May 21

Today we had another "light" breakfast of cereal, toast and coffee and got the gang in the car by 9:45 a.m., heading toward the neolithic site of Newgrange. Our hostess, Josephine, recommended that we get there by 10:00 a.m. to be assured of getting admission. As we left the house, the weather did not look promising, and it began raining on us. But when we pulled in the car park and started unloading, the rain stopped. Then the sun came out, and we had cooperative weather until about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. It was a big help, because the sites we wanted to see are accessible only with special shuttle buses from the visitors' center, which drop you off and leave you in the hands of a tour guide for about an hour or so at each place -- and there is absolutely no shelter at either of the mound sites.

None of that mattered, as it turned out, because the rain came only briefly while we sat on the bus, and otherwise, we had more sunny spells than clouds.

The tour was very interesting -- explaining how prehistoric cultures built and used the passage tombs, of which there are more than 90 scattered across the valley. Most are not as big as the well known sites of Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange. Like Stonehenge, the building materials were transported from a long distance without benefit of a draft animal or wheels.

We signed up to visit both Knowth and Newgrange, and we were permitted to go inside each of these, as well as climb on top of Knowth. Mom joined the group going inside the passage tomb of Knowth but opted not to climb the stairs and navigate the passage in Newgrange. While we were inside it, they simulated the sunbeam of the winter solstice, using electrical lights to cast a beam slowly up the passageway to fall upon the basin stone in the center of the mound. It was really cool!

Between the two tours, we had just enough time for a bite to eat in the visitors' center, and afterward we were contented with making a few small purchases at the gift shop.