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Newgrange Winter Solstice

On the days around the Winter Solstice when the skies are clear the rising sun illuminates the passage and chamber of the 5000 year old megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange in the Boyne Valley. Above the entrance to the passage of the mound there is an opening called a roof box. On mornings around the winter solstice a beam of light penetrates the roof box and travels up the 19m (62ft) passage and into the chamber. As the sun rises higher, the beam widens so that the whole chamber is dramatically illuminated.

Winter solstice sunrise over a Boyne Valley field, with a large standing stone in the foreground and a leafless tree to the right The rising sun
Winter solstice sunlight illuminating the stone passage interior at Newgrange, with upright orthostats and a flat stone roof Winter Solstice Sunbeam in the Newgrange passage
Visitors in winter coats gathered at the Newgrange entrance with white quartz facade and roof box in golden morning light The white quartz glows in the sunlight at Newgrange
Newgrange with white quartz and granite facade, kerbstones at the base, standing stones in the grass and visitors at the entrance A perfect sunrise to illuminate the passage and chamber at Newgrange
Tourists at the Newgrange entrance beside Kerbstone K1, with the roof box and quartz facade lit by low winter sunlight The solstice lottery winners experiencing a wonderful sunrise in the Newgrange chamber while the people outside waited patiently for their turn to enter the chamber
Newgrange passage interior looking toward the entrance, with sunlight from the roof box falling on the gravel floor The sunbeam retreating from the passage at Newgrange
Golden winter solstice sunbeam shining along the Newgrange passage floor from the entrance toward the dark chamber The sunbeam in the chamber at Newgrange

On the mornings around the Winter Solstice the rising sun shines directly along the long passage into the chamber for about 17 minutes and illuminates the chamber floor. Professor Michael J. O'Kelly was the first person in modern times to observe this event on 21st December 1967. The sun enters the passage through a specially contrived opening, known as a roof box, directly above the main entrance. Although solar alignments are not uncommon among passage graves, Newgrange is one of few to contain the additional roof box feature.

The alignment is such that although the roof box is above the passage entrance, the light hits the floor of the inner chamber. Today the first light enters about four minutes after sunrise, but calculations based on the precession of the Earth show that 5,000 years ago first light would have entered exactly at sunrise. The solar alignment at Newgrange is very precise compared to similar phenomena at other passage graves such as Dowth or Maes Howe in the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland.

Newgrange Winter Solstice Archive

Close view of the Newgrange entrance and roof box, with carved lozenges on the lintel and quartz and cobble facade in golden light