As we prepare to ring in the New Year and welcome 2025, I thought I might take this opportunity to recall some of the highlights of the year that has been 2024.
The winter of 2023-2024 was a long, dark affair. We had weeks and weeks of dull, overcast weather. It seemed interminably cloudy. The only upshot of that is the fact that it was relatively mild. We did not have snow or frost.
In the middle of January 2024, all that changed with the arrival of a cold blast of air from the north, bringing cold temperatures and sharp night-time frost. I took advantage of this frosty weather and packed my camera gear and drone into the van and, on several mornings, ventured out into the ancient Boyne Valley landscape to capture some images.
Winter frost at Cairn S and Cairn T at Slieve na Calliagh.
I photographed icy landscapes at Brú na Bóinne, Hill of Tara and Loughcrew. My favourite photos are those from Loughcrew, where the stones of the Neolithic cairns that are over 5,000 years old were coated with frost.
You can purchase limited-edition prints of some of those photographs here:
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If you like any of the photographs on this page and would like to order a print, get in touch by replying to this email: https://mythicalireland.com/blogs/news/hoar-frost-at-newgrange-and-knowth
Early in the year, I was busy working on my book about Fourknocks. In January, Richard Moore and I visited that Neolithic passage-tomb monument to capture photographs of its megalithic art, which are featured in the book.
Planning photography for my Fourknocks book inside the monument.
In February, we were privileged to make several visits to the National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology) in Kildare Street, Dublin, where we were fortunate to be able to see – and hold in our hands – many of the artefacts that had been recovered during the 1950 excavation of Fourknocks by P.J. Hartnett.
With Philip Boucher-Hayes recording for RTÉ Radio One's Countryside.
In March, I was interviewed for RTÉ Radio One’s ‘Countrywide’ programme by Philip Boucher-Hayes about the legends of Saint Patrick and his visit to the Boyne Valley to light the Paschal Fire on the Hill of Slane. You can listen back to that interview here: https://youtu.be/6MZFib81KYk?si=vV7yXDveEOOj_lk-
Also in March, the giant monument that I discovered during a summer drought in 2018 at Newgrange Farm – the one dubbed ‘Dronehenge’ – reappeared in a crop of winter wheat. I took several photographs of Dronehenge and some of the other impermanent monuments (their remains are beneath the surface, but sometimes show up in crops above the surface). You can see those photographs on this blog post: https://mythicalireland.com/blogs/news/dronehenge-great-palisade-four-poster-lp2-henge-all-visible-again-at-newgrange-farm
A selfie with filmmaker Grant Wakefield at Loughcrew.
The longer days of April brought the pleasure of spending an entire day at Slieve na Calliagh at Loughcrew, County Meath, in the company of filmmaker Grant Wakefield. We were making a short film about the Neolithic passage-tombs that were built on four hilltops in the far north-western corner of County Meath over 5,000 years ago. The results of our labours can be seen in this film which was released on the Mythical Ireland YouTube channel in May: https://youtu.be/ZNrigPnGhOk?si=nMTc7Rfzw4NmhCCa
At the end of April, and into the beginning of May, I had the pleasure of leading a group of Californian visitors on a five-day private tour of the monuments and landscape of Ireland. We visited Brú na Bóinne, Fourknocks, Loughcrew, Tara, Uisneach, Clonmacnoise and other sites.
Aurora borealis (northern lights) over Newgrange in May.
On the 10th of May, we were treated to a fabulous display of aurora borealis (northern lights). In fact, it was by far the best aurora display in 20 years. I spent several hours at Síd in Broga (Newgrange) and Dubhadh (Dowth) in the company of my wife, Ann, watching and photographing the spectacle. You can order limited-edition prints of several of my photographs from that night here:
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You can read more about that extraordinary night of lights on this blog post:
Also in May, I attended the annual Bealtaine Fire Festival on the Hill of Uisneach in County Westmeath, the ancient sacred centre of Ireland and one of the country’s historic and mythical royal sites.
