Dowth…

County Meath, Sunday, 31st July 2022…

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The dowdiest of the three Boyne Monuments

but, in some ways, the friendliest.

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No time restrictions,

no imminent threat

of film-show dread,

no waiting bus,

full of chattering strangers…

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Just the site itself

and Ireland’s wild, wild nature.

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The mythology for this site tells of a druid

and his sister spelling the sun to shine

while all the men of Ireland

were engaged in its construction.

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When the two magicians slept together

the spell was broken, and darkness descended.

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Coitus and these sites,

it seems, are inextricably linked.

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As are familial relations –

Angus and Englec at Knowth.

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Perhaps, then, the Dagda and Elcmair

are related in some way as well?

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Familial relations in mythology

often signify a psychological shift

or a ‘stepping down’ in consciousness…

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In Cornwall the skeletal remains of such sites

are known as ‘Giant Quoits’.

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There is here though, also,

an overt indication that magic was used

in the actual construction of the site itself.

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Dowth, then, is still relatively undisturbed

although ‘tomb raiders’ did

gouge out a huge cavity

in the top of the mound.

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Thankfully, to only superficial effect.

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The passage-ways remained undiscovered

and the ‘vandalism’ only served

to render the site ‘volcanic’.

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Where it not for such destruction Dowth

would be the tallest of the three mounds

in the Boyne Valley Complex.

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The alignment is to the midwinter

setting sun, as a prelude to the longest night,

although, that eventuality is now obscured by tree growth.

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Had we not previously

seen her reconstructed sister sites

the kerb-stones could

easily have gone un-recognised.

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There are though un-mistakeable sun wheels

on the bottom right, centre, and left

of this kerb-stone.

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And a very faded one,

top right.

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Imagine discovering something like this

out in the field when everyone else thinks it’s a hill

littered with a few glacial erratics!

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With this thrilling thought

at the fore-front of our mind

we took our leave of the Boyne Valley

and headed for the Hill of Tara.

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