Beyond Newgrange: The World of Ireland’s Passage Tombs

Newgrange was not a solitary monument. It was part of a vast prehistoric passage tomb landscape stretching across Ireland and the Atlantic world. Newgrange was never meant to stand alone. It has to be seen in a much wider landscape of passage tombs that shaped prehistoric Ireland and connected communities through shared beliefs about death, ancestry, time, and the cosmos.

In this video, we step back to explore the world of the passage tombs, examining sites such as Knowth, Dowth, Carrowmore, Loughcrew, and Seefin, and placing them within their broader Irish and Atlantic European context. When viewed together, these monuments reveal a shared worldview that extended across Ireland and beyond, linking landscape, ritual, and memory.

This is the final video in a series on Newgrange and the winter solstice, and it brings together archaeology, landscape, and interpretation to better understand what Newgrange was truly part of — not a single monument, but a connected prehistoric world.

If you enjoy in-depth, evidence-based Irish history and archaeology, consider liking, subscribing, and sharing your thoughts in the comments below.

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Series Links
Part 1: Newgrange and the Winter Solstice    • The Winter Solstice in Ancient Ireland: Pr...  
Part 2: Newgrange Explained:    • Newgrange Beyond the Solstice: What the Ar...  
Playlist: Prehistoric Ireland & Archaeology

References
Amplify Archaeology Podcast. Episode 50 Kinship, Culture and Death in Neolithic Ireland with Dr Jessica Smyth, Dr Neil Carlin & Dr Susan Greaney
Amplify Archaeology Podcast. Episodes 15-19 Winter Solstice at Newgrange Podcast Miniseries Part 1
Carlin, Neil et al. “Social and Genetic Relations in Neolithic Ireland: Re-evaluating Kinship,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal (2025), 1–21
Cassidy, Lara et al. “A dynastic elite in monumental Neolithic society.” Nature 17 June 2020
Eogan, George and Doyle, Peigín. Guide to the Passage Tombs at Brú na Bóinne. Wordwell. 2010.
Smyth, Jessica et al. “The ‘king’ of Newgrange? A critical analysis of a Neolithic petrous fragment from the passage tomb chamber.” Antiquity. Vol 99, 405, 2025.
Ó Súilleabháin, Muiris. Downey, Liam, and Downey, Dara. Antiquities of Rural Ireland. Wordwell. 2018.
Stout, Geraldine and Stout, Matthew. Newgrange, Cork University Press, 2008
Stout, Geraldine and Stout, Matthew; "Early Landscapes: from prehistory to plantation." In: Aalen, FHA et al. Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape. Cork University Press
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