People arrived ‘in droves’ at Newgrange today to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

As it’s the shortest day of the year sunlight typically enters and illuminates the megalithic chamber for 17 minutes if conditions are clear.

Newgrange is believed to be 5,200 years old - older than the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge.

Author and founder of Mythical Ireland Anthony Murphy was on the ground in Meath today.

On Newstalk Breakfast, he said the atmosphere was building.

“The solstice at Newgrange is always a lovely time and, of course, the official day on the 21st always draws a busy crowd,” he said.

“There’s drumming, there’s someone blowing a horn, there’s families and there’s always just a great atmosphere.

“The forecast was for clouds, but people turned up anyway regardless of that.”

Special day

Mr Murphy explained why the day was so special.

“In layman’s terms, the sun won’t get any lower than it is today," he said.

"If you watch how it rises on the horizon this morning and watch for the next seven days you will notice it rises in the exact same place every morning."

“Gradually, over the next week or two, you’ll see its beginning to move northwards which means that the year has turned and brighter days are coming - summer is on its way.”

The Winter Solstice at Brú na Bóinne, Newgrange, County Meath, 14-12-2019. Image: John Lalor/RollingNews

Mr Murphy said the site was first excavated in the 1960s.

“In 1962 professor Michael O’Kelly of University College Cork began excavations of Newgrange,” he said.

“By 1967 he became the first human being since prehistory to witness the sun entering the chamber after he had cleared out the roof box and restored it to what it was.

“Archaeologists reckon that the sun hadn’t been seen in Newgrange since the bronze age.”

An annual lottery decides who can enter the passage tomb at the Newgrange to see the Winter Solstice with their own eyes.

The event was livestreamed today by the Office of Public Works.

Listen back now:

Main image: Newgrange Passage Tomb County Meath, Ireland. Image: Steppenwolf / Alamy