Newgrange
- Monument to Immortality by Anthony Murphy
looks beyond the archaeology and the astronomy to reveal a much more profound and sacred
vision of the very spirit of the people who built Newgrange.
Many people who visit the ancient and magnificent Newgrange monument in the Boyne Valley
are driven by some deep longing to connect with their most distant roots. The giant
5,000-year-old megalithic construction evokes awe and wonderment, and a keen sense
of melancholy for the community of people who created and fashioned it from stone
and earth in the remote past, a people now lost to time.
For the past three centuries, archaeologists, antiquarians, writers and researchers have
been probing Newgrange in the hope of revealing something about its purpose, and something
about the mysterious people of the New Stone Age who created giant structures using primitive
technology. What has become clear from these investigations is that Newgrange is a uniquely
special place, and that its construction was carried out not by a grizzly mob of grunting
barbarians, but rather by an advanced agrarian community who had developed keen skills in
the sciences of astronomy, engineering and architecture.
In Newgrange: Monument to Immortality, writer and researcher Anthony Murphy
goes deep into the mind and soul of his Neolithic ancestors to attempt to draw forth
some answers to these questions. In a deeply moving, poetic and philosophical exploration,
he looks beyond the archaeology and the astronomy to reveal a much more profound and
sacred vision of the very spirit of the people who were driven to such marvellous and wondrous efforts.
'This is an intensely personal, philosophical and spiritual investigation of
Newgrange,' says the author Anthony Murphy.
'For many people, Newgrange is a powerful, magical place, and indeed the old
mythology reflects its importance as a palace of the gods and as a portal
between this world and the otherworld. I've tried to capture some of that magic
in this book,' he said.
There is also a message for our troubled times in this book. 'Just like the
Tuatha Dé Danann handed over control of Ireland to the invading Milesians, we
have now ceded our power to European forces, as if repeating the stories from
our most ancient mythology.'
But the message from Newgrange is one of hope. 'There is a sense that we need to
retreat into the dark womb of Newgrange and to await the coming of the light.
The message of Newgrange is an eternal one, which has survived all of the
invasions and battles of history and prehistory. It reinforces the idea of the
brevity of mortal life, but it also highlights the immortality of the human
soul. Its builders might have been among the first to realise that something
extraordinary happens at the edge of death, and many people who have had a Near
Death Experience relate the sensation of travelling down a dark tunnel towards a
brilliant light.'
Newgrange: Monument to Immortality is a wide-sweeping examination of many
themes, which include cosmology and astronomy, spirituality, archaeology,
philosophy and mythology. It is a heartfelt exploration of Ireland's greatest
prehistoric treasure. It is both thought-provoking and reflective.
Anthony Murphy speaks about his book 'Newgrange - Monument to Immortality'
Boyne Valley Private Day Tours
Pick up and return to your accommodation or cruise ship. Suggested day tour:
Newgrange World Heritage site, 10th century High Crosses at Monasterboice,
Hill of Tara the seat of the High Kings of Ireland and the Hill of Slane where St. Patrick let a Paschal fire in 433
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