Newgrange: Ireland’s Ancient Masterpiece 

Newgrange is so relatively unknown that Aliens haven't even gotten credit for it. I'd still love to visit it.

Easily one of the most amazing places I’ve ever visited. The whole of Ireland is a wonderful place.

We did it for the craic, lads!!!

You should visit the Holy Stone of Clonrichert too, it's being upgraded to a Class Two Relic

"I'm a RU-vidr not an archaeologist" it's astonishing how many RU-vidrs think they know everything about a historical site that they have never even been to. Thanks for this refreshing statement!

Worth mentioning, you can't just go there during the winter solstice. There's a yearly lottery for slots on the days where the light naturally gets to the central chamber, the tickets can't be bought or transferred. If you visit at other times they run a simulation of it

As someone who’s tempted every day to get in the car and just drive a random direction forever, it doesn’t surprise me at all that there would be ancient humans who wound up in unexpected places.

Question - Why are Irish jokes so simple? Answer - So the English can understand them.

I live 5 minutes away from Newgrange in a nearby village on the boyne! I hold great appreciation for the history here and I encourage anyone who visits Ireland to definitely visit Newgrange!

As an Irish archaeologist I apprehensively clicked on this, but I have to hand it to Simon, this was well done. One thing though, Romans in Ireland is a HOT topic here. The only evidence we have is trade with Roman Britain, otherwise there’s no supportive evidence of romans actually visiting us. Apparently they were told we were even more savage and lawless than the Scotts so they just ignored us...

Much appreciate your deep dive on something ancient and Irish. The world truly undervalues what they have done 👍

Newgrange really does deserve to be better known. Great work, Simon, hopefully now more people will take an interest in this masterpiece of prehistoric engineering.

i literally live less than 10 minute’s drive from Newgrange, an amazing place, great video as always Simon + team!

I find this more fascinating than just something being the tallest or biggest building. The fact they made something of this size and precision pre-Bronze Age is far more incredible.

I visited Ireland a few years ago and my route from The Giant's Causeway to Dublin took me to Newgrange. I was blown away by it - if you can visit it, it is a must. Older than Stonehenge & the pyramids. Knowth is nearby and also *well* worth visiting.

My 4th grade history teacher (1972) passed around pictures from her vacation the previous summer to Machu Pichu, The Colisseum (under reconstruction) The Vatican, Hadrian's Wall and the reconstruction work New Grange, which she was the most excited about.

Anyone who has visited Carrowkeel in Sligo (older than Newgrange by 1500 years) would know the roof box is an original feature.

You should have mentioned Knowth. It's a similar, more complicated, structure to Newgrange and it's less than a mile away. Must be part of the same community.

Does anyone else feel like a great education could just be listening to all of this guy's channels as a curriculum?

China: "we are the oldest civilisation in the world" Ireland: "hold my beer"

HOW MANY CHANNELS CAN ONE GUY PRESENT?! Simon Whistler is slowly becoming a legend we never knew we needed

Im an Irishman who lives in the US but visited Newgrange a few year back and can hands down say it blew my mind! It is unbelievably amazing. I cant recommend it enough!

"a bunch of Irish farmers managed to get it together.." aighhhtt

Proud to say my aunt worked with Professor O'Ceallaigh (O'Kelly) in the 60s and 70s. Thanks for the video. Go raibh maith agat.

I see a video about my country, I click!

Thank you 😊 From a heavily pregnant Irish lady living in Porto and missing home

In 2016, I fulfilled a lifelong dream by visiting Newgrange. It did not disappoint. Absolutely magnificent. I love Ireland.

Ozymandias: "Look on my works, ye mighty and despair" Newgrange: "Hold my Guinness"

I used to live right beside there. If you go into the museum you find out a little more than what he says here such as they found evidence of that they had done certain operations on on one another that were thought to be completely ahead of their time.

