Ancient Sun: the Meaning of Solstice

From Newgrange to stone circles, passage tombs to ancient festivals, the sun, solstices, and equinoxes, were of huge importance in ancient Ireland. This year at Beyond The Pale, architects Eibhlín Ní Chathasaigh and James Albert Martin, ITHIRLANN have created the stunning SUN-STOP installation on the festival site.

For this talk on the day of the summer solstice (Friday, 6.30pm), Eibhlín and James will be joined by archaeoastronomer, Dr. Frank Prendergast to discuss ancient astronomy, examining how our ancestors formed rituals and created sites of huge cultural significance related to the sun. This conversation will be moderated by Una Mullally, and will be followed by Grianstad: The Ritual, a procession to the SUN-STOP installation.