Loughcrew Equinox

On the mornings around the spring equinox and the autumn equinox on Carnbane East at Loughcrew, the rising sun illuminates the passage and chamber of Cairn T. The sunlight is shaped by the stones of the entrance and passage and descends the backstone while moving from left to the right illuminating the solar symbols.

At Loughcrew Cairn T the rising sun on the mornings around the equinox illuminates the passage and chamber.

Twice a year, around 21 March and 21 September, people gather on the hill before dawn. If the sky is clear, sunlight enters Cairn T for about an hour after sunrise. The beam first appears as a thin line on the left of the backstone, then widens and drifts across the carvings before it fades. The same sequence can be seen at both the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Waiting to enter Loughcrew Cairn T to experience the illumination of the chamber.

Cairn T is one of the few Irish passage tombs where this effect is still easy to watch. The chamber is small, so visitors usually go in in short groups. Inside, the art on the backstone is easier to read when the sun picks it out than it is in torchlight. That may be why the stones were placed as they are: to mark the time of the year in a way that could be seen, not only measured.

Equinox sunbeam illuminates the chamber of Loughcrew Cairn T.

Autumn Equinox 2016

Loughcrew Video - Spring Equinox 2005

Equinox sunlight on the backstone in Cairn T.

Loughcrew Equinox Archive

• March 2014 Spring Equinox.
• September 2012 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2011 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2010 Spring Equinox.
• September 2009 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2009 Spring Equinox.
• September 2008 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2008 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2008 Spring Equinox.
• September 2007 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2006 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2005 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2005 Spring Equinox.
• March 2005 Equinox Video.
• September 2004 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2004 Spring Equinox.
• September 2002 Autumn Equinox.