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Loughcrew Autumn Equinox 2004

Access to Loughcrew Cairn T

Cairn T has been closed to the public since October 2018. There is currently no access to the interior of the chamber on equinox mornings. Visitors may still gather outside the cairn to watch the sunrise.

On 21 September 2004 the rising sun at Loughcrew Cairn T broke through low cloud and entered the passage, illuminating the carved backstone.

Group of visitors standing before the gated entrance of grass-covered Loughcrew Cairn T on an overcast morning. Waiting for the sunrise outside Loughcrew Cairn T on 21 September 2004.
Orange equinox sunrise breaking through low cloud over dark hills beside Cairn T. The sun finally breaks through the low cloud at 7:20am. The photograph was taken by the side of Cairn T looking east.
Equinox sunbeam lighting the left side of the Cairn T backstone with sun and zigzag carvings. 7:27am: the beam of equinox sunlight illuminating the left side of the backstone.
Sunbeam on the centre of the Cairn T backstone, with a dark gate-shadow across the carved stone. 7:32am: the sunbeam illuminating the centre of the backstone. The dark patch in the centre is a shadow from part of the iron gate at the entrance.
View from inside Cairn T looking out through the gated passage to a brilliant equinox sunrise. Iron gate at the entrance to Loughcrew Cairn T.
Sunbeam leaving the Cairn T backstone and lighting mossy stones at the front of the back recess. 7:55am: the sunbeam moving off the backstone and illuminating the stones to the front and side of the back recess.
Narrow sunbeam to the right of the Cairn T backstone lighting a flower-like sun symbol on the front stone of the recess. 8:13am: the sunbeam has moved to the right of the backstone, with a sun symbol lit on the front stone of the recess.

Book cover: Light Years Ago by Tim O'Brien, with a golden flower-like sun carving on dark stone. Light Years Ago: A Study of the Cairns of Newgrange and Cairn T Loughcrew, Co. Meath, Ireland by Tim O'Brien shows that the symbols of the sun engraved on the backstone of Cairn T at Loughcrew are precisely positioned to measure solar movement. A beam of light from the rising sun around the time of the March and September equinoxes is mapped on the backstone.

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Loughcrew Video: Spring Equinox 2005

The progress of the sunbeam on the backstone inside Cairn T at Loughcrew was video recorded at sunrise on the morning of 23 March 2005. The 50 minute video has been compressed to 1 minute 46 seconds and included in the following YouTube video.

Spring Equinox sunrise at Loughcrew Cairn T, March 2005.

Gossan Stones Equinox Sunrise Alignment

Equinox sunrise framed between two standing stones at the Gossan Stones in the Wicklow Mountains. The equinox sunrise is framed by the Gossan Stones in the Wicklow Mountains.
Tall view of equinox sunlight illuminating sun symbols, zigzags and ladder motifs on the Cairn T backstone at Loughcrew. Equinox sunlight on the backstone in Cairn T.

Loughcrew Equinox Archive

See also the main Loughcrew Equinox page.

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