Over 600 attend winter solstice at south Kilkenny Passage Tomb

The growing popularity of our heritage was reflected in the huge crowds which attended the winter solstice at Knockroe Passage Tomb on Saturday, December 21.
Over 300 people were present when the sun rose at An Cáiseal and they weren’t disappointed when just after 8.20am, sunlight flooded the eastern burial chamber.
It was a magical moment for those present and marked the first time in some years that the sun shone for the event.
The druids, witches, historians, heritage lovers, conservation groups and local people who attended felt a sense of solace and you can only imagine how our ancestors, who came here annually, thousands of years ago to celebrate the shortest day of the year, felt.
They would have been glad that a new year was about to begin while they looked over the Liguan Valley to Kilmacoliver and Sliabh Na mBan where fires would also have been lit at cairns similar to those at Knockroe.
The chambers form part of a collection of related structures in the valley dating back over 5,000 years which we are still trying to understand, trying to piece together their relevance and their links to each other.
It was therefore fitting that the people who had gathered there started to clap as the rising sun hit the back stone of the passage tomb.
“The countdown as sun played with the clouds behind the horizon created an eerie silence,” local man, Jimmy Walsh said.
Jimmy, who is also the chairman of Kilkenny GAA County Board lives a short distance from the site.
“As the clouds parted it started a buzz around the place that broke into a gentle applause as the awe of the alignment that our predecessors constructed in 3,000 BC was unveiled,” Jimmy said.
Afternoon
Those travellers who came to the passage tomb in the afternoon for the setting of the sun at 3.40pm were disappointed that the rays stayed behind the clouds but they were blessed to hear the man responsible for discovering the priceless monument speak.
Dr Muiris Ó Súilleabháin
Prof of archaeology at UCD, Dr Muiris Ó Súilleabháin explained that excavations had uncovered the remains of over 100 people and that this year fragments of an extremely rare type of pendant were unearthed adding to the incredible story of the tomb.
The Kerry man has been leading teams of archaeologists here since the 1980s and when he first arrived, the monument was buried in undergrowth with all sorts of manmade structures encroaching on it.
He changed all that and it was lovely that he attended both the morning and evening solstice at Knockroe.
The event was co-ordinated by Richard Walsh and An Caiseal Conservation Committee, the Liguan Valley Tourism and Suir Valley Environmental Group and local people who helped with parking and offered alcohol free punch and homemade sausage rolls to all present.
Everybody was delighted with the improved access provided by Kilkenny County Council in conjunction with the Office of Public Works (OPW).