Archaeoastronomy at megalithic sites

I've been up to Cairn U three times over the years, cloudy every time! Last time I went up I got a short burst a little after sunrise, will have a look and see if the pics are worth seeing. From what I could see, the sun shifts out of the passage very quickly after sunrise so any cloud on the horizon could be a problem.

No, didn't bring the tarpaulin! Used it a few times on Carnbane West but the one I have is too light to have a major effect, it's also blue which makes photos look weird.

They had a frame over the west tomb at Knockroe at one point, I assume to cover it over like the kerbstone on the opposite side, the frame has since vanished though.

Sorry for the late reply again guys!I know I'm making it a habit at this stage,but just couldn't gather my thoughts together at all last week.:o
Yes,I agree with you SB that we need to be cautious about labelling this monument a cursus,and so will henceforth refer to it as a linear.It's intriguing to hear that many of the cursus you've looked at to date have a NW-SE orientation.Could the majority of these cursus have been deliberately aligned to observe solstitial events?
I'm certainly of the opinion that the Curragh linear was constructed to help forecast the approach of several important days or periods in the ancient annual cycle.I have a sneaking suspicion it was primarily used to observe and record the Winter solstice sunrise over Dún Ailinne to the southeast (I've yet to prove that the winter solstice sun is seen to rise above Dún Ailinne,but will endeavour to do so this December - weather and job commitments permitting of course!).During excavations on the summit of Dún Ailinne in the 1970's,several features were unearthed which contained materials of a Neolithic date.A curious pear-shaped ditch(feature 281 in the excavation report),which did not match any known house-foundation or any form of tomb;a pit burial(feature 293) which contained a large portion of a Linkardstown-type decorated bowl and a small perforated stone bead;and a pit(feature 2506) which contained a cache of 13 flint artefacts,interpreted as a deliberate deposit of the Neolithic period.Dún Ailinne it seems was deemed a place of great sacredness for the people inhabiting this area during the Neolithic.
I would contend that the linear was a Neolithic construct and was deliberately built with a direct focus on the sacred hill of Dún Ailinne close-by.Come the mid-winter solstice,the community would gather at this social arena and following directions from their leaders or priests would walk in procession between the banks/ditches towards the top(terminus?) of the linear where they would witness the sun magically rise from the bowels of their sacred hill,a hill where they buried their dead and made offerings to appease the gods and their ancestors,who would help them through the impending harsh winter.Am I talking cobblers here?!I've no evidence to support the fact that I believe the linear was built during the Neolithic,but it's likely it pre-dates the Bronze/Iron Age barrows that lie in clusters at either end.There's also the curious absence of activity on Dún Ailinne between the Neolithic and Iron Age(apart from the deposition of a Bronze Age food vessel in a pit),a gap of nearly two millennia.
A verse in the Dindsenchas mentions how Dún Ailinne/Alend acquired its name:

13. Buirech cast from him straightway
across the rampart(no weakling he!) -
a stone he cast from his spear-arm;
and that is the ail in Alend.

I think the inference here is that Buirech placed the Ail standing upright on a mound that sat at the summit.
Today you will see three very large boulders on the summit,two look like limestone boulders(although it's possible they're both very weathered granite) and an elongated white granite boulder,very like the granite you will see in the Wicklow mountains.Curiously enough,John O'Donovan's survey of Dún Ailinne in 1837 records only "two rough mountain boulders of considerable size.One of these might be the Ail mentioned in the Dindseanchus as placed in the mound by the hero Buirech......".O'Donovan also records a scattering of stone debris on the summit which he interpreted as a "fort.......much effaced",but Estyn Evans suggests this scatter of stone and the large boulders may have been the remnants of a Neolithic/Early Bronze Age cairn.It strikes me that if there was a cairn or a standing stone on the summit,it would have been a very accurate way of marking a particular day in the annual cycle.I'm not sure how accurate the other astronomical events I alluded to in my earlier posts were marked,and although I don't think it's just a coincidence that they can be observed from both ends of the linear,it might be that they were of secondary importance here and were mainly of significance in religious celebrations at those particular times of the year.

Forgive my doodling once again but I think the image below can give you a better idea of what I'm trying to convey here.Estyn Evans suggested that a cairn may have sat at the summit of Dún Ailinne and I have to say I'm quite convinced by this!Is this what the Neolithic community who inhabited the Curragh plains would have seen at the Winter solstice sunrise as they watched from the linear on Long Hill?



Or perhaps,there may have been a large monolith at the summit,but basing this hypothesis solely on verses found in a medieval poem such as the Dindsenchas may be a tad foolhardy!The image below shows the large boulders that now sit on the summit of Dún Ailinne.There's a visible line of drill holes in the large elongated white granite boulder.You can clearly see weathering on one side,but the opposite side shows areas which look significantly fresher,which could suggest it was deliberately broken in recent times.Was this boulder part of a much larger monolith or could these boulders have been used as kerbstones surrounding a cairn?




