Newgrange () is a prehistoric monument located in County Meath, on the eastern side of Ireland, about one kilometre north of the River Boyne.

Newgrange is also older than Stonehenge and the great pyramids of Giza It is in fact just one monument within the Neolithic Brú na Bóinne complex, alongside the similar passage tomb mounds of Knowth and Dowth, and as such is a part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today, Newgrange is a popular tourist site, and according to the archaeologist Colin Renfrew, is " unhesitatingly regarded by the prehistorian as the great national monument of Ireland " and is also widely recognised as one of the most important megalithic structures in Europe.

The blocks were possibly transported, to the Newgrange site by sea and up the River Boyne, by securing them to the underside of boats at low tide ( see diagram in Benozzo ( 2010 )); four slabs of brown carboniferous sandstone are from further afield, the rest of the 547 slabs used in the construction of the monument are greywacke of the Clogherhead formation, a feldspar rich sedimentary rock.

The archaeologist Michael J. O ’ Kelly, who led the 1962 – 1975 excavations at the site, believed that the monument had to be seen in relation to the nearby Knowth and Dowth, and that the building of Newgrange " cannot be regarded as other than the expression of some kind of powerful force or motivation, brought to the extremes of aggrandizement in these three monuments, the cathedrals of the megalithic religion.

However, evidence from Carbon Dating suggests that the stone circle which encircled Newgrange may not be contemporary with the monument itself but was placed there some 1, 000 years later in the Bronze Age.

It is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in County Meath, Ireland.

Some say it was built from a " fairy ring ", an ancient monument similar to Newgrange.

It is very difficult to tell the exact date of the Winter solstice without modern equipment ( although the Neolithic builders of the Newgrange monument seem to have managed it ).

Each stands on a ridge within the river bend and two of the tombs, Knowth and Newgrange, appear to contain stones re-used from an earlier monument at the site.

The town is situated in an area with an abundance of archaeological monuments dating from the Neolithic period onwards, of which the large Passage Tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth are probably the best known.

Meanwhile, the stones used for the cairn, which together would have weighed around 200, 000 tonnes, were likely taken from the river terraces between Newgrange and the Boyne, and there is indeed a large pond in this area which it has been speculated was the site quarried out by Newgrange ’ s builders to use for material for the cairn.

In 1699, a local landowner, Charles Campbell, ordered some of his farm labourers to dig up a part of Newgrange, which then had the appearance of a large mound of earth, so that he could collect stone from within it.

The next morning, the Ulstermen find themselves at the Brug na Bóinde ( the Neolithic mound at Newgrange ) — the house and its occupants have disappeared, but the child and the colts remain.

Formerly the Newgrange mound was encircled by an outer ring of immense standing stones, of which there are twelve of a possible thirty-seven remaining.

The entrance to Newgrange in 1905, when the mound had become largely overgrown.

The chamber and passageway were usually contained in an earthen mound, with the chamber at the centre ( Newgrange is again notable in having exterior stonework on the mound ).

The origins of the mound are unclear, but it has been suggested that it may have been a passage grave similar to Newgrange.

The triple spiral or triskele is a Celtic and pre-Celtic symbol found on a number of Irish Megalithic and Neolithic sites, most notably inside the Newgrange passage tomb, on the entrance stone, and on some of the curbstones surrounding the mound.

Newgrange is the central mound of the Boyne Valley passage grave cemetery, but many other passage graves exist in the environs, including Knowth and Dowth which are of comparable size to Newgrange.

* c. 3000 BC — 2500 BC — Tomb, Newgrange, Ireland, was built.

This includes Newgrange, a passage tomb built c. 3200 BCE.

The complex of Newgrange was originally built between c. 3100 and 2900 BC, meaning that it is approximately 5, 000 years old.

" O ’ Kelly believed that Newgrange, alongside the hundreds of other passage tombs built in Ireland during the Neolithic, showed evidence for a religion which venerated the dead as one of its core principles.

The triskelion symbol appears in many early cultures, including west's earliest known first astronomical calendar in Ireland at the famous megalithic tomb of Newgrange built around 3200 BCE, Mycenaean vessels, on coinage in Lycia, and on staters of Pamphylia ( at Aspendos, 370 – 333 BC ) and Pisidia.

Newgrange which was built around 3200 BCE predating the Celtic arrival in Ireland but has long since been incorporated into Celtic culture.

It is built in the same style as the Newgrange tomb, although on a smaller and less awe-inspiring scale.

What the symbol meant to the pagans who built Newgrange and other monuments is unknown.

The site predates the Egyptian pyramids and was built with sophistication and a knowledge of science and astronomy, which is most evident in the passage grave of Newgrange.

This is known as " MIThenge ", a reference to Stonehenge's alignment with the sun ( although the type of alignment bears a closer relationship with that of Newgrange and Maeshowe in that the sunlight passes through the mass of the buildings rather than through the standing stones of Stonehenge ).

The folly, with two circular windows, was made of stones taken from Newgrange.

Newgrange also shares many similarities with other Neolithic constructions around Western Europe, such as Maeshowe tomb in Orkney, Scotland and the Bryn Celli Ddu site in Wales.

These structures at Newgrange are generally contemporary with a number of henges known from the Boyne Valley, at Newgrange Site A, Newgrange Site O, Dowth Henge and Monknewtown Henge.

This does however show a continuity of use of Newgrange of over a thousand years, with partial remains found from only five individuals the tomb theory is called into question.

The mound's passage is shorter than the long entryways of monuments like Newgrange, which makes it less precise in providing alignments with the Sun ; still, Martin Brennan, in The Stones of Time, states that the daily changes in the position of a 13-foot ( 4-m ) long sunbeam are more than adequate to determine specific dates.

Newgrange entrance stone with megalithic art.

The early history of Irish visual art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze age artefacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and the Celtic brooches and illuminated manuscripts of the " Insular " Early Medieval period.

Overlooking the River Boyne, just a few kilometres upstream from Newgrange and the site of the famous Battle of the Boyne, Slane Castle in its existing form was constructed under the direction of William Burton Conyngham, together with his nephew The 1st Marquess Conyngham.

Newgrange: Kerb-stone with megalithic art.

The early history of Irish art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze Age artefacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the medieval period.

The long passage is crossed by 3 sill-stones and ends in a cruciform ( cross-shaped ) chamber with a lintelled ( not corbelled as in Newgrange or Knowth ) roof.

Dowth shares a special solar celebration with neighbouring Newgrange during the winter solstice.

The best known sídhe sites in Ireland are: Knockma, where the throne of Finvarra ( King of the fairies of Connaught ) is located, Knockany, ruled by Ainé, Queen of Munster, and Newgrange in county Meath, a megalithic passage tomb which is associated with the deities Boann, Angus Óg and The Dagda.

Although the district of Knocknarea, Cuil Irra, Cailleach a Vera, etc., is steeped in legend, Listoghil has never been satisfactorily connected with the ancient legends in the way that say, Newgrange has.

Pursuing the sculptor's fascination with the spiral motif, Harte unravels the Neolithic symbolism of the Spiral and the Newgrange Monument to illustrate the subliminal pagan inspiration underneath Conlon's overtly Christian spiritual urges.

Sites such as Maughanby Circle and Newgrange were designed to monitor the movements of the sun with special emphasis on the winter solstice.