New Grange is the earliest and most well-known passage tomb in all of Ireland.  It is located near Slane in County Meath at the bend of the River Boyne.  The actual dates of the tomb vary; uncalibrated radiocarbon dates give a range near 2500 BC or 3200 BC calibrated.  This predates both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.  New Grange was occupied during the late Neolithic and the Beaker period, its settlers having come from Britain.  The polypod bowls found at the site give evidence that the Middle Rhine Beaker people inhabited the site.  In addition, the flint scrapers and varieties of arrowheads give evidence for the Eastern Beaker people.  These people had sizable farming settlements, as they had been around the area for enough time to establish their land.

This passage tomb was discovered in 1699 when Edward Lhuyd came to Ireland from Oxford as part of an archaeological study including Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  He is credited with the first study of New Grange, which consisted of descriptions and drawings.  In 1909, George Coffey catalogued a number of passage graves including New Grange, and he published this report as New Grange and other Incised Tumuli in Ireland.  Professor Michael O’Kelly, from Trinity College undertook the major stage of excavation and the following restoration project from 1962 until 1975.  Units were concentrated on the east half of the base of the mound, which includes the entrance to the passage and the roof box.  He also focused on finding the original positions of the thirty-eight stones believed to be part of a stone circle surrounding the mound.  O’Kelly was also responsible for leading the restoration project.

The twelve original orthostats, or upright stones, recorded in 1699 as part of a large circle still remain.  This circle has a diameter of 103.6 meters.  It is only speculative that the circle was complete, and the spacing of the remaining stones could have been intentional.  They each weigh about a ton, some of which are decorated, and were probably put into place before the Late Neolithic/Beaker-period habitation.  Some of the stones may have been removed from the circle for construction of the 97 kerbstones surrounding the base of the mound.  None of the stones used in construction were quarried, and it is uncertain how they were moved from their original site.  They could have been moved by the labor of men alone, or the builders could have used oxen and possibly wooden roadways.

The mound itself has a diameter of 80 meters, with a height of 15 meters.  The materials used to construct it weigh approximately 200,000 tons, at least three times the amount of materials used at the largest British sites.  The passage is 19 meters long and slopes upward, containing 43 standing stones at approximately 1.5 meters in height.  The chamber at the end of the passage is cruciform in shape and is 6.5 meters wide, and the corbelled roof consisting of 17 stones rises to 6 meters in height.  This chamber has three small recesses, each with a basin stone, and was built in such a way to keep the inside dry, using a natural caulk and by sloping the chamber outward.  This passage was also built to allow a beam of light from the rising sun into the chamber on the winter solstice.  Expert studies, which began after a hypothesis was made in 1967, have shown that a sunbeam would have entered the chamber at the time of its construction, but at a width of 40 centimeters, unlike the current 17 centimeters of light.  The sun will continue to enter the chamber for thousands of years to come.

Before entering the chamber, one cannot miss the entrance stone.  This megalith has five large spirals, two on one half, three on the other, with a vertical groove separating them.  Additional carvings of lozenges and nested arcs cover the remaining face of the stone.  Above the stone and the entrance is the roof box.  This roof box was discovered in 1963 during minor excavations, and it rests on part of the passage roof.  Scratch marks still remain on the base of the box, which were probably from two quartz blocks that moved in and out to open and close the slit.

Many different interpretations exist concerning the passage tomb and surrounding areas.  Occupation existed adjacent to the stone circle, and archaeologists suspect that rectangular houses up to 20 meters in length were located there.  In the same area, animal bones have been found indicating that grazing was an important part of the economy.  Ninety-eight percent of the bones found were from domestic animals, mainly cattle and pigs, while sheep and goat made up a small amount of the finds.  Limited wheat remains give evidence of cereal growth, and metal workers may have been employed on the site.  However, overall, very little information is known about the settlements and the economy.  Some kind of organization system must have been used because a passage tomb of this magnitude could not have been built without a strong leader and many hours of labor from the community.  One cannot know if women and children helped or who held the leadership position.

The community that lived at New Grange was most likely settled in their lifestyle, thus having the opportunity to exert time and energy on a project that large.  The monument was probably an expression of their religion, marking the territory as sacred ground.  Early Irish mythology tells that New Grange was a cemetery for the prehistoric kings of Tara and possibly high Druids.  Other ceremonies and worship may have also taken place at the tomb.  Inside the chamber, excavations revealed two burials and at least three cremated bodies laid to rest.  Also inside, seven marbles, four pendants, two beads, a flint flake, a bone chisel, and several bone pins and point fragments were found.  Although one can usually find grave goods, the absence of pottery in New Grange is common for passage grave cemeteries.

Another interpretation was that New Grange was the house of the patriarchal god, Dagda.  At different times during the year, precious offerings would be made to the powerful gods, as indicated by the gold items left by the Romans visiting from Britain.  It is also held to be the House of the Dead, believing that the tomb was kept dry for the comfort of the spirits.  One idea is that the roof box was meant to be able to open and close to let the spirits in and out of the tomb.

In the Boyne area, more than thirty prehistoric monuments exist, including standing stones, passage graves, barrows, and other enclosures.  Two other major passage tombs are found at Knowth and Dowth.  Knowth is unlike New Grange in that it has a bottle-shaped chamber with two passages, but it resembles it in scale and roofing style.  The mound is larger than that at New Grange, and Knowth also has more decorated stones.  Dowth has the largest tumulus of all, reaching 84 meters in diameter.  Dowth also has two passages, but it does not have the corbelled roof that one can see at New Grange and Knowth.  Three orthostats mark the entrance opposite that of the main chamber at Dowth, and they are decorated with lozenges, chevrons, and spirals.  These ornamented stones are a recurring factor in passage tombs, but a meaning has yet to be found.

Plan of New Grange

Pictures of New Grange

Arosio, Paola and Diego Meozzi. Stones of Ireland: New Grange.
        <http://www.stonepages.com/ireland/ireland.html>  8 September 2002.

Genbukan Ireland: New Grange. <http://homepage.tinet.ie/~sanzen/newgrange.html>  8 September 2002.

Herity, Michael and George Eogan.  Ireland in Prehistory.  London: Routledge, 1977.

New Grange: The Passage Grave. <http://www.users.bigpond.com/kirwilli/dolmen/newgrange.htm>  8
        September 2002.

O’Kelly, Michael.  Newgrange: Archaeology, art and legend.  London: Thames and Hudson, 1982.

Ó Riordáin, Sean P. and Glyn Daniel.  New Grange and the Bend of the Boyne.  London: Thames and
        Hudson, 1964.

Springs, Spirituality, Science: New Grange, Ireland.
        <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8843/newgrange.html> 8 September 2002.