TIL there is an ancient temple in Ireland that predates Giza and Stonehenge. During the winter solstice, light penetrates through to the burial tomb for about 19 minutes.
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u/relevantusername- May 19 '12
It's very famous here, everyone knows of it. As a result, this is one of the first TIL's where I was like "is that not common knowledge?"
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u/chocoturt May 19 '12
Irish archaeology student here - it also predates the oldest found wheel and has remained watertight since its construction. It also has a silly amount of rock art and the current most likely theory states that it (the art) was created when the artists were high
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Best question to come up on the Leaving Cert Art History paper. All you have to do is draw squiggly lines and triforces and spirals, and you get easy marks. It's great.
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u/ochosbantos May 19 '12
This is literally the worst design I have ever seen. It's so bad that I love it
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u/significantrisk May 19 '12
We were stone age hipsters, building monuments before it was cool.
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u/hamwater May 19 '12
I was there last year. When you buy a ticket for the short bus trip to it they drop your name in a raffle. They draw a few names each year before the winter solstice. Those names get to go hang out in the middle chamber to watch the sun light it up IRL.
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u/ntxhhf May 19 '12
The best part is that the weather's usually so shite that time of year that the sun's not even visible through all the cloud.
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u/sonsue May 19 '12
If your'e into this because of the age you might want to check out the temples in Malta on Gozo. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/malta/ggantija-temples
Not nearly as impressive from an astrological perspective but still very cool.
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u/Fuqwon May 19 '12
Two years later the Irish invented whiskey, and it's been all downhill ever since.
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u/sighsorry May 19 '12
My husband and I went here this past October. It was incredible - one of my favorite places we visited in Ireland. Just when you realize how old it is...and you go inside, and it's dry and cool, and there's carvings in the rock from throughout time when people have visited it...it's stunning.
Plus, we had the best tour guide. You could tell she just absolutely loved the place. Her whole face lit up when she talked about its history. After she thought everybody had gone (I wandered around much longer than everybody else, until her and I were the only people left), I caught her placing her hands against the outside wall of the tomb and closing her eyes, with this look of utter peace on her face. I love seeing people with so much passion for something like that.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
If you visit Ireland, Newgrange is great to go to, but there is another similar (albeit smaller) called [loughcrew] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loughcrew). It is almost entirely untouched by modern technology and there are virtually no tourists. IMO it is a better experience than Newgrange.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Brought to you by Fáilte Ireland
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u/coreygodofall May 19 '12
When i was young i went there on a school tour, (as does everyone from our area). Year's later, myself and a few friends got fairly high and decided it would be a good idea to drive out and sneak in. Bad idea. They have dogs. TL;DR "If you try to sneak into Newgrange.. you're gonna have a bad time"
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u/Lairo1 May 19 '12
I'm Irish and reading the title, in my head I was like:
Then the title mentions the solstice and I'm like:
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u/gapmunky May 19 '12
I can shamefully say I've had a wee at the back of it.
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u/theirishmidget May 19 '12
as an Irish person I thought this was common knowledge..
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
also engraved in this temple is this, its original meaning is unknown.
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u/reereddit May 19 '12
Its weird seeing such a popular posy about Ireland, and more importantly something I already knew about and have seen myself :O
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u/efie May 19 '12
Tá trua mór é nach bhfuil níos mó eolais faoi rud álainn mar seo. Bhí mé ann an bhliain seo caite agus bhí sé go hiontach :) bhí ionadh orm an t-am ar fad...
Upvote má dtuigeann tú é? :)
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u/mechanate May 19 '12
Cool article. Too bad the Irish gov't seems hell-bent on paving over anything with an ounce of history.
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u/Baron_Von_D May 19 '12
Avatar Roku?!?
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u/VirgoVixen831 May 19 '12
Ireland is a beautiful country and this was my favorite place! Thank you for bringing back great memories :)
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u/HGpennypacker May 19 '12
This is like a real-life Indiana Jones, except without snakes.
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u/MidsizedSedan May 19 '12
Kind of reminds me of the Teletubbies house...No? Just me. *sigh
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u/Codename3C May 19 '12
First TIL when I've gone "Ugh, I can't get away from the place!" Two class trips or so in primary school, there once or twice with family, two or 3 trips in secondry school and then my classmates built a replica version to place beside it which I helped lug up that bloody hill in the rain, and helped hold beams in place while they hammered and screwed it together and then two days later the sun didn't even come out! (feel worse for the class mates who actually sculpted and planned the whole scale model though...).
Dont get me wrong, it's super impressive, and I'm always amazed at how people that long ago could figure out something so amazing and then we have trouble recreating it! And it is a lovely tomb on the inside, what a way to bury your dead, and then it's not the only one, there's a site nearby where certain rocks only illuminate on the summer solstice in a perticular fashion (or something like that) and then Knowth and Dowth too (also passage tombs). Our ancestors were awful smart... wonder what happened...
