Marvel at winter solstice sunrise in Newgrange

Eventually, Brú na Bóinne (usually referred to as "the Bend of the Boyne") became an archaeological park, then a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995. The visitor centre, a symphony of spirals and mounds in wood, glass, stone and concrete, opened 10 years ago on the south side of the river.

Newgrange

A small suspension bridge was thrown across the muscular brown waters, where those who originally settled Newgrange some 5,000 years ago would have speared salmon, and a minibus terminus built, from which visitors are ferried to the tomb or its larger sister at Knowth. In the year 2000, a lottery system was introduced for solstice places; this year, there were 28,000 applications.

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