I'm not sure Bawn why this linear(if it was a calendrical instrument) was so massive.I can only guess it was perhaps a pre-cursor to the smaller and more sophisticated ones we're most familiar with at Loughcrew and the Boyne valley,but I'm not sure?Apart from its uses which I've outlined above,could it also have been seen as a territorial marker?Was its massiveness meant to be interpreted as a metaphor for the power and formidable nature of the tribe who built it.Were they saying to other neighbouring tribes "We are strong,powerful and many - keep away!!!"The Chair hills to the northwest may very well have been a natural territorial boundary(the old Gaelic kingdom of the Uí Failghe lay just beyond these hills) and it's rather curious that the Curragh linear sits on the west-facing slope of Long hill,effectively facing the Chair hills to the northwest.It's not inconceivable to believe that the ancestors of the Uí Failghe were the formidable foes of those who built the Curragh linear.Inter-tribal conflict during the Neolithic is not so far fetched an idea!Recent archaeological investigations in Britain have shown that conflict in the Neolithic may have been commonplace.Hambledon hill in Dorset,and Crickley hill in Gloucestershire,have both produced evidence of such conflict - masses of flint arrowheads have been excavated close to the entrances of the encampments and they believe the enclosure's ramparts were also partially damaged during these skirmishes too.Here's a link to an interesting article in relation to Neolithic conflict:
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/bloody-stone-age-war-in-the-neolithic.htm

I'll leave you guys with just one other curious and exciting finding!I've always been aware that the Curragh linear was aligned to Kildare town to the northwest,but didn't really know why that might be.If the north-northwest end of the linear was extended,it would eventually reach Kildare town which lies 5kms. away.The most curious thing about this is that the alignment passes directly through the site of St.Brigid's Cathedral,which is also the site of the 12th.Century Round Tower.A monastery was founded here by St.Brigid in the 6th.Century.According to early medieval texts,it was believed to be the site of a pre-christian shrine to the Goddess Brigid and a fire was kept perpetually lit there by a group of young women.There was a belief that this fire was still kept alight by Brigidine nuns up until the arrival of the Normans!Why would the linear have any relationship with this sacred site?Well,using the 'Photographer's Ephemeris',I was able to see that there was a summer solstice sunset alignment between the site of the Cathedral and the ring-barrow KD022-009(remember that one in my first post?) on the summit of Red Hill to the northwest.So effectively what we have going on here is a linear which can conceivably mark the Winter solstice sunrise and another site which has a very tangible link to it,marking the Summer solstice sunset.So it seems Bawn that this calendrical instrument is possibly larger than we could ever have imagined!:)

Thanks Bawn.
That "intersection" between Dún Ailinne and the hill behind was something I had noticed myself,and in fact that's more or less where I put the sun in the images I uploaded.Hopefully I'll get a chance to pop up there this December.

Believe it or not,I've not set foot on Red Hill yet,but did have a look at the view from the grounds of the Cathedral last week.Red Hill is only 3.5kms. away and I bet the Summer solstice sunset looks rather impressive as it descends behind the hill.

This 'Fire Temple' sounds intriguing!The temple was believed to have housed a shrine to the Celtic Goddess Brigid.The Goddess Brigid was also associated with the ancient festival of Imbolc,which was celebrated close to the February cross-quarter day.Here's where it gets spooky!I've just checked and it would appear that the present site of the Cathedral(site of the ancient temple) and Dún Ailinne are both directly aligned to the February cross-quarter day sunrise.In reality,I'm not sure if it was possible to see the Feb. cross-quarter day sun rise above the summit of Dún Ailinne from the site of the temple,because some of Wicklow's largest mountains loom large behind it,including Lugnaquilla.Of course it may all depend at what elevation you're standing at?The temple site is roughly on the highest point of a ridge(at an elevation of 108m.) that was called Drum Criadh/Drumcree(Ridge of Clay),which was later named Cill Dara(the Church of the Oak) following the founding of the monastery there by St.Brigid.So if you were standing at the site of the temple on Drum Criadh,you would in effect be looking up at the summit of Dún Ailinne,and it's just possible you may see the sunrise if there was a dip or a gap between the mountains beyond.To be honest,I'm not sure if it's even possible to see Dún Ailinne today from the site of the Cathedral,but I can certainly check that out.It's bizarre what's going on here with all these astronomical alignments!

By the way,thanks for the links.

Hi Bawn,
Yeah,just to clarify - the sun on the summer solstice would descend behind Red Hill if you were observing from the grounds of the present Cathedral.

I've not seen the barrow yet,nor what the surrounding landscape looks like from the hill,but I think that "sticky up point" in the background might very well be the Roman Catholic church spire instead?I'll try to get up there one of these days and upload an image or two.

What's going on here?Well your guess is as good as mine,but I'm definitely thinking the astronomical alignments at these places is not just coincidental.I think what it's telling us is those who were using them were a dynamic and sophisticated lot,but we knew that already!:)
If I find anything else curious,I'll keep you posted.