6th class children got to visit Newgrange and enter the chamber, just before the winter solstice on 21st December. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Newgrange is one of the best examples of a passage-grave. Constructed around 3200 BC means it is at least 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge. On the Winter Solstice, the light of the rising sun enters the roof box of Newgrange and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner chamber. The beam lights the inner chamber of Newgrange for just 17 minutes. Newgrange was built during an age when the only building materials were stone. It is built with 200,000 tons of material. Its construction would have taken 30 years with a workforce of approximately 300. These ancient builders were highly skilled. The passage, the chamber, and the roof were so well constructed, have survived, without mortar and are leak proof. The builders filled the gaps between the roof stones in the passage with sea sand and burned soil to keep the passage dry. Newgrange attracts almost 200,000 people from all over the world each year. Our 6th class children are indeed very lucky!
Ní dhéanfaimid dearmad ar an turas seo go deo!