The Boyne valley is possibly the most important in Ireland in terms of historical significance

One of the reasons Newgrange was built, at that time, was climate. It has been estimated that the temperature back then was as much as 4 degrees warmer than today. Farming yields would have been very good so the farmers, for the first time, would have had lots of spare time. The same pattern of great advances being made in good climate times can be seen all over. Gobleki Tepe is a great example. The first time I remember visiting would have been in the mid 50s. My father borrowed the key to the padlock from the farmer who owned the land so we could open the gate and go up the passage. I will never forget it.

“Unless you were talking to an Irishman” the tans are at it again lads!

Thank you for covering this amazing place in our lovely country, you're all welcome to visit us once this whole lockdown ends and we'll be glad to see you all, stay safe!!

Fresh video today, no commercials, Simon whistler today must be my lucky day. Happy Quarantine People.

Visited when I was kid and again last summer, it is spectacular, standing in the chamber looking up at the huge stones perched above your head is a little unnerving. They simulate the light flooding it which is cool, as the waiting list for the real thing is decades long.

Simon Whistler dude I find you everywhere. And everywhere I find you I like the show. Cheers mate, from a Texan history lover

The first time I visited Newgrange and entered the passage would have been around 1953. I have been back dozens of times and never cease to be impressed by it.

Simon, you forgot to mention the amazing acoustics inside the soltice chamber. It's beautiful to imagine the first light of the shortest day met with amazing music playing at the same time.

Newgrange was one of my favorite places I have ever visited. We were able to go in and see what it looked like on the solstice. It was awesome. Thanks for the video! Brought back some fun memories.

Idk why, but hearing about the irish make a huge monument like this, and having it still 'work' makes me feel really proud of being irish. One day, I'd love to see it on the winter solstice, as it truly seems magical

This is one of the places I wanted to visit on my bucket list....simply amazing!

I live in Ireland and still haven’t visited it *lowers head in shame*

I promise to go there... As soon as "going there" is a thing again 😅

Subject: Mount Rushmore Geographics: It's a mountain and a monument. Visualpolitik: Its construction was controversial. Megaprojects: ... but impressive. Biographics: It represents noteworthy presidents. TopTenz: ... who are covered in trivia. TIFO: ... that could do with some explaining. Business Blaze: ... and Danny wrote the script from within Lincoln's nostril.

Simon, the one man Discovery channel 👍

Imagine having to first be aware of a winter solitice and then actually mark it before any building commenced thousands of years ago. That blows my mind.

As someone who lives about 30 minutes away and has been multiple times it’s 100% worth the visit

Never knew New Grange ever existed! Amazing! Simon Whistler and team are amazing! My wife thinks I have a bromance since I watch so many of Simon's channels . . . Amazing, well- produced videos. Thank you!

I mean the location of the doorway is still aligned with the equinox... The restoration project might of made assumptions with what the original layout of the window above it looked like but the alignment still checks, and considering how many sights have the same type of alignment, if it was an accident it was an accident that happened all across the world.

1:35 - Chapter 1 - The miracle of light 5:30 - Chapter 2 - Into the past 8:55 - Mid roll ads 9:45 - Chapter 3 - Building a piece of history 12:45 - Chapter 4 - Controversy & decline 16:15 - Chapter 5 - Lost past 19:10 - Chapter 6 - Past regained

Accidentally stumbled across Newgrange a few years ago when we had an extra day in Ireland on a trip. Was lucky enough to be there with Knowth was open as well. What an amazing experience. Highly recommend a visit!

I'm constantly impressed with the quality of content and depth of research put into every video, year after year, for hundreds of videos. Truly laudable work!

I was there when I visited Ireland. Incredible place. Other things to see in the area of Slane is Slane Castle and the Hill of Slane

"The Irish Origins of Civilization" by Michael Tsarion is a 1,000+ page two volume book on the esoteric/occult history of the world; the very greatest.

I wasn’t able to make to Newgrange when I visited in 2018 but did get to see Loughcrew and go into Cairn T. The experience of seeing and touching 5000 year old carvings was indescribable, that day is one of my most cherished memories.

I live 15 minutes from this, so wild to see it in a video!

