WATCH: The Office of Public Works (OPW) and National Monuments Services (NMS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage have arranged for a livestream to be broadcast from the ancient tomb at Newgrange – built more than 5,000 years ago – beginning at 8.40am.
The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs on 21 or 22 December, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn.
At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the ‘roof box’, to illuminate the Chamber.
Newgrange is renowned for the way the rising sun lights its passage and chamber at the Winter Solstice. A specially designed opening above the entrance, known as the roof box, allows a narrow beam of sunlight to enter the mound on the mornings around the solstice. The light moves along the 19m (62ft) passage and reaches the inner chamber, widening as the sun climbs and filling the space with a warm golden glow.
Watch it live here now on: https://www.gov.ie/en/office-of-public-works/news/winter-solstice-at-newgrange-2025/
Or on:
https://heritageireland.ie/visit/newgrange-winter-solstice-2025/
Crowds have been gathering since this morning as they do every year.