If you’d like some limited-edition prints from the Fire Festival, you can see two nice photographs of the festivities here:
https://mythicalireland.com/products/a-face-in-the-flames-at-uisneach-bealtaine-fire
I gave a talk about the mythology of Newgrange in the speakers’ tent at the Uisneach Fire Festival. Also speaking was Jack Roberts, author and megalithic discoverer. I spoke briefly with Jack after my talk and just before his presentation. Little did I know, as we shook hands, that that would be our last conversation. Jack passed away after a brief illness on 19th June, just two days before summer solstice. You can read more about Jack’s incredible contribution to our knowledge of the past on these blog posts:
https://mythicalireland.com/blogs/news/death-of-author-and-archaeoastronomy-discoverer-jack-roberts
In June and July, I participated as a guest presenter on RTÉ Radio One’s Claire Byrne show in a series of broadcasts about Ireland’s Royal sites. We discussed the Hill of Tara, Rathcroghan, Cashel, Emhain Macha and Dún Ailinne. You can listen back to these broadcasts here:
https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22409565-ancient-royal-sites-of-ireland-hill-of-tara/
https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22414650-royal-sites-series-rathcroghan-dun-ailinne/
https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22413008-ancient-royal-sites-of-ireland-rock-of-cashel/
In early July, while leading a private tour of Fourknocks with a group of visitors, I had an opportunity to fly my drone at nearby Heathtown, the site of the remnants of a giant Late Neolithic embanked henge. During that drone flight, I spotted some crop marks within the curtilage of the Heathtown henge that almost certainly represented the remnants of another manmade monument.
Newly-discovered ceremonial enclosure at Heathtown.
When I got home later that day, I processed the images and shared them online, and was delighted when several archaeologists confirmed that they were likely to be the discovery of a previously unknown prehistoric ceremonial enclosure.
It is even possible that what I discovered was a ‘henge within a henge’. You can read an account of the discovery here: https://mythicalireland.com/blogs/news/major-discovery-previously-unrecorded-henge-like-monument-found-today-near-fourknocks-a-henge-within-a-henge
I dubbed the discovery ‘Dronehenge 2’, and it was interesting that my discovery was made on 7th July, almost six years since I discovered the original Dronehenge near Newgrange, on 10th July 2018. In 2019, I published a book about that discovery. You can order your own signed copy of ‘Dronehenge’ on the Mythical Ireland website here: https://mythicalireland.com/products/dronehenge-the-story-behind-the-remarkable-discovery-at-newgrange-signed-copy
After over a year of work, my Fourknocks book was finally sent to print in late July, and on 4th August, I held the official launch event for the book at The Highlanes Gallery in my home city of Drogheda. It was my first in-person book launch since Dronehenge was launched in 2019. I published three books during the Covid-19 pandemic, but could not hold in-person launches. You can read about the Fourknocks book launch here:
https://droghedalife.com/news/anthony-murphy-launches-new-book-on-fourknocks-neolithic-monument
My monograph about Fourknocks is the only book ever published about that remarkable little Neolithic monument that lies just 15km (9 miles) from Newgrange in the far south-eastern corner of County Meath.
With Tom King (An Gobha) and Jonny Wilson at the Fourknocks book launch.
Also in August, we were treated to another beautiful display of aurora borealis (northern lights). My favourite photo from that display, on the night of 12th-13th August, is this one, captured at Dowth:
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In September, I finally fulfilled an ambition I had held for many years – to capture a photograph of the Fourknocks passage-tomb at night, under the stars. Using a fisheye lens and some LED lights, I captured one of my favourite-ever photographs of the Fourknocks monument. You can obtain limited-edition prints of this photo here:
https://mythicalireland.com/products/fourknocks-at-night-under-the-stars
Also in September, my novella, Land of the Ever-Living Ones, was reprinted. The book was originally published in 2013. The new format is compact, and would fit in many pockets. You can order your signed copy of Land of the Ever-Living Ones here.
In October, we had yet another outburst of aurora borealis – the third spectacular display of 2024. The year was certainly a very special one for celestial phenomena. In mid-October, having rounded the sun, a comet that had been capturing the imagination of southern hemisphere observers finally came into view in the evening skies for those of us in the northern hemisphere. On the evening of 14th October, I was treated to a spectacular one-man show. Standing alone in a field at Newgrange Farm, I captured several views of Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas over the great passage-tomb of Síd in Broga (Newgrange). You can order your own special limited-edition print of one of two images that I captured on that beautiful twilight evening at Newgrange:
https://mythicalireland.com/products/comet-a3-tsuchinshan-atlas-over-newgrange
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Ten days later, following a storm, some strange features were revealed by shifting sands at a beach in County Louth. A local resident brought my attention to these features, and suggested I come out and capture some photographs and video of them. It appeared that the storm had moved sand from the beach and uncovered what looked like an ancient bog. Furthermore, there were curious parallel ruts or grooves running across this beach bog.