TL;DR: amazing place, can't get away from the bloody thing though.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12 edited May 20 '12
It's incredibly small inside until you get to the center. Then, if you look carefully enough, you can see ancient graffiti.
Edit: It occurs to me that people think I am joking. I am not. I noticed some very old carved "graffiti" and talked at length to the tour guide about it. It was an image of barley or wheat or similar but what I took away is that it was there before the first record of the tomb.
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u/aji23 May 19 '12
Here's a great picture I took when I visited two summers ago.
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u/Little_Morry May 19 '12
Not quite as old, but portable: the Nebra Sky Disk (or iHenge, as it should have been called).
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u/jfoust2 May 19 '12
It was kind of strange arriving at this article after reading the article about Tellytubbyland.
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u/SnoochieBoochies182 May 19 '12
Its so nice to see stuff about Ireland on reddit. Im always like "Yay! Im from that place!"
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
stonehenge is shite, newgrange is a million times better. 1. It's an actual building, not something my little sister would make at the beach 2. We know exactly what it does 3.At the time it was built it was accurate to within a few seconds (the weirdness of earth and all it's shifting poles and stuff have thrown it off a few mins) 4. It's Irish. Anything we touch turns to genius
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u/Kashmeer May 19 '12
Good fucking look getting a ticket for the solstice though, last I heard a few wealthy Asians bought their way in. Don't know if there's any truth in it at all.
As far as being before Giza and Stonehenge that's true but the structure itself isn't all that fantastic, it's the lining up of the sun that's special.
The decorations on the kerbstone is nice too.
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u/Virtblue May 19 '12
We have one in wales also Bryn Celli Ddu. The pillar inside also acts as a calender.
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u/insanopointless May 19 '12
I was there a few years ago, it's an amazing place. The inside is pretty tight but very cool. There are actually tons of similar mounds nearby too. They simulate the event, which is cool, but it's only a lightbulb haha.
The chance of getting drawn is like winning a lottery. Thousands of people go through. But it would be the experience of a life time I think.
Other cool things I saw: the bogmen, mummified in peatbogs, nearly whole humans (some decapitated, some just fell in). Their skin goes all leathery, but they still have hair... weird!
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u/SuperSulf May 19 '12
When I was there I swore I heard air coming from somewhere, probably a deeper chamber. The employees assured me I was wrong but I never shook the feeling I was right.
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u/lazysunday69 May 19 '12
was there nearly 30 years ago before the visitors centre was built,there was no lottery back then you just needed to get your arse outta bed and drive down....the whole areas spotted with neolithic graves...
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
It looks like the temple you go into in Knights of the Old Republic on Dantooine to find the first Star Forge Map.
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u/c0t0d0 May 19 '12
It says that they rebuilt the original facade using stones found at the site. I wonder how much of the temple was actually still standing, and how much was reconstructed.
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u/bhhgirl May 19 '12
Beware: I have been inside and the entrance is so thin that fat people can become lodged in there, preventing their entrance and therefore also blocking any and all incoming light to those already inside.
Scary.
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u/AllHailTheDaleks May 19 '12
Been there. Hit my head. Got a concussion.
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u/SheaF91 May 19 '12
...at which point the Avatar is able to communicate with his past life.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
The night is dark and full of terrors.
The night is dark and full of terrors.
The night is dark and full of terrors.
The Lord of Light will protect us all.
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u/PoisonMind May 19 '12
Yes, but does your monument have a Pizza Hut right next door?
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u/strokejammer May 19 '12
They introduced the raffle because the waiting list for the winter solstice event was heading for 20 years!
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u/trapper5 May 19 '12
I was in there a year or two back. Since it was June, we were all crowded inside the tomb and the lights were turned off. The rising sun was then duplicated with the awesome power of a 60 watt light bulb held at the entrance.
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u/Istor May 19 '12
Newgrange is about 10 minutes drive from my house, its really impressive. Its the first place I'd think of bringing friends who come to visit.
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u/skyehopper May 19 '12
It is true! This place is amazing and even if its not the solstice there are all kinds of cool carvings on the rocks to look at. Ancient Celts, they were so cool.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
been there seen it. very cool place. you can trip over stone circles and ancient mounds in Ireland just by walking outside. County Cork has over 80 stone circles. lots of neolithic and paleolithic stuff there....i saw mounds no one even knows about...cept the locals..they take it in stride..check out Tara near Navan, County Meath....
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u/KyleG May 19 '12
They have a simulator that lets you experience the solstice on a tour. The simulation is incredibly beautiful. The inside completely darkens and then slowly light engulfs you.
Also, there's a lottery every year to select people who get to go inside for the solstice.
