Caption: The entrance to Newgrange as it appeared long before reconstruction in the 1970s. Photo from Celtic Myth and Legend (1905) by Charles Squire (fl. 1900). See also Early Celtic Scholarship and the Romantic Celt: Charles Squire by Juliette Wood, Cardiff University.

Features:

1. Newgrange is a Neolithic structure in County Meath, Ireland. It is about 1 kilometer north of the River Boyne and about 10 kilometers west of Drogheda (in County Louth), and is part of the Megalithic Bru na Boinne complex.

2. Newgrange was constructed in circa 32nd century BCE by Neolithic Irish (see Wikipedia: Newgrange: History). The Neolithic Irish were NOT Celts who arrived in Ireland probably before or circa the 6th century BCE (see Wikipedia: Prehistoric settlement of the British Isles: Iron Age).

3. Newgrange is older than Stonehenge (earliest conjecture for earliest construction circa 3000 BCE) and the Giza Pyramids (earliest construction early 26th century BCE: see Wikipedia: Great Pyramid of Giza).

4. The purpose of Newgrange is uncertain, but it may have been religious (see Wikipedia: Newgrange: Purpose).

5. The megalith lying in front of the entrance exhibits the triple spiral or spiral triskelion. The a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskelion">triskelion is a motif with three interlocked spirals, curved lines, or legs with rotational symmetry.

   The triple spiral was used in Neolithic Ireland, Bronze-Age Ireland, and Iron-Age Ireland when Celts arrived probably before or circa the 6th century BCE as aforesaid.

6. Newgrange embodies alignment astronomy, and so is a monument of archaeoastronomy.

   At sunrise on the winter solstice, sunlight beams down the main passageway and illuminates a chamber floor (see Wikipedia: Newgrange: Purpose). This alignment was almost certainly planned.