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Dowth winter sunsets

From early October to the end of February, the evening sun can send its rays into the southern passage and chamber at Dowth. Anne-Marie Moroney has been observing these winter sunsets since 1997, and her photographs record how the light moves through the mound around the solstice.

Gated entrance to Dowth south passage in a grassy mound, with warm golden light reflecting deep inside the chamber. Winter sunset light at the entrance to Dowth south. Photograph by Anne-Marie Moroney.

The photography above shows the evening sun entering and illuminating the southern passage and chamber of the mound. As the sun appears progressively lower in the sky towards the winter solstice, the beam, entering the passage in the space between the top of kerbstone K1 and under the lintel, travels first over the sill stone, then enters the chamber and finally shines directly onto the stones at the back of the chamber.

Golden sunlight streaming into Dowth south chamber, casting barred shadows across the floor and sill stone. Sun illuminating the chamber, photographed on 11 January 2003 by Anne-Marie Moroney. The lines are a shadow of the bars in the entrance gate. The stone at the front is the sill stone at the entrance to the chamber.
Strong rectangular beam of sunlight filling Dowth south chamber and lighting the back stone beyond the sill. Sun illuminating the chamber, photographed on 5 January 2003 by Anne-Marie Moroney. The beam is so strong that the whole chamber is lit up. The sunlight is also reflected from stone C7 into a dark recess on the southern side of the chamber, where it illuminates decorated stones.
Partial golden light patch on an interior stone in Dowth south chamber, with vertical shadows from trees outside. Evergreen trees to the west of the mound at Dowth are a growing problem, obstructing the sunbeam into the passage and chamber. Since 1997, when Anne-Marie Moroney began observing winter sunsets at Dowth, the trees have become more obstructive each year. This image, photographed on 11 December 2003, shows the effect of the trees.
Front face of Dowth kerbstone K51 in grass, with several carved sunburst motifs lit shortly after sunrise. Front of Dowth kerbstone K51, shortly after sunrise at 9:28am on 9 January 2004.
Back of Dowth kerbstone K51 with circular carvings and moss, lit by mid-morning sun among grass and bare branches. Back of Dowth kerbstone K51. The sun illuminates the back by mid morning, 10:27am on 1 January 2004.
Book cover: Dowth Winter Sunsets by Anne-Marie Moroney. Sunset sky over a dark landscape with bare tree branches.

Anne-Marie Moroney's observations are gathered in Dowth Winter Sunsets, a softback of 32 pages with 26 photographs, published in 1999 by Flax Mill Publications in Drogheda, Co. Louth.

Dowth, possibly the oldest of the three major tumuli in the Bend of the Boyne in County Meath, shares a special solar celebration with Newgrange. During the winters of 1997/98 and 1998/99 Moroney observed the evening sun enter and illuminate spectacularly the southern passage and chamber in the mound at Dowth. This phenomenon culminates on the day of the winter solstice, when the setting sun marks the end of one year and the beginning of new life by sending its rays into Dowth South, lighting up the stones and the chamber. Text, original photography and drawings guide the reader to this little known aspect of our heritage.

Anne-Marie Moroney works as a fibre artist and language teacher in rural County Louth. In 1998 she co-authored with Susan Connolly the book Stone and Tree Sheltering Water, an exploration of sacred and secular wells. Purchase book at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

More on Dowth, images of Dowth, and Beltaine sunrise.

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