Sí an Bhrú (Newgrange)

A visit this week to the World Heritage Site has got my proverbial juices flowing. It has aroused not-so-dormant curiosities in all things archaeological! Newgrange is known as Sí an Bhrú with the latter word sometimes spelt brugh or brú, (the same word as Brú in Brú na Bóinne). This word is sometimes translated as ‘palace’ or ‘mansion’ and therefore Newrange is often referred to as the ‘palace of the Boyne’. However, the old Irish word for womb is Brú and so Brú na Bóinne may actually be more correctly translated as Womb of the Bóinne/Boyne, rather than palace or the mansion of the Boyne.

The term Sí (sometimes síd or sídh) is usually associated with mounds and fairy mounds. Probably the oldest meaning of Sí relates to “(the) Otherworld”: that is the subterranean world of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Aos Sí in the literary traditions of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The second – and later – definition of Sí is “Otherworld Residence, Territory” (pl. Síthe). The majority of Síthe were equated with the ancient burial mounds and graves that dotted the landscapes of Ireland, though the term was sometimes applied to other areas associated with the supernatural like notable hilltops, caves, springs, lakes and certain wilderness locations (An Sionnach Fionn, 2009).

The entrance, entrance stone and passage at Newgrange

If the alternative translation is applicable, it perhaps gives even more significance to the sites in terms of their ritual function, that is to say, if these monuments are/were referred to or thought of as ‘wombs’. One is perhaps hesitant to use the term because of ‘new-age’ connotations, but ‘mother earth’ springs to mind; returning the ancestors to an other-worldly and comforting realm. It would also further the significance of the solstice as an experience given this great ‘womb’ along with Dowth is aligned with the winter event (an alignment of Knowth is conjectural, but hypothesised to align with the Equinox – akin to the Loughcrew complex). In days that now seem so long ago I studied the Boyne Valley and its archaeological significance (memories of Waddell’s ‘The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland’), learning facts such as; the Beaker People's influence, it predated Stonehenge, it predated the Great Pyramids and so on. But facts and figures offer little substitute for experiencing these places, although one fact I will hold onto is that there is a smaller mound that predates Newgrange on top of which it was built.

With the Bóinne cultural landscape a World Heritage Site since 1993, a wider appreciation of heritage sites in the public psyche and the inexorable rise in cultural tourism, it is no surprise that such sites attract visitors. Infrastructure associated with guiding people to these places is now ever-visible, as are attempts (understandably) for businesses to somehow associate themselves with it and take advantage of the passing trade. Newgrange (alongside Knowth and other similar monuments - I wrote about a trip to Knowth in 'Biking Through the Brú na Bóinne') never fails to impress once standing in front of them. It’s easy to see them in splendid isolation, but of course they were and are surrounded by other associated structures and sites, indeed there are a collection of standing stones to the front of Newgrange as well as numerous other smaller satellite passage tombs, a series of henge sites, cursous, ancillaries and a later Bronze Age woodhenge. There was, just this summer, the spectacular discovery of other monuments and another sizable henge. It begs the question 'just what were they doing here?'.

For me it is tempting, and would almost be easier, to write an archaeological critique and analysis of the site, and make it quite dry for the reader; something I have been guilty of in the past, but something I just can't help - the old academic in me will never quite die! Instead I thought I would focus on visiting the monument, peppering it with some facts, and concentrate on how it made me feel.

The incised decoration and stone bowl in the western chamber

The approach to the site is dominated by the white quartz façade that is, I'm reliably informed, reconstructed based on archaeological evidence from Prof. O'Kelly's excavations in the 1960's. I remember being told when excavating Ballynahatty that the Giant's Ring henge in Belfast would originally have gleamed with white quartz as well, excavations of cremation burials often also had quartz stones associated with them, sometimes placed at the compass points next to the urn. These sites would have, therefore, literally been beacons within the landscape. However, the façade reconstruction has and did cause some consternation and debate amongst archaeologists. The standing stones to the front almost act as guides to funnel one towards the entrance that is, in itself, imposing to say the least. You are greeted by the great decorated curb stone and two passages (the upper is the light box for the winter solstice sun atop which sits a great chevron decorated lintel).

To enter, a stoop is necessary, minding the protruding capstone that looks like it could do some damage - and nearly did to my head on exit! The passage is lit, but even so the gloom seems to enclose you both literally and metaphorically; maybe it is like entering a womb or a warm embrace of the earth? In places the orthastat[s] lean in and this means if claustrophobic, this would be somewhat unsettling. Then the great corbelled chamber opens out and there is a sense of space; the height of the ceiling is as equally surprising as the complexity of the construction. Immediately the sheer amount of different decorations on stones becomes apparent, they are everywhere - spirals, circles, chevrons, lozenges and triangles. The designs on many stones continue on surfaces now hidden and excavations revealed that many stones are carved on their undersides and on the sides turned inwards to the cairns. Therefore it may not always have been important for the whole design to be visible which would suggest that the design and perhaps the decorated stone itself was significant, rather than the viewer or their interpretation.

The famous triskele at the back (north) chamber

I had to keep reminding myself that the place was over 5,000 years old! The art intrigues me; what was it's purpose and what did it mean? There has been, of course, much conjecture with the spirals and circles postulated to represent the sun and movement of the sun's course across the calender year. The chevrons have been interpreted as darkness and there is no doubt in my mind, remembering the solstice alignment, that light and dark and the celestial movements were significant. It is hard to argue against the famous ‘r’s in terms of purpose; ritual or religious significance. The purpose behind these monuments is theoretical, some have argued either as a place of worship for a ‘cult of the dead’ or ancestor worship (anyone familiar with Time Team will know of Francis Pryor’s fascination with ancestor worship), or for an astronomically-based faith. Prof. O'Kelly believed, rightly in my view, that the monument had to be seen in relation to the nearby Knowth, Dowth and the wider landscape, and that the building of Newgrange "…cannot be regarded as other than the expression of some kind of powerful force or motivation, brought to the extremes of aggrandizement in these three monuments, the cathedrals of the megalithic religion." (O’Kelly, 1982). O'Kelly argued that Newgrange, alongside the hundreds of other passage tombs built in Ireland during the Neolithic, showed evidence for a religion that venerated the dead as one of its core principles (Ibid).

Townley Hall - Little Grange - Summer Solstice (Ken Williams)

At one point, the interior lights were switched off and standing in the darkness fundamentally changed the space and its impact. After this a 'fake' winter solstice effect is created to show what the chamber is like when lit by the shaft of sunlight that hits the back (north chamber wall) and illuminates the famous triskele on one of the orthastat uprights. It was only recently that I discovered a nearby small passage tomb called Townley Hall, not often visited, but it also has an alignment with the summer solstice as imaged by Ken Williams of Shadows and Stone. In his image you can clearly see the alignment; excavated by Prof. Eoghan prior to his long term excavation at Knowth, the sockets for the missing passage and chamber stones were located and can be seen by the concrete placement  slabs.

The point is that within this cultural landscape there are almost too many monuments, many very large and significant, to count, all of which required thought, engineering and exceptional will to complete; many are aligned to celestial events (including winter and summer solstices [proven] and equinox events [proposed] alongside others that might yet be discovered). Therefore, the laws of probability would conclude that these monuments acted together throughout the year. They were special then, they remain special now.