The Office of Public Works staff opened Cairn T, Loughcrew on three mornings for the Spring Equinox sunrise illumination of the chamber and backstone, the 20th March, the actual equinox morning and on the following two mornings, the 21st and 22nd March. The mornings were foggy leading up the the equinox, so a relatively small group gathered around 6:30am at Cairn T on Friday 20th March. Their optimism was rewarded and the equinox sunrise broke through the fog to illuminate the chamber and backstone.

About 150 people made the pilgrimage on Saturday 21st March and about 100 on Sunday 22nd March, but the fog kept the sun hidden on both mornings.

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 March 23rd 2005. The 50 minute video has been compressed to 1 minute 46 seconds and included in the following YouTube Video.

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