Newgrange, located in County
Meath[?] is the most famous of all
Irish prehistoric sites. Originally built c. 3200 BC, it lay lost for centuries until the late 17th century. It was much restored between 1962 and 1975, under the supervision of Prof Brian O'Kelly, Dept. of Archaeology,
University College, Cork[?] (now called the National University of Ireland, Cork). It consists of a vast man-made stone and turf mound retained within a circle of huge kerbstones topped by a high inward-leaning wall of white quartz. A long passage leads to a cruciform chamber under the mound. Every year , at the time of the
winter solstice, the sun shines directly along this passage into the chamber. Tests have proved Newgrange to be the world's oldest purpose-built solar observatory. In addition, the corbelled chamber is the oldest man-made building in the world.