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| A sketch of the entrance to Newgrange published in 1866. |
These two drawings of Newgrange are extraordinary. I've never seen them until today. And even though I've written a
book about Newgrange and might be considered something of an expert on the monument, I'm pretty sure I've never seen them replicated in any modern book on the subject. I could, of course, be wrong, but certainly I have no memory of ever seeing them before. Which is why seeing them today for the first time has been such a beautifully pleasant surprise. They were published in a book (it's name I will reveal in another blog post soon!) in 1866, and so belong to a time when we weren't exactly sure what Newgrange looked like. We have earlier drawings and paintings, by the likes of Vallancey and Ledwich etc., and then photographs from the late 19th century onwards. Here is a unique moment in the Newgrange timeline. The mound is considerably overgrown with trees. In fact, they almost smother the entrance. There is something extraordinarily romantic and evocative about the above drawing.
Views similar to the one below have been seen before, but I've never seen an early drawing or sketch from that particular angle. Again, I think that this might be a unique image, having not seen the light of day in modern times. I am, of course, open to correction, and if anyone can put me right, please do!
I've gone to the trouble of performing a Google Image search and these two images don't have a match, so it would appear they are not on the internet at all - until now. There is a not dissimilar view to this one contained in a book by David MacRitchie called
'Testimony from Tradition', published in 1890:
I would be very interested in hearing from anybody who might have seen the first two images before. I have checked any books about Newgrange here in my own library and am pretty sure that it is not featured in any of those.
Great to see the drawings. I was told stories of Bruig na Boinne by my uncle and father when I lived in Donegal as a six and eight year old. The Dagda & Aengus were most often mentioned. This drawing would likely represent the landscape seen by my grandfather & great-uncles on their walks through Ireland.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hugh. Yes, Dagda and Aonghus were the "owners" of the Brú. Nice to hear that your father and uncle used to tell you the stories. This is a very romantic view, before the excavations. The generation who remember the tree-covered mound is slowly disappearing.
DeleteAbove the doorway where the opening for the sun at solstice is.> it looks like some either wood or cement stone decoration placed in front of where the aperture would be. Does this mean it was played with? I know there was graffiti etc in it but did someone go to the trouble of decorating it too? I cris-crossing above the stone.
ReplyDeleteThe criss-cross pattern (a series of eight "X" patterns in boxes) is an original design on the lintel above the roofbox. It probably represents the eight-year cycle of Venus, which was said in local folklore to shine into Newgrange's chamber at dawn on the solstice once every eight years.
DeleteI didn't finish my comment >trigger happy I guess.< My last sentence should read It looks like
ReplyDeletecris-crossing above the capstone like one sees sometimes in garden walls.
Great picture! Very interesting in light of some research I'm involved in, correlating the similarities of mounds in Ireland and in the Southeastern U.S. My novel, a work in progress, explores interactions between Irish and Choctaw slaves in the West Indies moving on to Alabama in the 1600's. I discuss the mounds in my blog - Breffni to Baltimore (faruark.blogspot.com) drop by for a visit.
ReplyDelete