It’s undoubtedly true to say the winter solstice at Newgrange plays second fiddle to another big December day now but it’s equally true to say it was here first and predates the Christmas bandwagon by a good 3,000 years.
There was no denying the festive atmosphere at the site in the hours before dawn on the shortest day of the year as thousands of good humoured folk were shuttled in buses from the interpretive centre to the mound to celebrate a moment marked on this spot for millennia.
Druids and high priestesses carrying yoga mats, dream catchers and drums rubbed shoulders with well-heeled folk in dry robes offering protection from the elements the ancients could scarcely have dreamed of.
Bleary-eyed children were hauled off buses and over wet grass by anxious parents afraid they’d miss their moment in the sun while dozens of people formed human circles and held hands with strangers as they waited for dawn to break over the Boyne valley.
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For 17 minutes at sunrise, direct sunlight can enter the monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the roof box, to illuminate the chamber.
Ahead of the big day, phone weather forecasts were less than encouraging that would happen this year but the clear skies above Newgrange made it clear technology isn’t always to be trusted.
As the darkness of the longest night lifted, blue skies broke through the gloom and clouds that looked like Celtic swirls floated above a parade of flag carrying, drum-banging Druids who had walked the short distance from Knowth.
A crowd with tambourines and drums gathered as the Druids planted a flag honouring the sun in the soft ground near the mound. Some closed their eyes and swayed to the primal beat while others held their hands in prayer pose and waited for the sun to warm their faces.
A bull terrier called Daisy was at the centre of it all, wagging her tail with a quizzical expression on her face as she tried to work out on earth was going on and what all the humans were doing. She couldn’t make head nor tail of it all and eventually gave up wondering and went back to playing with her owner.
Daria MacGregor did not need to work out what was going on. She was one of the earliest arrivals and had come from the US state of Georgia via her new home in Wexford.
“It is a magical morning,” she said. “I don’t get up early normally but I’m here because it’s important to honour the land with a community celebrating the same mysterious event. We’re all drawn here and we don’t know why.”
Father and daughter Jimmy and Molly Hennessy from New York knew why they were there. As a family they came to Newgrange last January and were so enamoured, that Molly decided to enter the lottery and was one of just six names drawn out of the hat to be allowed access to the hopefully sunlit chamber.
“I didn’t believe it when my parents told me I’d won,” she said. “I was astounded. I just finished my finals, and we hopped on a plane bounds for this spiritual place. I know that the forecast isn’t great but I’m told that more days than not, the sun comes into the chamber, so I’m crossing my fingers.”
The finger crossing worked and while great shards of morning sunshine did not materialise in time to fully light up the passage tomb’s inner chamber, there was enough sun to brighten the room in the most magical and inexplicable fashion.
Kristina Vaughan from Newcastle West in Co Limerick wasn’t in the chamber but she was happy enough on the outside having brought her Brazilian mother-in-law here to mark her birthday.
“We thought it would be a nice way to celebrate. I think it’s a beautiful thing to show her this culture and heritage, on such a poignant day.”
Kira Mack told The Irish Times she was a “high priestess” as she placed a yoga mat and several percussion instruments at a standing stone some 20 metres from the tomb’s entrance.
“This is about the letting go of 2025 but it’s also about bringing back what is ours. The key to life is nature and the sun. I will be drumming as the sun comes up, it creates a special frequency and a vibration.”
Laura Kent from South Africa was also drumming using percussion from her homeland which she’d attached to her legs. She was laid low with a cold last week and while her voice was hoarse to the point of whisper, it would have taken more than an ailment to keep her away. “I was excited like a child last night and woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Joan Pires from Goa was “expecting lots of energy and hoping to absorb lots of positive energy. It’s a communal thing where people gather for no particular reason, but with the hope of something. I really like that.”
The event was streamed on the Office for Public Work’s website and YouTube platform as well as on heritageireland.ie, and on RTÉ Player.
