Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland - general view - official postcard c.1980s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland
• Publisher:  The Office of Public Works, Ireland
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Newgrange (Irish: Sí an Bhrú)^[1] is a prehistoric monument in County Meath, Ireland, about one kilometre north of the River Boyne.^[2] It was built about 3200 BC,^[3][4] during the Neolithic period, which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.^[5] Newgrange is a large circular mound with a stone passageway and chambers inside. The mound has a retaining wall at the front and is ringed by 'kerbstones' engraved with artwork. There is no agreement about what the site was used for, but it has been speculated that it had religious significance – it is aligned with the rising sun and its light floods the chamber on the winter solstice. It is the most famous monument within the Neolithic Brú na Bóinne complex, alongside the similar passage tomb mounds of Knowth and Dowth, and as such is a part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site. Newgrange also shares many similarities with other Neolithic constructions in Western Europe, such as Maeshowe in Orkney, Scotland^[6] and the Bryn Celli Ddu in Wales.

After its initial use, Newgrange was sealed and it remained so for several millennia, later appearing in Irish mythology and folklore. It first began to be studied by antiquarians in the 17th century AD and archeological excavations took place at the site over the following centuries. In the 1970s, the front of the monument was reconstructed, although some have questioned it. Today, Newgrange is a popular tourist site and, according to the archeologist Colin Renfrew, is ""unhesitatingly regarded by the prehistorian as the great national monument of Ireland"" and as one of the most important megalithic structures in Europe

The Newgrange monument primarily consists of a large mound, built of alternating layers of earth and stones, with grass growing on top and a reconstructed facade of flattish white quartz stones studded at intervals with large rounded cobbles covering part of the circumference. The mound is 76 metres (249 ft) across and 12 metres (39 ft) high, and covers 4,500 square metres (1.1 acres) of ground. Within the mound is a chambered passage, which can be accessed by an entrance on the south-eastern side of the monument. The passage stretches for 19 metres (60 ft),^[8] or about a third of the way into the centre of the structure. At the end of the passage are three small chambers off a larger central chamber, with a high corbelled vault roof. Each of the smaller chambers has a large flat ""basin stone"", which was where the bones of the dead were possibly originally deposited, although whether it was actually a burial site remains unclear. The walls of this passage are made up of large stone slabs, twenty-two of which are on the west side and twenty-one on the east, which average out at 1.5 metres in height;^[9] several are decorated with carvings (as well as graffiti from the period after the rediscovery). The ceiling shows no evidence of smoke.

Situated around the perimeter of the mound is a circle of standing stones, which most archaeologists regard as having been later, during the Bronze Age, centuries after the original monument had been abandoned as a tomb.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: ireland

sub-theme=ireland

county/ country=meath

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted