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<< Our Photo Pages >> Dowth Passage Grave - Passage Grave in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Meath

Submitted by Anthony_Weir on Saturday, 08 March 2014  Page Views: 23949

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Dowth Passage Grave
Country: Ireland (Republic of) County: Co. Meath Type: Passage Grave
Nearest Town: Drogheda  Nearest Village: Slane
Map Ref: O02377377
Discovery Map Number: D43
Latitude: 53.703751N  Longitude: 6.450629W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4.75 Access: 4.25

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by jeffrep : South Entrance, Dowth Passage Tomb, County Meath, Ireland. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Passage Grave in Co. Meath. Of the three principal tombs of the Bend-of-the-Boyne passage-tomb cemetery or necropolis, this is the earliest and the only one (so far) not to be ransacked, vandalised and travestied by archaeologists.

It was partly excavated in 1847 though it had been pillaged (by Vikings and earlier looters) long before that. The cairn or tumulus is about 90 metres in diameter and 15 metres high. Three stone-lined passages lead into the mound from the W : one to a cruciform passage-tomb chamber, one to a circular passage-tomb chamber, and the third to a much later souterrain or refuge. When I was last there, the cruciform tomb was reached by climbing down a ladder in an iron cage, and crawling about over loose stones. The long passage is crossed by 3 sill-stones.

This tomb is – in all senses - less developed than the neighbouring and preceding tourist-attractions of Newgrange and Knowth, partly because the chamber is much lower, and partly because the decoration is much poorer. The chamber is lintelled rather than corbelled, and on the floor stands a single stone basin – somewhat the worse for wear after 5,000 years. The right-hand arm of the chamber leads into another long rectangular chamber with 2 subsidiaries: an L-shaped extension entered over a low sill. This may be the earliest part of the tomb, later brought within the design of the cruciform tomb.

It is floored with a 2.4 metre long flagstone containing an oval bullaun (artificial depression). Several of the orthostats of passage and chamber are decorated with spirals, chevrons, lozenges and rayed circles. Rayed circles or suns can also be seen on one of the decorated kerbstones of the tumulus.

A kerbstone with cup-marks, a spiral and a flower-like design marks the entrance to the second, smaller tomb – with modern concrete roof. Quartz was found fallen outside the kerbing, showing that the entrance to this tomb was surrounding by glittering white, as at Newgrange. This tomb has a few decorated stones, and a single, massive right-hand recess.

At the entrance to the passage of the cruciform tomb is an early mediæval souterrain.

Note: This article is by Anthony Weir and includes his personal views.

Note: CGI flythrough of Dowth from Laser Scans, see comment on our page
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Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by KenWilliams : Not sure if you can see the little critters but there's a line of sheep crossing the top of the mound and a few of their buddies on the way up! (4 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by Mythical_Ireland : The Stone of the Seven Suns at Dowth, Co. Meath. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by Bladup : Dowth, This is similar to what Newgrange used to look like and is my favourite of the 3 big ones. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by howe : Interior of Dowth passage grave in 1981. Side chamber showing stone bowl. No longer accessible in 2006. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by DrewParsons : Detail of Kerbstone K51 - the seven suns stone. October 2010 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by jeffrep : Interior, South Entrance, Dowth Passage Tomb, County Meath, Ireland.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by KenWilliams : Taken at night from the eastern end of the field, 30 sec exposure with handheld torchlight 11/2/06. The fencing around the kerbstones just below the bush on the right side of the mound has been removed in photoshop. (3 comments)

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by ainsloch : A young boy looks on as sunlight strikes the rear of the chamber:

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by ainsloch : I visited Dowth earlier today, it was a fantastic experience. When I arrived the sky was bleak, and there was a heavy snowstorm followed by thunder and lightning. Then the skies cleared and the sun appeared right on cue The sun appearing in the entrance to the passage

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by durhamnature : Drawing of the mound from "Grave mounds..." via archive.org

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by DrewParsons : Kerbstones on the south side of the mound. October 2010

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by DrewParsons : Detail from the site plan showing the Dowth north chamber and associated souterrain. October 2010.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by DrewParsons : The site plan showing the two chambers and souterrain. October 2010.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by DrewParsons : The site sign. Access is by a short public footpath. October 2010.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by howe : Interior of Dowth passage grave in 1981. No longer accessible in 2006.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by AlexHunger : Dowth Kerbstone with four carved "Sundials" at the East of the Cairn. It is protected by a small fence.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by AlexHunger : Dowth South West Kerbstones

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by AlexHunger : Dowth Entrance to the South West. There is another secondary entrance on the North West and a strange well to the west. Scattered about the site are some Quartz Stones, as in Newgrange. The Irish name to the site is "Dubbadh."