Parallel ruts in an ancient bog on the Co. Louth coastline.
You can read more about these fascinating remnants of the past, and speculation as to what they might be from several archaeologists, in my blog post here: https://mythicalireland.com/blogs/news/strange-tracks-revealed-by-storm-in-ancient-bog-at-irish-beach
That blog post also features a video I made at the location of the ruts.
In late October and early November, the third annual Lú Festival of Light was held here in Drogheda. The festival involves the projection of images onto several of the city’s buildings and monuments, telling stories of the historical and mythological past. I am proud to have been involved in this festival since its inception in 2022. The signature location for the festival is Saint Peter’s Church, where large-scale projections and audio formed the centrepiece of the event. You can watch a video of one of the sequences here:
In November, I was delighted to be invited by Sligo Field Club to be one of their speakers at a conference titled ‘Archaeology and Mythology’. I gave a presentation about the mythology of Newgrange, and how it provides us with insights into the monument’s function. You can hear my entire presentation by becoming a Mythical Ireland patron at the Bronze Age level or higher at this link:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/anthony-murphys-115845225
We were also treated to a visit to the Keash Caves with archaeologist Sam Moore, a real highlight. The caves are located on the western side of Keshcorran mountain, which has a Neolithic cairn on its summit.
As December rolled in, I looked forward as always to the coming of the shortest days and the winter solstice phenomenon at Newgrange. That monument was built in 3200BC and a specially designed aperture above the passage entrance (known to archaeologists as the ‘roofbox’) allows sunlight to enter into its innermost chamber on the shortest days of the year. At sunrise, a beam of light pierces into the heart of the monument, something that continues to function today thanks to the brilliant work of archaeologist Michael J. O’Kelly, who excavated Newgrange in the 1960s and 1970s.
Megalithic art on kerb stone 78 at Newgrange on winter solstice.
There are five ‘public’ days at Newgrange at solstice, when the public can join the solstice celebrations at the monument without having to make a booking or buy tickets. I tend to go on each of those public days, although this year I decided to miss two of them since it was cloudy and raining. On Thursday 19th December, the first of the public solstice days, it was a beautiful clear and crisp morning, and the sun illuminated the chamber brilliantly. On the 21st, the official solstice day, the largest crowd ever to assemble at Newgrange gathered at the monument to celebrate the renewal of the year. Although it was cloudy at dawn, the clouds broke allowing the sunlight to enter the chamber for a few minutes. The event was livestreamed by the Office of Public Works (OPW). You can watch back a video recording of that livestream here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/776csdogJo0?si=vBpsHjRpPiTxZGJ1
I captured some nice photographs at Newgrange on the solstice days, but probably the highlight of the ‘solstice season’, so to speak, was the news that I secured backing for the republication of my best-selling book, Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past, which has been out of print over the last few months. The new edition will be published in January 2025, and you can pre-order your signed copy – which will be accompanied by a special 15x10cm photographic print from Newgrange taken by me – on the Mythical Ireland website here:
https://mythicalireland.com/products/revised-and-expanded-edition-of-mythical-ireland
If you’re looking for a very special view of Newgrange for your living room wall, why not consider a unique and beautiful gift – a photograph, printed on aluminium, showing the light shining into the chamber of Newgrange. This is one of my favourite photographs from 25 years of taking photographs at Síd in Broga (Newgrange). Order your aluminium print, available in a variety of sizes, here:
As we prepare to turn the page on 2024, and begin 2025, perhaps you might like to obtain your own copy of the Mythical Ireland 2025 Calendar, featuring 14 stunning images (some of them discussed earlier in this post) that I have taken in the ancient Irish monumental landscape over the last while. The calendar is €15 plus postage and packaging and you can order yours here:
https://mythicalireland.com/products/2025-mythical-ireland-calendar
May I take this opportunity, on New Year’s Eve, to wish you all a happy, peaceful and prosperous 2025? I hope you have a great year ahead, and I hope to be able to continue to share words, images and videos of Ireland’s magical past.
Happy New Year.
Anthony
