Knowth Megalithic Passage Tomb

The Great Mound was built over 5000 years ago, probably after the construction of Newgrange and before the construction of Dowth. The Great Mound at Knowth is similar in size to Newgrange and is surrounded by 18 smaller satellite mounds. The Great Mound has two passages with entrances on opposite sides, the western passage is 34 metres long and the eastern passage is 40 metre long, ending with a cruciform chamber.

Images of Knowth with the option to display larger images. In this aerial view of Knowth the enclosure on top of the mound is a Medieval Grange, the waterway to the rear is the River Boyne.

Knowth has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. There is no direct access to the Knowth site, access is by guided tour from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre located close to the village of Donore. Tours of Knowth are from April to October, the last Tour is 90 minutes before closing time of the Visitor Centre. George Eogan and his team of Archaeologists began excavating the Great Mound at Knowth in 1962, five years later they discovered the first passage and chamber, subsequent excavation revealed a collection of carved stones that comprises 25% of Western European Neolithic art.

Knowth from Mythical Ireland by Anthony Murphy. Calendar stone - a kerbstone at Knowth which shows that the people who constructed the great mound were well aware of what we call the 'Metonic Cycle' of the moon. Lunar Stone - a 5000-year-old stone device used to calculate the lengths of the lunar tropical month, synodic month, and the length of the year.

Knowth from The Sacred Island by Martin Byrne. Engraved Knowth Kerbstone K15, possibly a sundial or lunar calendar. Drawing by Martin Brennan superimposed using Photoshop by Martin Byrne.

Lunar Maps at Knowth - the carvings on orthostat 47 at the end of the chamber in the eastern passage have been identified by Philip J. Stooke as lunar maps. The right-hand section appears to be a map of the lunar maria. The remaining two sections of the carving are simpler but crudely similar to the first, sharing the overall arc shape of the maria surrounding the lunar central highlands as well as an isolated spot representing Mare Crisium.

• Knowth - A Virtual Tour by Bryn Coldrick.

• Megalithic Art at Knowth - from Minds or Moons? by Laurie Darcus.

• Knowth by Jeffrey May from the magazine Current Archaeology.

• Ireland in prehistory - Early Ireland, Megalithic Ireland, Ancient Ireland - Outside Influences.

• Knowth from an Archaeoastronomy point of view by Paul Griffin. Archaeoastronomy is the study and interpretation of solar, lunar and stellar alignments found at Megalithic Sites and other ancient sites such as the Pyramids

• Knowth from Geniet by Victor Reijs, includes cross sections of the Great Mound and good technical data.

• Irish Historical Mysteries by Sean Murphy. "It has now become clear that Knowth is an even more fascinating monument than Newgrange, containing as it does not one but two chambers, and holding on its site the remarkable total of one-quarter of the known megalithic art of Europe."

• An anthropological lens applied to the early settlers of the Boyne Valley, adapted from a lecture by Dr. Gabriel J.Byrne.

• Messages from the Monuments - How Neolithic Monuments Communicate About Religion and Status by Paul K. Wason.

Eastern Passage at Knowth.

The eastern passage of the Great Mound at Knowth measures 40 metres, making it the longest megalithic passage in Western Europe. At the end of the passage is a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof similar in style to Newgrange.