Whatever the beliefs of the prehistoric people who created the extraordinary landscape of ritual sites known as Brú na Bóinne, they expressed them ingeniously and on a vast scale: fusing breathtaking feats of engineering, architecture, artistry and astronomy into a complex of monuments – now a World Heritage Site – across the fertile Boyne river valley.
Left: A sunny day at Newgrange. Right: Light shining through passage tomb at Newgrange (image via Tourism Ireland).
Left: Aerial photograph of Knowth. Right: Aerial photograph of Dowth Henge
Even more dazzling is the unparalleled amount of prehistoric art carved in the stones – some say the circular and serpentine patterns represent local maps.
Over the centuries, drawn by Brú na Bóinne’s aura, later people came to add standing stones and subterranean tunnels, and even into medieval times layer upon layer of new meanings were being built. As sure as the sun rises, falls and rises again, we will be coming here to be fascinated.