Newgrange Solstice 2023

Newgrange Winter Solstice 2023

Each December, visitors gather in the Boyne Valley for one of the world’s most remarkable prehistoric alignments. This report on Newgrange winter solstice 2023 looks back at the mornings from 19 to 23 December. Newgrange is famous for the way the rising sun lights its passage and chamber. Sunrise is just before 9 a.m. Everyone is welcome outside the entrance. Each morning, a small group of lottery winners also enters the chamber.

The alignment itself works every year. What varies is Irish winter weather. For example, cloud on the eastern horizon can stop sunlight from entering the chamber.

Newgrange winter solstice 2023.

Tuesday 19 December 2023

The forecast gave 19 December the best chance of a clear sunrise. So I arrived at Newgrange at 8:30 a.m. I hoped the eastern sky would stay clear at 9 a.m.

Arriving at Newgrange for the solstice.

Some people had already arrived and were standing at the Newgrange entrance.

A bank of cloud blocked the sunrise at the critical time around 9 a.m.

A bank of cloud sat on the horizon at the critical moment. Then, at 9:30 a.m., the sun broke through. Lottery winners left the chamber. After that, people waiting outside could enter in groups.

Tour Guide Michael Fox at Newgrange.

At 9:30 a.m. the sun broke through.

The solstice lottery group leaving the Newgrange chamber.

After the lottery group left, those waiting could enter the Newgrange chamber.

The white quartz facade of Newgrange in solstice sunlight.

Winter solstice sunbeam in the Newgrange passage.

Thursday 21 December 2023

21 December drew the largest crowd of Newgrange winter solstice 2023. Meanwhile, the morning was broadcast live online and on Ireland’s national TV news. The forecast had been poor. However, the sun still broke through. Then it cast a partial light into Newgrange.

Newgrange winter solstice, 21 December 2023. View from the roof-box, where the sun enters the passage.

‘We’ll never forget it’: crowds at Newgrange

Hundreds gather at the heritage site to mark the shortest day of the year.
An article by Conor Feehan, published in the Irish Independent on 22 December 2023.

The sun made a brief and watery appearance at Newgrange. Hundreds of people gathered to mark the winter solstice. Conditions were blustery. In addition, the wind whipped around the 5,000-year-old site on a bend of the Boyne in County Meath. Then, as sunrise approached, a window of light formed in the sky. Rare nacreous clouds, tinged in rainbow colors, delighted the crowd.

Nacreous clouds at Newgrange on 21 December 2023.

Drums, a circle and a sliver of light

The thump of drums echoed around the field between Newgrange and the rising sun. Next, people formed a large circle. They held the hand of the person next to them to mark the shortest day of the year. The rising sun can travel through a roof-box above the entrance just before 9 a.m. Then a beam of light can run down the stone-lined passage and light the inner chamber.

There was just enough light for the 12 lottery visitors to see the event. In fact, Alan O’Neill and his brother Gary, from Santry in Dublin, called it an incredible experience. “I’ve been hoping to come here for many years. It’s a very special day. We’ll never forget that,” Mr O’Neill said. “A sliver of light came through, but that’s all we wanted. We sang songs and told stories, it was a very spiritual experience.”

Newgrange winter solstice celebrations. Photo by Ken Williams.

Voices from the chamber

Alan O’Neill said he first came as a child. “I came here as a child and felt the energy of the place and it got into my soul and my bones,” he said. He also teaches children about Newgrange. “Every time I teach the kids about Newgrange they know it’s a very special place.” He added, with a laugh, “I told my wife it was the best day of my life, she wasn’t too happy, after our wedding day. I’m not expecting much of a Christmas present.”

Gary O’Neill said, “It’s lovely to see all the people here as well and experience the morning with them. People are coming here every year as part of their tradition.”

Juan Fajardo, from Chile, said he only learned of Newgrange in the last few months after a music festival in Mullingar. “For me it was very special to be here in another part of the world with another kind of energy,” he said. Lottery winners praised a traditional Chilean song he sang in the chamber. “It is a song that you sing during the new year in Chile as well,” he said.

