tombs meath

One of the great wonders of the ancient world, Newgrange is older than Stonehenge, Mycenae or even the pyramids in Egypt. Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre is the starting point for a tour of Newgrange....

In this great mound about 40 feet high and 220 feet in diameter two great Passage-tombs were discovered in 1967 and 1968. One of the chambers is corbelled, like that at Newgrange, and is round and has side-chambers; the other has a flat roof and looks like little more than a widening of the passage. Both graves are richly decorated with megalithic art, as are also many of the kerbstones surrounding the base of the large mound. The entrances to the tombs were considerably disturbed in the Earl...

The 'Royal County' of Meath boasts a dramatic history and proud heritage that no other country can match. Man has settled here for over 8,000 years and everywhere one turns one can see surviving monuments and relics scattered profusely beside the rolling rivers and on the lush plains. Formerly one of the five historic provinces of Ireland, it was from here that the ancient roads of Ireland radiated, spreading Royal Meath's influence and affluence to all the corners of Ireland....

Dating to the 3rd millennium B.C., the site is known in Irish as Sliabh na Caillighe - 'the Hill of the Witch', legend declaring that the mounds and cairns were created by an over-flying witch dropping pebbles on the landscape. The view from atop the hills is one of subtle and varied contrasts, the rolling fertile lands of Meath stretching to the south and east, the lakelands and expansive flat plains of Cavan and the Midlands seemingly limitless as they spread towards the Shannon....

Together with Knowth and Newgrange, this mound forms part of the great Passage-tomb cemetery beside the lower stretches of the Boyne. The mound has a diameter of 280 feet and is 50 feet high. A number of the stones surrounding the bottom of the mound can still be seen, some of them bearing ornamentation. There are two prehistoric tombs in the western part of the mound, dating from about 3000 B.C. One of these is reached by climbing down a ladder in an iron cage; it has a long passage, with so...