Winter Solstice at Newgrange will not be streamed this year 

 The streamed version of the event which took place during Covid proved to have a huge draw online in recent years, in particular for the many thousands who have been unsuccessful in the ticket ballot. Picture: Ciara Wilkinson

The sunrise at Newgrange on the morning of the Winter Solstice will not be live-streamed this year, the Office of Public Works (OPW) has confirmed.

The news will likely be a significant disappointment as it has proven a huge draw online in recent years, in particular for the many thousands who have been unsuccessful in the ticket ballot.

Since 2000, the OPW has operated a lottery draw for a place in the chamber to witness the Winter Solstice each year, on December 21. Typically, demand for the event vastly outstrips supply and the lottery was deemed to be the fairest way to allocate tickets.

For the past two years, due to lockdown restrictions, crowds had been unable to attend the event, but the OPW had opted to instead stream it online so that people would not miss out on seeing the moment. An OPW spokeswoman said: 

As the chamber was vacant, it offered viewers a unique and unparalleled opportunity to witness the rays of light from the rising sun as they entered the chamber.

For 2022, the OPW is "delighted to once again" welcome visitors and has decided to return to an in-person experience through its traditional lottery draw, she added.

“The possibility of live streaming future Solstice events is being kept under review.” 

Newgrange, which has a stone age passage tomb that is older than the pyramids in Egypt, is located in the Boyne Valley, Co Meath.

It features a 19m-long passage that leads into a chamber with three alcoves. The shortest day of the year traditionally sees hundreds of people gather at the site of the passage tomb to try and catch a glimpse of the first bit of the rising sun shining through a 'roof box' above the entrance.

As the sun rises higher, the beam widens and the whole chamber is illuminated for 17 minutes. 

While the Solstice peaks on December 21, the chamber is illuminated by the rising sun for a few days around that date. The phenomenon is available to view on a number of mornings during this period.

Architect Cathy Dalton took to social media this week to express her dismay at the news, writing: 

There’s no livestream of sunrise of the winter solstice this year from Newgrange. Reason given is that it’s because Covid restrictions have been lifted. WHY? It’s not like we’re all going to fit in the chamber!