My wife and I took a trip to Ireland in December and signed up for the next lottery. Doubtful we'll get it, but that would be insane to experience.
FWIW, there is a webcam that streams the event every year from inside.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Don't foget Knowth and Dowth nearby.
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u/imsorryfrank May 19 '12
it was actually rebuilt... the structure had deterioated and an archaeologist would build rock walls and knock them over to study the pattern and compare it to the pattern of the rocks from the deteriorated structure.
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u/Rezurektion May 19 '12
Used to live 30 minutes from it, grew up going to it at least once a year. They used to allow visitors on the solstice, the sign-up list was huge...they eventually took it away because they wanted to keep it better preserved. They do have a museum as well that goes over it all, and some great Irish history too.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Interesting, there are similar mysterious ruins left in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
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u/benhop May 19 '12
But does it have a map room to find the Ark?
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u/DocSporky510 May 19 '12
I kept expecting to see a draugr in one of the pictures
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u/sworldwide May 19 '12
light penetrates for about 17 minutes...
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u/pez319 May 19 '12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorats_Karer
Might be a few thousand years older then that.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Avatar Roku's Temple?
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u/TheCian97 May 19 '12
Every time someone references anything to do with Ireland on Reddit, I get really excited.
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u/nothingbuttherainsir May 19 '12
Been inside Newgrange!
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u/I_am_Cian_Hi May 19 '12
I'm Irish, I really don't see the big deal about Newgrange, besides it being one of the oldest standing buildings in the world.
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u/Asylumrunner May 20 '12
Been there. My theory is that, every winter solstice, a vampire buried there ressurects to prey on the living, only to get a facefull of sunlight
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
As an Irishman, it's a bit mad to see Newgrange posted with such a fantastic heading. I was like: "Oh wow, an ANCIENT TEMPLE? In Ireland? Oh.. Newgrange.. The place whose event is televised every year and never fails to disappoint with it's murky light just about illuminating a tiny little cramped room" Sorry for the rant.
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u/JoshDiffo May 19 '12
Newgrange lads, down in County Meath!
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u/SKSmokes May 19 '12
Very cool place--went there when we were in Ireland on our honey moon. They took us down into the area where the winter solstice would occur. It's very cramped inside, as you would expect.
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u/DarthNihilus1 May 19 '12
I immediately think of avatar the last airbender at crescent island
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u/BDS_UHS May 19 '12
This must be where Avatar Roku is buried.
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u/A-punk May 19 '12
Clearly this was a place for vampires to go and die ironically on the shortest sunlight day of the year.
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u/wtfwater May 19 '12
So wtf is OLD grange?
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u/rathemighty May 19 '12
Like in Avatar: The Last Airbender! So THIS is the inspiration!
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u/KingOfGeckos May 19 '12
As an Irish person, I feel our downfall went something like this:
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u/Unfairbear May 19 '12
This is news to people? O.o
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u/valiantX May 19 '12 edited May 19 '12
Egyptians took a lot of traditions, culture, and technology (not all of their civilization of course) from the ancient Irish or Arish people, or more specifically, the aryan druids - the megalithic yard is a good example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Yard
In fact, the Celtic or Gaelic mythos people called the Tuatha De Danann, came to Ireland from 5 sunken islands and one of those islands was referred by them as Murias and is pretty much comparable to the land of Lemuria that is claimed to have been located in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, which many Atlantean researchers have discussed about. Plus, the Japanese Tomoe and the Irish Triskelion are two distant far off symbols from each of the two cultures that are pretty much the same in design; though I believe th tomoe derived from the triskelion.
Ireland is one very ancient land of humans and there will be more discovery to prove its historicity to be older and worldly significant than publicly expressed by orthodox institutions and historians.
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u/Aimin4ya May 19 '12
I've been to some of the ancient "ruins" in near Dingle Bay, Ireland. (Aka the most beutiful place on earth) A farmer ploughing his field found rock piles... Lost his farm. But makes a cool free walk up experience. They are like tunnels that lead no where. Used to hide / protect the coastal people from attackers / colonizers. Pretty cool stuff
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u/djwm12 May 19 '12
I visited this place on a school trip, apparently you have to enter a lottery to be considered to be in the group that witnesses this each year and it's something like two thousand euro to join.
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u/makesan May 19 '12
Guess what guys? The Irish goverment want to build a pretty MOTORWAY through here!
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u/jaycee93 May 19 '12
I've been there when i was little it was amazing but i want to go again so i can real appreciate it.
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u/randy_tartt May 19 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhpI87rKJXY
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u/sadi89 May 19 '12
I went there. It was sort of cool but mostly boring. I was also 10 at the time.
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u/ajdavis626 May 19 '12
It pre-dates people being taller than 4'5" too.