The Irish group answered with Óró sé do bheatha abhaile. There was also some ogham chanting. Finally, Caitriona Mullins said being inside the passage felt magical. “I can’t explain it. I feel like I’m having a dream, just knowing we were in a space where our ancestors had been,” she said.

Newgrange winter solstice, 21 December 2023. Sunbeam in the passage.

Voices outside the mound

Lorna Evers-Monaghan, from Slane, did not get a chamber place that morning. Still, she enjoyed the day with friends Sophie Hayley, from Kells, and Gemma McGowan, from Dowth. “We come every year. This is the day for the buzz and the crowds and you never know what you’re going to get. Seeing all the people, young and old, is wonderful. 5,000 years later we are still here and still coming,” she said.

She had been inside the chamber in 2011, when the sun did light the passage. “It was most incredible. I’ll never forget it,” she said. Gemma McGowan added, “I’m here to celebrate the return of the light at the darkest time of the year.” Because of that, she was also there on Tuesday, when sunlight did enter the chamber. “It was absolutely extraordinary and a privilege to be here.”

Twins Keith and Dean Stapleton, from Finglas in Dublin, brought a drum and a copper trumpet. “We come every year and bring a bit of music and hopefully a bit of magic,” said Dean. From this point on, the sun will rise earlier and set later each day. In January there will therefore be an extra one and a half to two minutes of daylight each day.

Newgrange solstice webcast, 21 December 2023

Watch the Newgrange winter solstice 2023 webcast. Recording of live streaming, 21 December 2023.

How the winter solstice at Newgrange works

Newgrange stands in the Boyne Valley. Builders raised it more than 5,000 years ago. They aligned it with the winter solstice sunrise. Around 21 December, the sun sits low in the sky. Then a narrow beam can enter the roof-box above the entrance. After that, the light travels along the passage. For about 17 minutes, it can reach the chamber floor.

That was not an accident. First, the builders watched the sun’s yearly path. Then they set the stones to mark the turning of winter.

Tour Guide Michael Fox in Newgrange for the winter solstice sunrise in 2010.

Why people still gather

The winter solstice marks the return of light after the longest night. At Newgrange, that moment still draws a crowd. Some people stand in the dawn air outside the mound. Others enter the chamber by lottery. In either case, the gathering links a modern morning to a very old calendar.

Newgrange winter solstice 2023 showed both sides of that tradition. Cloud blocked the sun at the critical time on 19 December. Then a sliver of light still reached the chamber on the 21st. Visitors from Ireland and abroad came to watch it.

Newgrange Winter Solstice Archive

• 21st December 2025 Winter Solstice
• 19th December 2024 Winter Solstice
• 19th December 2023 Winter Solstice
• 20th December 2022 Winter Solstice
• 20th December 2020 Winter Solstice
• 18th December 2016 Winter Solstice
• 20th December 2015 Winter Solstice
• 19th December 2014 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2013 Winter Solstice
• 18th December 2011 Winter Solstice
• 22nd December 2010 Winter Solstice
• 19th December 2010 Winter Solstice
• 18th December 2010 Winter Solstice
• 22nd December 2009 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2009 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2008 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2007 Winter Solstice
• 22nd December 2006 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2006 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2005 Winter Solstice
• 20th December 2005 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2004 Winter Solstice
• 19th December 2004 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2003 Winter Solstice
• 22nd December 2002 Winter Solstice
• 21st December 2001 Winter Solstice

Visit Newgrange at the winter solstice with Boyne Valley Tours

Enjoy a private day tour from Dublin to the Boyne Valley. We tailor the itinerary to your interests and handle the driving and logistics. The OPW-guided visit from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Center includes Newgrange and Knowth. Afterwards, continue to the Hill of Slane and the Hill of Tara. Because this is a private tour, you can choose other sites instead.

Book online now! Inquire now!