two groups and make sure that we had nothing extraneous that could be caught in the narrow passageway. Sadly, but understandably, photography was forbidden. Squeezing along the passage we arrived at a cruciform chamber where the guide explained about the finds and the magnificent corbelled roof, made of interleaved rock slabs.In front of the passage is a very impressive kerbstone which I thought I had not photographed but it turns out to be the first snap taken at Newgrange before the rest of the tourists turned up!

 

 

Although striking in its appearance, in some ways, Newgrange was less impressive to us than Knowth. I suspect that this is because the reconstruction at Newgrange, while undoubtedly impressive, can never be conclusive and the surrounding landscape will be different to how it was, whereas the very intensity of structures and rock art at Knowth is enveloping. (It must also be said that the focus at Newgrange is the passage and that was reflected by the people management there).

 

Back at the Visitor Centre there were displays, including a reconstruction of the Newgrange chamber. Question to myself - would I visit again? Certainly, but there are other sites as well: Loughcrew and Fourknocks, as well as Proleek that we visited in 2019. It sits on the edge of a golf course:

 

Proleek

 

Using my guide 'The Old Stones', a field guide to the megalithic sites of Britain and Ireland (a 'must have' for anyone interested in such things), I have also noted down a few sites in NI to visit. What with those and the old castles and religious ruins ...