Two forthcoming talks on Newgrange and astronomy

With Imbolc only around the corner, I am delighted to announce that the talks tour for 2013 is about to kick off. I will give my first talk since 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality' was published next Saturday, February 2nd, in Rostrevor, for the St. Bronagh's School of Celtic Studies. For information on the talk, and for directions to the venue, see the following website: http://celtic-spirituality.net/2013/01/st-bronagh-school-of-celtic-studies-2-february-2013/

On the following Monday, February 4th, I will be giving a talk to the Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society in Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, at 8pm. See information about the venue etc at the NIAAS website here: http://www.eaas.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140%3Afebruary-2013-meeting&catid=3%3Aclub-news-a-events&Itemid=12

The topic will be Newgrange and Ireland's Ancient Astronomers, covering material from both of my books. I will have copies of both Island of the Setting Sun and Newgrange: Monument to Immortality on sale at both of these talks.

New Boyne Valley interactive map launched

A screen shot of the new Boyne Valley interactive map. © Anthony Murphy

A brand new fully interactive map of the Bend of the Boyne (Brú na Bóinne) monument complex has been launched over at Mythical Ireland. The map features many newly discovered monuments and landscape features and other possible ancient structures which heretofore haven't been included on maps of the area.

The map is Flash based and hovering over each site gives information about what type of monument it is and in some cases a bit of the mythology of the site as well. The new Mythical Ireland interactive Boyne Valley map includes exciting features only recently revealed by archaeological imaging techniques such as LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) and gradiometry.

Included are the Dowth causeway, a suspected raised routeway running from Dowth passage-tomb towards the giant Dowth Henge. Also featured is the Rossnaree enclosure, which was discovered during archaeological digging in 2010. The map can be found on Mythical Ireland.

Video captures incredible mystical vibe of Newgrange

This is a short video I made to try to capture some of the essence that is 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality', featuring the extraordinary and visionary words of George William (AE) Russell, written in 1897, from 'A Dream of Angus Oge'. Russell wrote this at a time when the Newgrange aperture was apparently blocked up, and therefore the solstice illumination of the chamber was not possible. Russell claimed to have been psychic. Perhaps he was!! He appears to capture quite magnificently the magic and mysticism of Newgrange and the Tuatha Dé Danann.

In my new book I suggest that we need to reconnect with the magic of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who perhaps represent some aspect of our spirit and psyche that is now dormant. The video is an attempt to engender that spirit within us . . .

Pictures from Newgrange book launch

Chris McClintock, author of The Craft and the Cross, with myself at the launch.

This is me signing some books at the launch of Newgrange: Monument to Immortality

See more photographs from the launch of Newgrange: Monument to Immortality on Mythical Ireland.

Newgrange: Monument to Immortality now in the bookshops

My new book, 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality', has just been published by The Liffey Press and will be available in bookshops this week. I am thrilled to say that the book looks fantastic, and contains no less than 127 colour photographs, which include many shots from inside Newgrange on the winter solstice and some spectacular 'fisheye' images from the interior of the passage and chamber.

The book appeared on the home page
of IrishCentral.com

The book is already attracting some major publicity, and was featured on the home page of the Irish Central website. The book will be launched this Friday, November 9th, at The Barbican in Drogheda, at 7pm. All welcome.


Newgrange: Monument to Immortality goes deep into the mind and soul of our neolithic ancestors to better understand what led them to build this remarkable monument. In a deeply moving, poetic and philosophical exploration, I look beyond the archaeology and the astronomy to reveal a much more profound and sacred vision of a sophisticated people who were driven to create this marvelous testament to their time.

The cover of my new book, Newgrange:
Monument to Immortality

But more than this, Newgrange: Monument to Immortality has a message for our troubled times of economic crisis and spiritual upheaval  Irish mythology speaks of many invasions which happened over the course of history and prehistory. The original gods of Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danann, are said to have handed over the running of the country to the invading Milesians, and in doing so they retreated into the mounds and raths of Ireland where they await re-emergence in times of crisis. Has the time come for Irish people to enter the stone mounds and retrieve that dormant aspect of their spirit which finds itself suppressed by political, economic and religious forces in a turbulent world?

The message of Newgrange is an eternal one, and survives across more than five millennia, to speak to us of our long forgotten ancestors of yesteryear. That message is as relevant today as it has ever been, throughout the long centuries of oppression and imperialism. The magic of the Tuatha Dé Danann, representing the uplifting aspects of the Irish spirit and the Irish psyche, is alive today, but perhaps hidden in the dark chamber of Newgrange, awaiting the coming of the light.

With the Winter Solstice only weeks away, this is the perfect time to reflect upon the true meaning of Newgrange and the forces that drove its creators to construct such a remarkable memorial to their time. Newgrange is a monument to immortality, the eternal quest of the human spirit.

The book is available on Amazon.co.uk and from The Liffey Press website.

New exhibition to feature photos of Newgrange and Boyne Valley monuments

The major historical landmarks of the Boyne Valley - along with a few lesser known ones - will feature in an evocative new exhibition by accomplished local photographer Pat Burns opening next week in Drogheda.

Swans on the Boyne in front of Newgrange, by Pat Burns.

The exhibition of highly atmospheric black and white prints is the result of five years of meticulous observation and many pre-dawn forays to catch the magical early morning light.

The exhibition, at the Abbey Gallery in Dominic Street, will feature rich moody images of Newgrange, the Hill of Slane, Monasterboice, Mellifont, Dunmoe Castle, Bective Abbey, Tara, Trim Castle, the cairns at Loughcrew and the standing stones at Baltray.

“For over 5,000 years, builders have left their mark in wonderful inscribed stone buildings and monuments across this ancient and historical countryside. It is a rich and royal landscape, home to high kings and druids, Christian saints, monks and monasteries,” says Pat, who hails from Laytown.

“The connecting thread in the landscape is the River Boyne from which the Valley takes its name.”

“The exhibition is an attempt to capture in black and white photographic images not only the beauty of the landscape of the Boyne Valley, but also the power, sense of mystery and atmosphere that still inhabits the place.”

“There's something palpable that still seems to cling to and live on in the castle ruins, in the high crosses and monasteries, the trees, standing stones, ancient mounds and along the river Boyne itself.”

Adds Pat: “The exhibition is not meant to be an in depth pictorial record of the Boyne Valley. Rather it is a personal visual homage to this place of myth, mystery and beauty.”

Pat is a self-taught photographer with a particular interest in documentary and landscape work. He has recorded many aspects of life and community in Laytown where he has lived for almost thirty years.

The exhibition will be opened by Anthony Murphy, co-author of Island Of The Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers, on Thursday July 26 at 7.30pm.

See more pictures at Mythical Ireland.

New book on Newgrange by Anthony Murphy

I am currently working on a new book about Ireland's most famous monument. The book, called 'Newgrange - Monument to Immortality', will be published by The Liffey Press in the autumn.

This new work explores Newgrange and its mysteries from many aspects and disciplines, including archaeology, astronomy and spirituality, and encompasses a broad-sweeping and philosophical examination of the big questions about Ireland's most famous monument. The book will contain lots of new colour photographs - none of which have been published before in any other book or on any website. These include photos from inside the passage and chamber on the winter solstice, when the sun shines into the heart of the monument.

A new blog site has been set up about the Newgrange book which can be found here.