Brighter days ahead celebrated at Irish Winter Solstice gatherings
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Brighter days to come have been celebrated in gatherings to mark the Winter Solstice at ancient sites in the island of Ireland. Navan Fort, also known as Emain Macha, in Armagh has been a significant site since 4,000BC – a large circular hilltop enclosure hosting gatherings of many of the great chieftains of old.
Crowds gathered from early on Saturday to honour the Celtic tradition of marking the Winter Solstice on the shortest day and longest night of the year. It marks a celestial turning point when the Earth’s axis is tilted farthest from the sun in the Northern Hemisphere and has been celebrated for millennia as a moment of reflection, renewal and hope for the brighter days ahead.
The annual solstice gathering also took at Newgrange in Co Meath, a Neolithic passage tomb which dates to 3,200BC, and a lucky group witnessed the flooding of light into the inner chamber. At Navan, there was a cultural and wellness experience to honour the site’s legacy as a ceremonial centre steeped in Celtic mythology.
Those attending took part in a lantern-lit procession to the summit of the fort, where they welcomed the first light of dawn with meditations, personal reflection and intention-setting for the year ahead. Navan Fort is a key part of the Royal Sites of Ireland, a transnational collective recognised as traditional royal centres in early Irish literature working towards inscription as a World Heritage Property.
