Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [466]
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BRÚ NA BÓINNE
The vast Neolithic necropolis known as Brú na Bóinne (the Boyne Palace) is one of the most extraordinary sites in Europe and shouldn’t be missed. A thousand years older than Stonehenge, this is a powerful and evocative testament to the mind-boggling achievements of prehistoric humans.
The complex was built to house the remains of those who were at the top of the social heap and its tombs were the largest artificial structures in Ireland until the construction of the Anglo-Norman castles 4000 years later. The area consists of many different sites, with the three principal ones being Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Over the centuries the tombs decayed, were covered by grass and trees, and were plundered by everybody from Vikings to Victorian treasure hunters, whose carved initials can be seen on the great stones of Newgrange. The countryside around the tombs is littered with countless other ancient tumuli (mounds) and standing stones.
Orientation & Information
In an effort to protect the tombs and preserve the mystical atmosphere around them, all visits to Brú na Bóinne must start at the Brú na Bóinne visitor centre ( 041-988 0300; www.heritageireland.ie; Donore; adult/child visitor centre €3/2, visitor centre, Newgrange & Knowth €11/6; 9am-6.30pm May, 9am-7pm Jun-Sep, 9.30am-5pm Oct-Apr), from where a shuttle bus will take you to the tombs. Happily, this is a superb interpretive centre, its spiral design echoing that of Newgrange. The centre houses an extraordinary series of interactive exhibits on prehistoric Ireland and its passage tombs, and has regional tourism info, a good cafe and a bookshop.
You should allow plenty of time to visit Brú na Bóinne. Plan on an hour’s visit for the interpretive centre alone, two hours if you wish to include a trip to Newgrange or Knowth, and a half day to see all three in one go (Dowth is not open to tourists).
In summer, particularly at weekends, and during school holidays, the place gets very crowded, and you will not be guaranteed a visit to either of the passage tombs. There are only 750 tour slots and on peak days 2000 people show up. Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis (no advance booking) so the best advice is to arrive early in the morning or visit midweek and be prepared for a wait.
The important thing to note is that if you turn up at either Newgrange or Knowth first, you’ll be sent to the visitor centre. Tours depart from a bus stop that you reach by walking across a spiral bridge over the River Boyne, and the buses take just a few minutes to reach the sites. Technically you can walk the 4km to either site from the visitor centre, but you’re discouraged from doing so as you might get mowed down on the very narrow lanes by the tour bus you’ve chosen not to take.
The visitor centre is on the south side of the river. It’s 2km west of Donore and 6km east of Slane, where bridges cross the river from the N51.
Sights
NEWGRANGE
Even from afar, you know that Newgrange (adult/child incl visitor centre €6/3) is something special. Its white, round stone walls topped by a grass dome look otherworldly, and just the size is impressive: 80m in diameter and 13m high. But underneath it gets even better. Here lies the finest Stone Age passage tomb in Ireland, and one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in Europe. It dates from around 3200 BC, predating the Pyramids by some six centuries. No one is quite sure of its original purpose. It could have been a burial place for kings or a centre for ritual – although the tomb’s precise alignment with the sun at the time of the winter solstice also suggests it was designed to act as a calendar.
The name derives from ‘New Granary’ (the tomb did in fact serve as a repository for wheat and grain at one stage), although a more popular belief is that it comes from the Irish for ‘Cave of Gráinne’, a reference to a popular Celtic myth. The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne tells of the illicit love between the woman betrothed to Fionn McCumhaill (or Finn McCool), leader of the