Equinox Dawn, Loughcrew, September 2012

For three days around the Equinox, which occurs roughly around the 21st March and September each year, the Office of Public Works allow access to the chamber of Carin T, the central passage tomb on Carnbane East, Loughcrew, Co. Meath. Cairn T is also the largest on this central hill of a small chain of hills which are conspicuous from many miles around due to the low lying farming land in this part of the country. Within its passage and chamber, the passage tomb is highly decorated with a type of carving described as megalithic art, made by chipping away the surface of the stones that make up the structure that sits underneath a massive cairn or stones.The passage tombs on Carnbane East have not been scientifically excavated though the style of construction and decoration suggests that they are probably contemporary with, or even earlier, than the great passage tombs of the Boyne Valley at Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Knowth and Newgrange have produced radiocarbon dates from the late neolithic for the main construction phase, indicating the main focus of passage tomb activity dates back to around 5,000 years ago.

The weather reports for the weekend suggested that the morning of the actual astronomical Equinox, the 22nd, would be the best chance to see some light inside the chamber. Although there were clear skies when I left Wicklow at just before 5am, as I travelled north the cloud began to build over the eastern horizon. Though a large cloudbank above the clear horizon can lead to some spectacular colours, it did also limit the amount of time the sun would shine inside the chamber. On a clear morning the Fsun may be visible in the back chamber for almost a full hour, on this morning we had a much smaller window of about 20 minutes. As the event has become publicised more widely, so the crowds have grown larger each year. This September there was a crowd of about 150 people qeueing from before dawn, since the chamber can only accomodate six or seven people, inevitably only a lucky few would see the full display of light.

Click  the ‘play’ button on the slideshow below to view a selection of photos from the equinox event or click here to view a larger version of the slideshow on the website, should also work on the iPhone/iPad and other mobile devices.