I love Irish history, we worshiped the sun, were invaded by the Vikings and almost died off from no potatoes. Seriously, how much better does it get? Anyway, today we went to visit the site of Newgrange which for the uninitiated in the site of a megalithic tomb built in 3200BC which means that it is older than the pyramids and with as many mysteries surrounding it. The passage tomb as it is called, sort of encases the top of the highest peak of a hill and and has a singular passage through the centre that only become alight during the winter solstice. it is believed that the important members of the community were cremated an their ashes were placed in here until the sun would shine through. As they worshiped the sun as the bringer of life they thought that this would allow them a direct motorway to heaven essentially. From this they were rewarded with another half year of sun and land fertility. Clearly now we understand the cosmos a bit better but i still think that being able to design a building of this magnitude in such detail that the sun shines through the small passageway on the same day every year is pretty impressive. After the Newgrange we set of again to the Hill of Tara - not talking about the skanky American but of the Seat of the Kings of Ireland. It was the coronation site of the pre-christian kings and dates back almost 5000 years. The Kings of Ireland did not ascend the thrown because of their ancestry they either won it in a battle or they were chosen for it. I think it works! Anyway the site was really interesting to visit and a must for those thinking of coming over here.
