Thousands of people gathered at Newgrange, Co Meath to watch the Winter Solstice on Sunday morning.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) and National Monuments Services (NMS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage arranged for a livestream to be broadcast from the ancient tomb at Newgrange from 8.40am.
The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs on December 21st when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn.
At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight, weather conditions allowing, 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.
Although there was a mostly clear sky, the chamber failed to be illuminated by the sun due to some cloud cover.
The winter solstice at the chamber at Newgrange, Co Meath December 21st, 2025
The event was streamed on the OPW’s website and YouTube site as well as on heritageireland.ie, and on the RTÉ Player.
The OPW said as there was limited on-site access, it was advising the public to experience the event through the online broadcast at home.
The winter solstice at the chamber at Newgrange, Co Meath December 21st, 2025
Access to the chamber inside Newgrange for sunrise is restricted to solstice lottery draw winners.
The winter solstice sunrise was previously streamed live from Newgrange in 2021 amid Covid-19 restrictions.
Celebrations at Brú no Bóinne will continue on Sunday evening at Dowth where the passage tomb is aligned with the solstice sunset.