The Ireland sacred sites tour recently announced by Body Mind Spirit Journeys features some of the most enchanted places on the planet, and the one at the top of my list is Newgrange. Its name in the Irish language is Brugh Na Boinne, and I was lucky enough to have the late singer from the Clancy Brothers folk music group, Tommy Makem, tell me about it. Tommy was admittedly obsessive about Newgrange, and it features prominently in his book, Tommy Makem’s Secret Ireland.
The site dates from the fourth millennium B.C. It is estimated at 6,000 year old, and many believe it is the oldest man-made building in the world. It was carefully constructed to capture the first rays of morning sunlight during the shortest days of the year, the winter solstice. At sunrise between the 19th and 23rd of December, the light enters a precisely placed window box to illuminate the back wall of a chamber for a few magical minutes.
I have been told there is an impossibly long waiting list to visit Newgrange during the winter solstice, so it is a good thing this tour will be exploring the site on the 21st of May.
The photograph above shows carvings on a huge stone in front of the entrance, including the famous Newgrange Triple Spiral. If you click on the photograph, you will be able to see a larger sized image.
Of course there are at least a dozen more destinations on the itinerary, including the beehive huts where monks once lived on the Dingle Peninsula and a visit to Dublin’s Trinity College to see the world’s most famous ancient illuminated manuscript, the Book of Kells.
If you have not yet visited the emerald isle, this spiritual tour will be a golden opportunity to learn at first hand whether or not it really is a long way to Tipperary.
To see the complete itinerary, please follow this link: Ireland sacred sites
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