Quite by coincidence I managed to fulfil a dream today on the full moon by finally getting to Newgrange here in the Boyne Valley on the east coast of Ireland.

I love rock art and Newgrange and Knowth, which is part of the complex, have some of the most spectacular rock art in Ireland, if not the whole world. Not only that but the rock art is plentiful - there are 380 decorated stones at Knowth and 116 at Newgrange.

Each year I have entered the Newgrange winter solstice lottery to try and win a place to stand inside the chamber on the winter solstice when the sun enters through the roof box and lights up the passage for a whole 17 minutes. But alas thus far I have not been lucky and wondered when I might get the chance to visit, and turning 50 this year made me think that if I didn’t make it happen by taking action then it might not happen at all. It seemed fitting too as I celebrated my 40th by watching the sunrise at Stonehenge on the summer solstice, with Elijah in a sling.

Now, 10 years on and he was with me today, also getting to visit Newgrange, and Eben too. And I was really proud of them as we spent 4.5 hours at the complex on the official tour visit and extra time at the visitor centre, taking it all in.

It’s not the way I would have liked to visit. Being a Neolithic enthusiast I like to sit and get into the place, listen to what it might have to say, but there wasn't much time for that, as we were chaperoned in groups with a guide with instructions to not touch the stones, which seems silly to me as they have survived 6,000+ years of Ireland’s weather without deterioration, but there you, this is the world we live in now…

Fortunately though, while you can’t enter the passage at Knowth due to health and safety concerns about it’s structural integrity, there is no such concern at Newgrange and it was an absolute treat to stand in the chamber, resting back into the stones (yes, touch) and witness a replication of the light coming in through the roof box on the winter solstice as it lights up the right side of the chamber - not dissimilar from what I have witnessed at dolmens in Guernsey.

It is an incredible place and despite the moderation and the fences and gates, there is still a very potent energy to the place and the rock art is sensational. Even the boys appreciated it. Knowth is marvellous too, but the highlight for me will always be those precious minutes inside Newgrange, when I did indeed touch the stones.

We visited Dowth too, which is open to the public and not even signposted, which is crazy. You can’t get inside the chambers here either, but there is rock art on some of the stones and we were the only ones there, so I got to sit by the gated chamber and take in the energy and the sunshine while the boys made another attempt at befriending a sheep, which they’ve tried to do every day we have been in Ireland and still without success! We finished off with a trip to Little Grange, which is just near where we are staying and involved yet another jump over a fence and another sit down while the boys played a game of ‘the floor is lava’

The boys have started to get a feel for these sites. In fairness they have been to enough of them over the years and some significant ones too. But it is nice that they not only feel that we’ve entered a stone zone, but the last few times, they’ve been the ones spotting them, which has alleviated my stress levels somewhat.

We were joking about that this evening as they started watching Kung Fu Fighter Three or something and there’s this Zen turtle being all peaceful and Elijah commented that was me and I reminded him that that certainly wasn’t me driving in the Boyne Valley, I was anything but peaceful, trying to find stones without the correct navigational support and cars driving fast behind you is anything but a peaceful experience and I am quite sure I wasn’t sounding very peaceful either - still this is life; the yin and the yang!

Anyway, hopefully this shows that when the time is right, our dreams can become a reality and I am grateful to the moon and the sun and the planets for making it so on this May full moon, not one I’ll forget soon.

Thank you Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth and Little Grange. Thank you too to Ireland, what an absolutely magical place.

Love Emma x

Newgrange- a dream come true

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