Dr. Muiris O’Sullivan

It's very nice to be here as well.

It's very nice to be here as well.

It's very nice to be here as well.

Yeah, the most famous, I suspect, prehistoric site. It's obviously a World Heritage Site, part of a World Heritage Site, probably... maybe the best known of the three because of the solstice, which we can speak about. And Nouth would be the other great one, but Newgrange would be the one that certainly would have been the first to be well known. It was excavated in the 60s and 70s.

Yeah, the most famous, I suspect, prehistoric site. It's obviously a World Heritage Site, part of a World Heritage Site, probably... maybe the best known of the three because of the solstice, which we can speak about. And Nouth would be the other great one, but Newgrange would be the one that certainly would have been the first to be well known. It was excavated in the 60s and 70s.

Yeah, the most famous, I suspect, prehistoric site. It's obviously a World Heritage Site, part of a World Heritage Site, probably... maybe the best known of the three because of the solstice, which we can speak about. And Nouth would be the other great one, but Newgrange would be the one that certainly would have been the first to be well known. It was excavated in the 60s and 70s.

The excavations there began around that time, but Nouth emerged in terms of archaeological information slightly behind Newgrange in terms of information.

The excavations there began around that time, but Nouth emerged in terms of archaeological information slightly behind Newgrange in terms of information.

The excavations there began around that time, but Nouth emerged in terms of archaeological information slightly behind Newgrange in terms of information.

They are more or less circular mounds, usually constituted of stone and soil and so on, covering a megalithic tomb, which is entered along a passage from the exterior into a chamber in the interior. And this gives them the name passage tombs. And the ones in the Boyne Valley, including Newgrange and Nouth, these are enormous, you know, maybe 80 meters across.

They are more or less circular mounds, usually constituted of stone and soil and so on, covering a megalithic tomb, which is entered along a passage from the exterior into a chamber in the interior. And this gives them the name passage tombs. And the ones in the Boyne Valley, including Newgrange and Nouth, these are enormous, you know, maybe 80 meters across.

They are more or less circular mounds, usually constituted of stone and soil and so on, covering a megalithic tomb, which is entered along a passage from the exterior into a chamber in the interior. And this gives them the name passage tombs. And the ones in the Boyne Valley, including Newgrange and Nouth, these are enormous, you know, maybe 80 meters across.

Some of them, you know, they're quite 90 meters in the case of Nouth. They're very, very extensive and they contained an enormous amount of material apart from anything else.

Some of them, you know, they're quite 90 meters in the case of Nouth. They're very, very extensive and they contained an enormous amount of material apart from anything else.

Some of them, you know, they're quite 90 meters in the case of Nouth. They're very, very extensive and they contained an enormous amount of material apart from anything else.

Exactly. Large stones. And these are enormous stones. In the case of Newgrange, which would have the largest stones, actually, in the Boyne Valley, some of the kerbstones there are approximately four metres long. maybe a meter high by sometimes almost a meter wide as well. So an enormous mass of stone. And they seem to have been collected round about the area.

Exactly. Large stones. And these are enormous stones. In the case of Newgrange, which would have the largest stones, actually, in the Boyne Valley, some of the kerbstones there are approximately four metres long. maybe a meter high by sometimes almost a meter wide as well. So an enormous mass of stone. And they seem to have been collected round about the area.

Exactly. Large stones. And these are enormous stones. In the case of Newgrange, which would have the largest stones, actually, in the Boyne Valley, some of the kerbstones there are approximately four metres long. maybe a meter high by sometimes almost a meter wide as well. So an enormous mass of stone. And they seem to have been collected round about the area.

They don't seem to have been quarried. You know, there may have been outcrops that were quarried, but they weren't, you know, the entire stone is not a quarried stone. It may have been broken off an outcrop or something like that. They're massive stones, and this is what gives its name.

They don't seem to have been quarried. You know, there may have been outcrops that were quarried, but they weren't, you know, the entire stone is not a quarried stone. It may have been broken off an outcrop or something like that. They're massive stones, and this is what gives its name.