If you’ve been lucky enough to visit Newgrange, you can attest to the fact that it’s a pretty impressive structure - so you can imagine just how impressive it was when first constructed over 5000 years ago.

Accordingly, it has often been assumed that those who were buried there were part of some sort of ruling class, but new research from UCD suggests that rather than being a grave for an elite family, the tomb was a social hub for the people, frequented by travellers coming from as far away as Sligo.

Dr Neil Carlin is a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology at UCD who was involved in the research. He joins guest host Tom Dunne to discuss.