Image of the day – 51

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

This is the entrance to the passage grave at Newgrange near Drogheda, north of Dublin. Some of what you see here is Neolithic; all of the larger stones are ancient, but there has been some recent reconstruction using smaller, fallen stones. The reconstruction has been somewhat controversial. The decorative, spiral carvings are original and are quite typical of Neolithic art in general.

Whatever your opinion about reconstruction, the tomb is most impressive and the nearby museum provides an excellent overview of the site, the construction and purpose of the monument, and its place in the landscape. There are many other Neolithic structures nearby, the entire area seems to have been a special place for the Neolithic people who lived in Ireland at the time it was in use.

We can only speculate, but we can imagine the people travelling here for celebrations and for remembering previous generations. It must have been a busy place during times of festival and ceremony. You know what that’s like; visitors need food and drink, and they may want to take home objects to remind them of their visit. Just as the visitor centre has a restaurant and gift shop as well as a museum, so 3½ thousand years ago, there would have been the same kinds of activity for exactly the same reasons. Food for sale in some shape or form, objects available to take home, as well as explanations about the deep history and purpose of the extraordinary structures in the area. Stories to be told, myths and legends as well as shared and handed-down memories to be recited.

Deep history indeed!

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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