Who knew there were 5,200 year old passage tombs in Ireland? And that the original architects were from Anatolia, Turkey? And that the architects of passage tombs found on the other side of the country were first cousins of these architects? DNA analysis is helping to uncover the mysteries of these neolithic age structures.

We visited the New Grange passage tombs on our final day in Ireland, on the way to Dublin. These large mounds were built to hold the bodies or ashes of some members of the community. The largest mound was probably meant for the chief while the smaller mounds were meant for lesser follk. This is a photo I took while a film was running. It shows the collection of passage tombs at New Grange. The rectangle on the top of the largest mound is a pathway for visitors. The view from the top was stunning!

The mounds are supported by huge boulders and are entirely made of rock. The top of each mound is a capstone rock and amazingly, there is no sign of leaking since they were built. There were no tools back then other than stone; no horses to help with hauling the huge boulders that form the tombs; no way to create the fascinating designs on the boulders other than stone on stone.

It is worth visiting the link I included above for more information. Here it is again. These tombs really put us in our place!

The setting for these tombs is beautiful, so I have included a few photos of it as well. First, the walkway to the visitor’s center, then another short walk to a bus that transported us to the tombs.

We enjoyed a farewell dinner at our hotel in Dublin this evening. It was, as always, sad to say goodbye to folks who had become friends and to say thanks to our young, energetic, knowledgeable, mod group leader. Brian did a great job of herding us kittens and answering all our questions. Go raibh maith agat do ghach rud.

I wrote and publilshed this post somewhere over Canada. Nine hours in the air made for an excellent opportunity to catch up.