Brilliant, love to see more vids on Ireland

I loved visiting this place. There's old old old carvings on it from when it was unearthed again and even says Name was here then the year

Newgrange has been a place to see on my bucket list for decades. Thank you, Team. Wonderfully informative as always.

I first went there on a school trip in the late 1970's after it opened to the public, it was fabulous. So much history packed into such a small area. At that time school tours had to be educational, unlike today when school trips to adventure parks and cinemas are the norm. There's a lot to be said for the old educational type school trips! I've been many times since...and have seen many other new sites like Knowth and Dowth too. So much history packed into such a small area!

Simon: "What we in Britain call a joke." Also Simon: Laughing in British Empire.

The Mourne Mountains are not 'nearly as far away' as County Down from New Grange. They're in County Down...

Thanks a lot for doing this, Simon.

I really like your approach to the subjects you cover, the detailed context you give leaves a tangible impression of the subject in time, space and the minds involved. You are one of only a handful of really good history/science creators whose enjoyment of their work is palpable. Respect, sir......and thank you.

I remember going to Newgrange as a child in 99, on the winter solstice. We obviously weren't allowed in when the light hit, but it wasn't long after. One of the coolest experiences and partially kicked off my interest in history. A video of the Blarney castle would be cool, my hungover sister threw up in the carpark and it was a frozen spew puddle by the time we got back. I also remember eating Y2K bug shaped nuggets in the U.K at a petrol station, on the way to Stonehenge. Silly stories! Stay safe cunts, from Australia❤

Thank you for the video. As a history nerd I was aware of the site. But not its age. Humans can be simply amazing when we want to be.

Great video! Two comments. The first is that I've been to and inside Newgrange. It was about 20 years ago on a visit to Ireland to visit relatives. The thing that sticks in my head the most was how claustrophobic that passage from the entrance to the interior chamber was. They had it lit up some, but even still... Also, obviously its not tall enough to where you can stand up in it (unless you're fairly short for modern average heights) and so you either have to be on your hands and knees or more likely walking sort of hunched over (I can't remember exactly, but that seems to be right). The interior chamber was a little higher, but still wasn't that big. It was roughly circular with these niches going off to various sides that once held bones and such. The niches weren't tiny either, they were fairly large, and so not like the niches you'd see in a Roman catacomb of later years. Something else I'll point out is that there are cool designs in the stone on the outside as well. Actually, in the video here you can see some of the circular designs about 14:00 in to this video. Part 2: There is another site, that's even older site that you should do a video on if you've not already. I can't spell it correctly, but the (english) phonetic spelling would be Go-beck-lee Tep-ee. It's in Anatolia (modern Turkey) and was built potentially as far back as 10,000 BCE (and maybe even older, I'm going off the top of my memory here) - which is just plain nuts. It dates to the time before agriculture - when the people in area were hunter gatherers. And the site isn't small. Its a pretty huge site, though it was built over a long period of time and used in parts - they actually constructed and then intentionally covered/filled in the various temples over the years the site was active. I don't want to give too many details, so that you can do it justice with a video if you choose to. There are some videos on YT about it as well, but you could still do a good summary and overview I think. (as always - if you've already done a video on that location on this channel or another, then I apologize. I think you would understand that its hard to keep track of what all has been covered given the number of channels and videos..)

I've been lucky enough to be part of an organised tour that gave us access to the inner chamber, when most don't, and having studied the monument as part of Art History in School and in College I am honored to have been allowed into such a monumental site. There is definitely something awe inspiring about the place when you approach it and to be inside was a dream come true for me. Inside you feel cocooned and connected somehow to the earth around you. As soon as the world gets back to "normal"you should consider a trip to Ireland to see this and many other sites

If you've ever holidayed in Dublin and a drunk bearded man insisted you visit this sight, it was probably me

Newgrange is interesting site to visit . Was there in 06 and it give me a lot to think about

Thank you for this video! I needed information for an essay/project on newgrange and I got tons of notes from this!