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by AlexHunger : Dowth as seen from the street from the West

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by neolithique02 : Dowth (Newgrange) Image copyright: Néolithique02, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by neolithique02

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by neolithique02

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by neolithique02

Dowth Passage Grave
Dowth Passage Grave submitted by ainsloch : The sun setting behind the mound:

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"Dowth Passage Grave" | Login/Create an Account | 11 News and Comments
  
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Re: Art on Dowth kerbstones by ArchAstro on Tuesday, 01 September 2020
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I've put together a video showing possible astronomical alignments at Dowth:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf2OPo2Nz91718v1S9o_nFQ
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Art on Dowth kerbstones by ModernExplorers on Thursday, 19 December 2019
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We filmed here on our megalithic tour of Ireland in 2019 if you would like to see some footage of the site

[ Reply to This ]

Dowth Street View by Runemage on Saturday, 05 May 2018
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On Dowth North Passage Tomb and K51 by Andy B on Wednesday, 07 September 2016
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The paper analyzes the Dowth's North passage tomb and the mound's Kerbstone
K51 and presents a number of findings. On the architecture of the tomb,
indications are offered pointing to the use of the Golden Ratio, and the
basis of the natural logarithms as proportions in the tomb's construction.

A 3-D grid system, the tomb's modulus and unit length are also shown,
derived from the Michael O'Kelly's architectural drawings. On the
engineering front, the innovative use of a corbelling roof, lintel and
inclined slabs as means of dealing with the monument's extraordinary static
forces and material stresses of a pioneering masonry construction is
pointed out.

Further, the paper offers an interpretation of the "cruciform"
shape of its chambered tomb (an in fact of all chambered tombs of Neolithic
Ireland; it attributes it to the Egyptian symbol Ankh and a Bull Cult
embedded into the monument's floor plan. Finally, the paper deals with
decoding Kerbstone K51's petroglyphs. It documents through elementary
statistical analysis that they correspond to an "Almanac" recording the
number of rainy days during seven months of a year, using current rainfall
statistics for the region of Dublin.

https://www.academia.edu/27511804/
(login required)
[ Reply to This ]

CGI flythrough of Dowth from Laser Scans by Runemage on Friday, 07 March 2014
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Dowth has been closed to the public for quite some time, this is likely to be the only chance to see the interior that most of us will ever get, what an experience.


Flythrough of laser scan survey of the Neolithic passage tomb at Dowth, County Meath, Ireland. Survey work by David Strange-Walker of Trent & Peak Archaeology and Marcus Abbott of ArcHeritage. Thanks to Dr Steve Davis of University College Dublin, and the Office of Public Works, Ireland, for funding this project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw05wQ_xWCQ
[ Reply to This ]

Dowth - Winter Solstice Sunset 2011 by Andy B on Tuesday, 20 December 2011
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The Office of Public Works will open the Dowth south chamber for the Winter Solstice sunset on Wednesday December 21st 2011 between 3pm and 4pm.

Trees growing on a neighbouring property have interfered with the the sunset beam in recent years, a gap has been created to allow sunlight through, hopefully there will be a cloud free sunset to test the accuracy of the gap.

More from Michael Fox here
http://www.newgrange.com/news56.htm

and see also details of the winter solstice at Newgrange here
http://www.newgrange.com/news54.htm
and photos from the 18th of December here
http://www.newgrange.com/winter-solstice-2011.htm
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Dowth - Winter Solstice Sunset 2011 by stonesavant on Sunday, 25 December 2011
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    Jack Roberts, Martin Brennan were the first to cut through the trees blocking the sunset on Winter-Solstice, Brennan and I were he first to film the beam forming and moving around the chamber and up the backstone the next year. That was 1980 and 1981. That was an 8mm film which I still have. Now we have better video technology but I understand the gates are locked to entrants on these days. If anyone would like to see the film I can post it on U tube.
    Hank Harrison
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Dowth - Winter Solstice Sunset 2011 by Runemage on Monday, 26 December 2011
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      Yes please Hank, I'd love to see it, what a piece of history to have witnessed!
      [ Reply to This ]

Re: Dowth by jeffrep on Tuesday, 11 August 2009
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Condition: 4
Ambience: 5
Access: 4
Accuracy:
[ Reply to This ]

Art on Dowth kerbstones by Anonymous on Wednesday, 04 December 2002
I've recently added some photographs of


5,000-year-old Stone Age art
on the kerbstones of Dowth, the Place of Darkness, in Brú na Bóinne. Includes some art never before seen on the internet.

Dowth is the only one of the three major Brú na Bóinne mounds which has not been excavated in recent times. Much of the big kerbstones remain buried, with only the tops exposed. During some Victorian style archaeology in the 1850s, major damage was caused to the top of the mound, and two stone passages were found, but thankfully the kerb remains intact. Some of the stones which are exposed have some beautiful artwork on them. The best example is kerb 51, also known as the "Stone of the Seven Suns" but there are more.

Anthony Murphy
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