Newgrange is probably the most famous passage-tomb.
Ancient folklore
says the tomb is a burial place for the
High Kingsof Ireland, but here the tombs pre-date
Tara by3000 years. It probably was a mausoleum for a
dynasty of Kings,perhaps. It received its name from
Mellifont Abbey when the land it stands on became one
of the outlying farms, or "new granges" of the
Abbey.
The mound under which the tomb lies
is about 300ft across, and is partly ringed in
white granite. Beneath the mound is a passage 62ft
long, and three chambers,lined with massive stones and
decorated in spirals and zig zags. The roof is
20 ft high, and the stones fit so well
it doesn't leak.The suns rays only penetrate the inner chamber
at dawn on the shortest day
in the year. Newgrange is only one of Ireland's hundreds of megalithic
tombs.
Newgrange and tombs like it,date from 3000 BC, a thousand years before
the pyramids. |
