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 recording has been compressed to 1 minute 46 seconds and included in this video, which also includes background information on the equinox illumination at Loughcrew.

Reflections on Loughcrew and Newgrange by Tim O'Brien

Passage interior at sunrise, photo by Ken Williams. We came across the Cairns at Loughcrew in 1985 quite by accident and it was to become one of the most exciting times of my life. Mary and I climbed the hill with the late September evening, sun setting at our backs. As we walked over the brow of the hill, Cairn T appeared like a mirage. It was just a large collection of stones that appeared to be haphazardly put together. We went to the front of the east side of the cairn and noticed that there was a gate left open.

It led to a passage into the pile of stones and we could hear voices inside. The people inside invited us in as they had a flashlight, which was necessary to observe the drawings on the stones. We had come to this place completely unaware of what to expect and were overwhelmed by what we saw within the chamber. Our unofficial guide gave us a quick tour pointing out the main features of the chamber and showed us the drawings that had been etched onto the stones both in the central chamber and the three small chambers off it. Continue reading Tim O'Brien's reflections.

The music on the Loughcrew Equinox Video is the track Procession by Jillian LaDage from her album The Ancestry. In the album Jillian steps through the temples of memory on a journey that leads from the medieval sands of Turkey and the Byzantine Empire to the moors and legends of the ancient Celts. The nine self-produced tracks range from the intricately woven instrumental Manzikert into the hauntingly melodic, traditional folklore inspired strains of Bonny Was The Lady to the balladry of Endless Knot and the evocative rhythms of Midsummer's Night.

The eclectic Celtic singer/composer's rich musical tapestry of harp, piano, bodhran, tabla, hurdy gurdy, guitar, clarinet, viola, violin, cello, uillean pipes and more, embraces the quest of the medieval mystic, unifying the ancient and modern world. "I came across a reference to the Celts in Asia Minor early in the eleventh century as the Mediterranean world and the world around them came to a crossroads and began to follow the migration of the many Celtic tribes as the Byzantine Empire declined and the Normans invaded the British Isles," Jillian explains.

"The memories that had passed into the resting places of myth and legend, and forgotten happenings were events that drew me to the stepping stone of remembrance and lineage. In turn this became the foundation of the music, and as I experienced it, the common thread that held the Celts together through the opening of this great cultural Pandora's Box."

Jillian was born in rural Illinois in the USA to a dairy farmer and stay-at-home mom in 1980. She grew up around the prairies her Scots/Irish ancestors settled when they immigrated to America nearly two centuries ago. Pouring over books of fiction and non-fiction alike, she became enthralled with the world and music of the Celts. More ...

Loughcrew Equinox Archive

• March 2014 Spring Equinox.
• September 2012 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2011 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2010 Spring Equinox.
• September 2009 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2009 Spring Equinox.
• September 2008 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2008 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2008 Spring Equinox.
• September 2007 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2006 Autumn Equinox.
• September 2005 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2005 Spring Equinox.
• March 2005 Equinox Video.
• September 2004 Autumn Equinox.
• March 2004 Spring Equinox.
• September 2002 Autumn Equinox.

See also the main Loughcrew Equinox page.