The longest day of the year has been celebrated by people in Ireland for 5,000 years
Kitty Donoghue from Dublin, Mary Janet Fowler from New Mexico and Roxanne Brzezinska from Poland welcome the rising sun at the Hill of Tara on the morning of the Summer Solstice on Wednesday. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Wed Jun 21 2023 - 11:36
June 21st is the longest day of the year and from tomorrow we can forget about any mentions of a “grand stretch” until the start of next spring.
It marks the astronomical first day of summer in the northern hemisphere, with more daylight hours than any other day of the year and in turn, the shortest night of the calendar year.
The solstice, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and by its orbital motion around the sun, also marks the time when the sun is at its highest point in the sky in the northern hemisphere.
Often referred to as the Summer Solstice, it is also known as Midsummer’s Day in Britain. The Summer Solstice has been celebrated in Ireland for some 5,000 years and its earliest days are tied back to pagan society.
A visitor to the Hill of Tara, from Armagh, with a replica of the Loughnashade trumpet at sunrise on the Summer Solstice. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
The Loughnashade trumpet player with other visitors to the Hill of Tara on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
The Loughnashade trumpet player at sunrise on Wednesday. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Solstice participants gather around the Lia Fail standing stone on the Hill of Tara on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
A canine companion with visitors to the Hill of Tara on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Visitors at the Hill of Tara on the Summer Solstice. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
People wait for the sun to rise at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England for the Summer Solstice. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty
People wait by a circle of candles for the sun to rise at Stonehenge. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty
People sing together at Stonehenge on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty
Visitors clamour to see the rising sun between the stones at Stonehenge welcome the sun at Stonehenge. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty
A person raises their arms to welcome the sun at Stonehenge on June 21, 2023 in Wiltshire, England. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
People walk through the mist as the sun rises at Stonehenge. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty
Two revellers embrace by Stonehenge. Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty
The sun rises at Stonehenge. Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty
People gather at Stonehenge. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
A girl reacts as the sun rises on the Summer Solstice from behind a rocky crest filled with astronomical stone markers at the ancient megalithic observatory of Kokino, North Macedonia on Wednesday. Photograph: Georgi Licovski/EPA-EFE
