Ray of hope at the winter solstice
Cloud blocks sunrise at Newgrange but fails to dash spirits
The sunrise above the Joyce monument in Sean Moore Park, Dublin, yesterday. The monument is a free-standing stone alignment which marks the rising of the sun
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Tuesday December 22 2009
IT is known the world over as the jewel in the crown of Irish heritage. But it was another all too familiar facet of Ireland that stole the show at Newgrange yesterday.
Hundreds of people were clinging to hopes of clear skies as they descended on the picturesque Boyne Valley, Co Meath, at sunrise to witness the winter solstice at the ancient Stone Age site. But for the second year in a row, the illumination of the 5,000-year-old chamber was thwarted by the Irish weather and a thick blanket of cloud.
Not that those attending were going to let a bit of dreary weather ruin their fun. The freezing morning air was filled with feverish excitement as the clock ticked down to the moment the sun should have shone into the chamber.
Monument
Others, meanwhile, gathered in Sean Moore Park near Sandymount strand in Dublin at the Joyce monument. This free- standing stone alignment marks the rising of the sun on the shortest day of the year.
Back at Newgrange, druids performed ancient rituals on the grass nearby as others weighed up the chances of the sky clearing in time. "Not a hope" was the general consensus. US author Martin Brennan, who came to the Boyne Valley in the 1980s in a bid to crack the code of Ireland's ancient Celtic symbols, returned this year and described Newgrange as a "temple of light".
"We should pay attention to the message of this place in these days of darkness because this is where the light is coming in," he said. Alice Higgins, from Co Galway, visits Newgrange for the winter solstice every year and she said the lack of sunlight yesterday did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm. "There's always something great about people cheering the sun coming up," she said.
Junior Minister Martin Mansergh, Dublin City Mayor Emer Costello and Belgian Ambassador Robert Devriese were among the select few invited guests for yesterday's viewing.
- Stephen O'Farrell
Irish Independent
