Newgrange (Irish: Sí an Bhrú) is a prehistoric monument in County Meath, Ireland, located about one kilometre north of the River Boyne. It was built during the Neolithic period around 3000 BC to 2500 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. The site consists of a large circular mound with a stone passageway and interior chambers. The mound has a retaining wall at the front and is ringed by engraved kerbstones. 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 and the Bryn Celli Ddu in Wales.
"Newgrange" is a song by Irish group Clannad, released in 1982 on the album Magical Ring, and in 1983 as a single. This song was featured in the film Intermission, and was covered by Órla Fallon from Celtic Woman on the album Celtic Woman: A New Journey.
Your mysteries lay hidden in stones that can't speak,
Thru' time all your wondrous knowledge we seek,
Be ye tomb or a temple we'd like to know why
On mid-winter's morning you seek light from the sky,
Your white quartz stones must have brightened the days
When the sun it shone down and reflected its rays,
You refuse us a key or some Rosetta Stone,
We gaze on just Circles and Motifs and Bone.
chorus:
Sing away Bru/ na Bo/inne on the Banks of the Boyne,
Fal de da for your glory would not yield to time,
Glory o! to the men and the women laid to rest
Who brought greatness to Ireland, the Isle of the Blessed.
From your pillars of grandeur and the answer is sought,
When the tombs of the Pharoahs were only a thought,
Irish folk in their labour looked up from the Boyne
To see standing a temple that would not yield to time.
You saw Cheftains, Na Fianna and monks stopped to call
And they trampled the hills onto Tara's Royal Halls,
And they watched on the Cradle of our art and design
That inspired Irish artists much later in time.
Chorus:
For you're set in a county still Royal with its arms
With a river of beauty with countless wild charms.
You stand there majestic and tower on the plain,
And your Passage of Wonder a secret remains.
So be proud all of Ireland of a history long gone,
That inspired generations of men later on.
Your age is your greatness and a testament still