Martin Brennan

Martin
Brennan (1942-2023) was an Irish-American author whose research work and books in
the 1980's changed how we look at the sophistication of Ireland's Stone Age
monuments. Martin challenged conventional opinion about the function of
Newgrange,
Dowth,
Loughcrew
and other passage tombs of Ireland and presented
overwhelming evidence showing that many of these 5,000 year old monuments were
used as astronomical observatories. His books,
The Boyne Valley Vision and
The Stones of Time, both published in the 1980s, have stood the test of time.
Martin Brennan was born of Irish parents in Brooklyn, New York. He was a student
of Pratt Institute, where he majored in Visual Communication. He worked briefly
in graphic design before going to Mexico where his interests in prehistoric rock
inscriptions, ritual and traditional art developed. He moved to Japan for some
years and there the scholar Kimitaro Kitamura urged him to go to Ireland and
study ancient Irish culture. He lived in Ireland for ten years, working in
graphic design and pursuing his study of megalithic art.
In December 2009 Martin returned to Ireland after a 25 year gap to headline a
conference at Newgrange. He revealed fascinating new data from Mexico relating
to ancient alignments and the Mayan calendar, and the resonance and synchronicity between his discoveries
in Mexico and those he made in Ireland in the 1980s.
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Martin Brennan at the 'Boyne Valley Revision' conference at the Newgrange Lodge in December 2009 - photo by Anthony Murphy.
The Boyne Valley Vision
by Martin Brennan. Published by The Dolmen Press in 1980.
In this book Martin Brennan presents an entirely new
interpretation of these monuments, one which challenges the conclusions of earlier
studies and offers conclusive evidence which radically changes our knowledge of
megalithic culture in Ireland. The Boyne Valley Vision is a personal step-by-step
account of a quest that has resulted in some of the most astounding and profound
archaeological decipherments of our time.
Martin Brennan demonstrates in his text
and in some ninety drawings and figures from his pen the vision of the universe
transmitted by the artists of megalithic Ireland in their designs carved in naked rock.
He shows that the ideas expressed by these artists are more substantial than the stones
on which they are incised. His study exposes for the first time an entire cosmology,
a vocabulary of symbols, the sundials, the calendar and other scientific tools of
the oldest culture known to us.
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The Stones of Time - Calendars, Sundials and Stone
Chambers of Ancient Ireland by Martin Brennan. First
published in 1983 as
The Stars and the Stones.
Older than the pyramids and predating
Stonehenge by
at least a thousand years, the stone complexes of ancient Ireland have been
extensively excavated and studied, yet they have refused to give up their
mystery. Archaeologists have speculated that the chambers were tombs.
Art historians have tried to interpret the enigmatic designs painstakingly carved
into the faces of the stones. But the real function of these ancient structures
can be understood only when the art and architecture are seen to be parts of a
unified whole.
More ...
Martin Brennan used a different kerbstone numbering system at Knowth to the George Eogan K1 to K127 system.
He used a system based around North, South, East and West, see
comparison table.
Archive based around the research of Martin Brennan and the
Stonelight Team.
Boyne Valley Private Day Tour

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