Press release
Lottery winners share the joy of the Winter Solstice in captivating live stream event
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Published on
Last updated on
The Office of Public Works (OPW) this morning welcomed this year’s lottery winners, drawn from hundreds of hopefuls to experience the significant Winter Solstice sunrise from within the Chamber at the Neolithic Passage Tomb of Newgrange.
The lucky few came from near and far, including winners from Antrim, Dublin, Cork and Galway as well as Sweden, Germany, Canada and the USA. In addition to the lottery winners, we were joined from around the world by people watching the livestream of the 2023 Winter Solstice, organised in cooperation with our colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Fortunately, the horizon cleared this morning, so in person and online, people got to experience the phenomenon of partial sunlight entering the monument through the roof box. Outside the monument, the usual joyful atmosphere of the Solstice could be felt, as hundreds gathered to celebrate.
“I am delighted to welcome the winners of the very popular OPW Winter Solstice Lottery competition here to Newgrange. They have been very fortunate to witness first hand this solar phenomenon. I am also pleased that we were able to live stream the event again this year so that people across the globe had an opportunity to witness this in the comfort of their homes. The Winter Solstice is a very significant occasion where we move past the long dark evenings and look forward to new beginnings for the year ahead."
Today also saw the launch of new electric buses at Brú na Bóinne by Minister Patrick O’Donovan. These buses are the first of a full fleet, which will gradually replace the old fleet of diesel buses that transport visitors from the Visitor Centre for tours of Newgrange and Knowth. This is one of many OPW initiatives in advancing sustainable solutions that help reduce the impact on climate change:
“It is a great honour to launch the electric buses here today. These buses will replace the traditional fleet of buses, used to transport visitors from the visitors centre to the sites in Brú na Bóinne. This move represents a significant milestone on OPW’s journey to play our part in taking action against climate change."
The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon which marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs on December 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. At Sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the ‘roof box’, to illuminate the Chamber.
The site at the Newgrange Monument is only open to visitors through Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, which is open daily. For further information and online booking please visit heritageireland.ie.
Recordings of the livestreaming events in 2020, 2021 and 2023 are available on the OPW's YouTube channel.
The new electric buses are currently being charged at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre. One full charge provides enough power to run each bus for three days. Specialised EV bus infrastructure will be completed at Knowth House when ESB networks complete their installation of 3 phase power to the site.