Carrickbrack & Carnbane West bathed in the evening light
As autumn gently starts to fall around us and yet another timeless astronomical signpost approaches, it seems like no time at all since I watched the summer solstice sun set at Loughcrew.
It was a magical June evening – soft, warm and golden. As I left the carpark and puffed my way up the steep path on Carnbane East I paused to catch my breath at a perfectly placed bench. I’m more normally on my way up the mountain in the early morning when the sun’s light shining from the east casts a bright yellow haze. I was totally unprepared for the sight of the golden blanket which lay across the surrounding fields and hills. Looking across to Carrickbrack it seemed to be ablaze in an orange light, with the folds and creases of the land showing up in totally unfamiliar patterns.
Having caught my breath I proceeded the rest of the way up to Cairn T which lies at the summit of Carnbane East. More closely associated with the Spring and Autumn Equinox when the rising sun illuminates the highly decorated backstone, on this fine mid-summers evening Loughcrew was proving to hold a different kind of enchantment.
Solstice Sunset, Cairn S, Loughcrew
A sky as big and as wide as anything you’d find in the Big Sky country of Montana, USA was filled with shades of blue, purple and apricot. Wisps of peachy clouds stretched from horizon to horizon while below them the lakes of county Cavan became golden pools of light. Not a breath of air stirred and the silence was only broken by the song and swooping of skylarks high above the hills of Sliabh na Cailli (Hill of the Witch).
Crouched among the stones of Cairn S and just as I thought things couldn’t get any better, I turned to see a crescent moon rising hanging in the pure blue sky behind me. Spectacular doesn’t really do it justice and if I hadn’t had my camera with me, I’d have hardly believed it myself.
Moonrise at Loughcrew
I wasn’t alone up there on the hill that evening. Some were just enjoying the evening air, others marking the turning of the year in silent or in songful vigil. Loughcrew is like that. It takes all comers – ramblers and healers, day trippers and historians, pagans and picnicers, archaeologists and sightseers, wizards and worshippers.
The Autumn Equinox will take place this year on 20, 21 and 22 September at dawn which is approximately 7.15am. Guides from the Office of Public Works will be on hand to give access to Cairn T where, if it’s a fine morning, will be filled with morning light as it has been twice a year for the last 5,000 years. It’s fabulous, it’s free and it’s part of the ancient heritage of Meath – the royal county.
Cairn T, Loughcrew, Oldcastle, Co. Meath
