Study Abroad in Ireland: Newgrange and Ghosts

Newgrange

Last weekend I took a trip to Newgrange with Jackie and Casey. The shuttle bus there was overpriced given that it was maybe an hour away (if that), but it's something I've been wanting to see. Overall I'd say it was definitely worth the visit.

Newgrange is a passage tomb about 5,000 years old. It still has the original vaulted ceiling and everything, made of layered slabs of rock, and it doesn't need any kind of supports because it was so well-constructed. The bones of the dead were placed in ceremonial pots in the little niches of the tomb, and the place definitely had some religious significance for the people who built it, although what exactly this significance was is still under research. No one can decipher the meaning of the artwork that covers the walls and entrance stone. Some guesses are religious deity symbols, natural elements, or maps of the local terrain. You might recognize the tri-spiral - it's a really popular symbol associated with Ireland, and found all over the walls and entrance stone (pictured below). We couldn't take pictures inside the tomb, but the entrance stone should give you an idea of the types of artwork.

When we walked in and were looking around the walls, I realized there was a ton of graffiti and I was a little pissed about it. But then we realized that it was all graffiti from the 1800s. They take much better care of it now!

Newgrange was built to align perfectly with the sun during the winter solstice, which again is a testament to the amazing architectural capacities of these ancient peoples. It's not the only one of its kind in the world that's in alignment with the solstice or equinoxes, but it's still pretty amazing. Essentially one day each year the sun shines at such an angle that it travels through the window box and illuminates the entire passage for 17 minutes, and then it fades out, leaving the tomb in darkness the rest of the year (well, except for the artificial lighting for visitors of course). There's a lottery each year where they select 50 people (and they can each bring a guest) to witness the winter solstice. I signed up myself and my dad, because I just kept thinking how much he would love that place. My chances of winning are now 2 of approximately 35,000...but one can dream, right? I know this is super nerdy, but I think that would be such a cool once in a lifetime experience.

The entrance - the top box is the "window box," where the light pours in during the solstice

Some great views from around the passage tomb

Later that night Jackie and I went on the Dublin Ghost Bus Tour. Cheesy- a bit. Spectacular - definitely! It wasn't like a haunted hay ride or anything like that. Sure, it had some cheesy special effects and the interior of the bus was tacky, but it wasn't bloody or gory at all. Instead, this tour was all about storytelling - and Ireland is a top-notch place for stories! It did a great job of incorporating the city's history (places, people, even the literary tradition of Dracula, etc.) with myth and legend. Did you know that the author of Dracula was from Dublin? He used to play in the graveyards, and his mother told him scary stories about County Sligo, which had a pretty bad cholera epidemic back in the day. On a side note, Ireland has produced a disproportionate amount of incredible and/or famous authors for the size of the country. Anyways, getting back to the ghosts...

The Dublin Ghost Bus even has keys to certain locations locked at night. One of the oldest graveyards in Dublin, now St.Kevin's Park, was our first stop of the evening, and we even got to walk around in the old church ruins! All the grave markers have been pushed up along the walls of the park...so strange. Later we stopped at the "most haunted place in Dublin" - the 40 Steps, located by Dublin's old city wall. Apparently this is home to the "Green Lady," a woman who had an illegitimate child with a married man and was forced to give her baby up to the nearby church. She goes looking for her lost baby every night. Supposedly the devil was also spotted in that church. We were pretty disoriented coming from the bus, which has the windows curtained for effect, but as we came around a bend in the 40 Steps, we realized that we had been there before during the day! Frank, our teacher, took us there on our trip to Dublin Castle. No legit ghost spotting as far as I could tell, unless you think ghosts form orbs when caught on camera, in which case I saw about a billion and I'm not terribly impressed. If I was a ghost I would look way cooler than that! Truth be told, even if you don't believe in ghosts and all that stuff, it doesn't matter for this tour. I'd still recommend it for pure entertainment, and even a taste of Ireland's history through its stories. To put it simply, I had a blast.