Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange and Knowth)
Neolithic passage tombs of the Boyne Valley, visited by guided tour from the OPW visitor centre.
Brú na Bóinne is the archaeological landscape enclosed by a bend of the River Boyne in County Meath, and it contains three great Neolithic passage tombs at Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Built around 3200 BC, the monuments predate the pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge. The concentration of megalithic art carved on their kerbstones and structural stones is among the richest in Europe, and the whole area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 for its outstanding prehistoric significance.
Access is controlled through the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre at Donore, which opened in 1997 on the south bank of the Boyne and is reached from the monuments by footbridge and shuttle bus. The centre houses an interpretative exhibition on the Neolithic communities of the valley, including a full-scale replica of the Newgrange chamber. Guided tours run to Newgrange all year and to Knowth from spring to autumn; Dowth is not open for internal visits.
Highlights
- Newgrange passage tomb with its carved entrance stone and roof-box
- Knowth's two passages and Europe's largest gathering of megalithic art
- UNESCO World Heritage landscape in the bend of the River Boyne
- Visitor-centre exhibition with a full-scale replica of the chamber
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