Thank you Simon and crew. My quarantine days have been filled with biographics, geographics, toptenz, today I found out, business blaze and megaprojects. I watch them all to the very end, still contemplating what merch to get though :).

I went there on a coach tour from Dublin. The Hill of Tara has its charms as well.

Sneaking jabs in the CC guys? Classy lol 7:05

The greatest educational channels I’ve ever seen on the internet have all been made by this man 🔥 his voice makes me feel like I’m in some fancy cigar shops in the early 1900’s getting told stories lmaoo 🔥🔥🔥🔥 to awesome

Thank you for illuminating this magnificent and important piece of Ireland's history!

fantastic video. I love history and your video about Newgrange was very informative, funny and unbiased. I am from Ireland and naturally I love Irish history as well as the history of the people and culturally diverse kingdoms of Ireland and Britain. I think you should do a series on British and Irish castles and or castles around Europe also. Keep up the good work.

To think i lived a year in Northern Ireland and never knew about that amazing site! I did live close and often visited the Navan Fort though. I must go back!

This particular video is an excellent example of something I love about this channel. When the answer is not known, you come right out and say it. You clearly define speculation as speculation. I really like that.

Thank you art history for actually teaching me something I remember. Lol. Made me appreciate this video even more

Wow, what a coincidence. The Beaker folk are _my_ favorite civilization named after a Muppets character too!

Eccles: 'The clever thing is Dougal, if they couldn't write it down, how did they know the Sun would be on time?'

Really well researched! You covered pretty much everything known about Newgrange, including the controversies in 22 minutes.

I love the humorous asides. It makes the presentation more interesting! Following in the footsteps of James Burke.

I love watching British people just gloss over their atrocities when talking about history.

8:55 Simon is a mega project, trying to personally takeover RU-vid and we are approaching the final battle, Ragnarok where Simon will cast down Hank Green to ensure his domination will never be challenged.

Your videos are really keeping me going during the pandemic, I appreciate the extensive work you guys put into this! So interesting!

SO happy about this video, about one of the places that's fascinated me for years. And a lovely early b-day present too XD Thank you for another exceptional video!

Also children in the area are often told the tooth fairy lives in newgrange and the white stones are teeth

We went there on our first trip to Ireland. It was really interesting, but the lack of facts as to “why” and “what was it used for” left us just curious and wondering. There are something like 30 or 40 other smaller mounds all over the surrounding countryside that they recently discovered via drone.

Thanks for the Mega Projects link

I'm adding this to my bucket list thank Simon

This video is one month newer than Simon’s video on Stonehenge and has 100k more views! Newgrange is getting its payback.

You have most of the well know points in here. There are venus and moon alignments also, Knowth and Dowth are just as rich too, however.. Gobekli Tepe in turkey predates it by 5000+ years. So it isn't the oldest at all. But as an Irishman I'm so proud and in awe of our ancient monuments which are in abundance throughout the island The iberian link is huge also, I've been to gaelica and the similarities in many of the cultural practises seem to be ubiquitous.. Thanks for the vid, keep it up buck

Truly a wonder to see in person. I lived there for several years and loved it. Great video!

Great video topic, Simon. Newgrange is one of the places I would love to visit some day. It's quite interesting. Thank you.

Is it just me, or isn't it *exactly* the sort of place that you walk into expecting to find Draugr resting in dugouts in the walls, ready to wake up and start fighting you for having disturbed them? :D

Love this stuff, thank you for this video! I feel i need to tell you that we have many smaller tombs like this called Anta(s) and stone circles, most in southern Portugal, older ( c.5000 to 3000 bc ) and way more primitive and rudimentary. Most, if not all, are aligned with solstices or other solar calendar events. One thing to note, do not understimate mankind's ability to travel in the late stone age, the moved long distances, just slower. And by the end of the last ice age im sure some of the humans that where in ice free iberia moved north following the coastlines and by boat.

I've been there. It's amazing. Walking into the tomb and looking up is just astonishing. It's a top 5 moment for me to have done.

I love your channels buddy!! Educating the world