Winter Solstice Webcast

For the first time ever, the 2007 Winter Solstice illumination of the passage and chamber at Newgrange was streamed live on the internet.

Victor Reijs has posted a six minute compilation on YouTube of the one hour long OPW streamed video.

To view to full one hour OPW achieve, click on the Heritage Ireland website.

On the 21st of December the 5000 year old technology worked beautifully, with the winter solstice sunrise beam of golden light filling the Newgrange passage and chamber, however the 21st century webcast streaming technology struggled to cope when the maximum expected number of viewers exceeded 300,000.


The Archive is just over one hour in duration, it starts with a brief overview of the Winter Solstice at Newgrange which includes still photographs and footage from previous years. For the next 20 minutes the commentary team build the atmosphere for the actual sunrise, the illumination of the passage and chamber lasts for just 17 minutes.

The Winter Solstice webcast from Newgrange was broadcast on the mornings of Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd December 2007. The conditions were excellent on the morning of the 21st, the rising sun illuminated the passage and chamber between 8:58am and 9:15am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).  On the morning of the 22nd the rising sun was blocked by a low bank of cloud, the sun cleared the cloud by 9:30am, too late to illuminate the chamber.

The webcast and an exhibition at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the re-discovery of the Winter Solstice Phenomenon at Newgrange by Professor O’Kelly in 1967.

Newgrange is best known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun. Above the entrance to the passage at Newgrange there is a opening called a roof-box. This baffling orifice held a great surprise for those who unearthed it. Its purpose is to allow sunlight to penetrate the chamber on the shortest days of the year around the winter solstice.

At dawn, from December 19th to 23rd, a narrow beam of light penetrates the roof-box and reaches the floor of the chamber, gradually extending to the rear of the passage. As the sun rises higher, the beam widens within the chamber so that the whole room becomes dramatically illuminated. This event lasts for 17 minutes, beginning around 9am.

Newgrange's accuracy as a time-telling device is remarkable when one considers that it was built 500 years before the Great Pyramids and more than 1,000 years before Stonehenge. The intent of its builders was undoubtedly to mark the beginning of the new year. In addition, it may have served as a powerful symbol of the victory of life over death.

Each year the winter solstice event attracts much attention at Newgrange. Many gather at the ancient tomb to wait for dawn, as people did 5,000 years ago. So great is the demand to be one of the few inside the chamber during the solstice that there is a free annual lottery (application forms are available at the Visitor Centre). Unfortunately, as with many Irish events that depend upon sunshine, if the skies are overcast, there is not much to be seen. Yet all agree that it is an extraordinary feeling to wait in the darkness, as people did so long ago, for the longest night of the year to end.