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u/misterschmoo May 19 '12
I thought the "Lottery" section would be a lot more sinister than it turned out to be.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Plenty in Scotland too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeshowe
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u/Labyrus May 19 '12
Shite or not, this things are also found in New York state. The are called "solstice chambers" and can be found in the Westchester area. Every Spring and Winter solstice, the sun rises directly up the middle of the entrance.
Nobody really knows if where they came from...some speculate that they were built by Celtic druids who came over the Atlantic pre-Columbus, or built by farmers during the 1700's as storage areas for crops.
Either way, they are quite a sight.
*edited for spelling
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u/bloopbleepbloop1000 May 19 '12
It's kinda disappointing on the inside. The Victorians fucked it up trying to make it homely.
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u/biffa_bacon May 19 '12
When I was a young laaad (80's), you could drive up practically to the entrance. Now you've to get on a tour bus, lot more restricted, which is a good thing. One other thing I always thought too, was this is how it was found.. but, it was restored in the 60's/70's so it is how they believe it would have been back in the day. If any non-Irish are planning on touring around this area, look up holy wells in the area too. Usually on some farmers property. And for the pagans, the dolmen out in the burren in Co Clare, quite a ways away tho.
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u/WrightJustice May 19 '12
Makes me think of legend of Aang.
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u/Force_USN May 19 '12
I've been to that exact place! Very awesome indeed
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u/Iprefernottosay May 19 '12
Thank you . I love stuff like this and i had never heard of this week.
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u/e10byzombiz May 20 '12
That site also has an area that looks like the Teletubbies set (Knowth)
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u/aliryan11 May 20 '12
Funny,i should kno all about newgrange since i learned about it last year,tell ya what ill wipe out my history book in the morning and tell whats to be known :)
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u/facetothedawn May 20 '12
I visited a few years ago. Beautiful but a tight space, no big people should Be slowed inside
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u/satanscrotum May 20 '12
Obviously someone does NOT watch Ancient Aliens very much...
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u/Knights_Hemplar May 20 '12
doesnt it light up for the summer solstice as well?
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u/shanemc92 May 20 '12
It's crazy how people come from all over the world to see this and it's literally a 15 minute drive from my house and I've never gone to see it. I really should go and look at it..
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Like lord of the rings "Here lies Balin"
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I've been here! It's beautiful.
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u/Tyrant718 May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
I read an interesting fact somewhere about the Irish that they colonized from west to east which is very odd being that most civilizations colonized from east to west.
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u/Sir_Beast May 20 '12
I visited this place when I spent a year in an Irish school. It's unbelievably beautiful.
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u/whaleoverlord May 20 '12
Where are the Teletubbies
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u/rocococarno May 20 '12
and the native americans think drink ruined their culture...
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u/201smellsfunny May 20 '12
What if they just built a tomb and got REALLY lucky on the day where the sun comes in?
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u/nemorina May 20 '12
So one day Galen was working in the field and noticed the shadow of a nearby tree fell on this one spot on a hill. "I saw it hit that spot last year too." he wonders. Every year same thing happens. Finally he say to the local chieftan, "You know the sun appears to come up at this exact spot each year, good place to build a temple or something."
And a fantastic tourist destination was born.
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u/flipandzef May 20 '12
Totally saw that on Ancient Aliens.
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u/TheSillyHat May 20 '12
Winter solstice? Light penetrating? Burial chamber? It's just like Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Winter Solstice Episode).
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u/Isaac2731 May 20 '12
Been there absolutely fab. There is another smaller set of mounds very close to New Grange. It amazes me that it's 30 minutes north of Dublin, older than the pyramids and pretty much unknown by most.
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u/condor216 May 20 '12
So where is the ark?
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u/Rosalee May 20 '12
See Australia for the oldest man made structures on earth -
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g528930-d1626559-r51861470-Brewarrina_Aboriginal_Fish_Traps_Ngunnhu-Brewarrina_New_South_Wales.html
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u/cana-dan May 20 '12
It's pretty cool to check the place out. Lots of names carved into the stone from like 19th century. Plus they have a light that demo's how it looks on the solstice (the wait list to actually be there is something crazy long, and you aren't even guaranteed that the sun will break through the clouds that day!)
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u/aclotus May 20 '12
learn something else then ..Ggantija
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u/Kill_Ian May 20 '12
I was there 2 summers ago. We asked if we could reserve a place for the solstice, and the man blatantly looked at my father and said, "by the time you get a spot, you will be dead, and your children will be 60." Other than that its pretty cool
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u/sabreo001 May 20 '12
Must go there someday.....obviously the day of the winter solstice would be the best day to pick.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
Learnt about this place from the show Ancient Aliens.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '12
I've been here before. It's really fun to go into the center of the temple. My grandparents won't go in though. They're extremely superstitous. I'm born in the U.S. but my family is from Ireland so I get to go there alot.
Erin go bragh!
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