There have only been two places in Ireland so far with which I have had a strong spiritual connection. The first was Sweny’s apothecary, a legend of literature, due to its mention in James Joyce’s Ulysses, the second was the ancient site Newgrange. When we arrived at Newgrange after a tiring, but fantastic morning of falconry we were all a little grumbly, excited, but grumbly. Yet the moment I stepped out of our bus into the windy field that surrounds Newgrange and saw the awesome scale of the tomb, all weariness was forgotten, replaced by awe and reverence. Our extremely sassy tour guide helped too. Newgrange is 5000 years old, making it older than both the Pyramids and Stonehenge. The large, circular structure is made of thousands of pounds of brick, all transported, carved, and assembled in a time before the wheel. The real wonder of Newgrange comes from an engineering marvel whereby during the solstice, a beam of sunlight shines through a carefully designed shaft, illuminating the inner chamber. To reach the inner chamber you must almost crawl through a long tunnel until you reach a small stone room adorned with patterns and Victorian graffiti. What really amazed me was how warm and safe and sacred that chamber felt. It was magic. And even more magical is how little we know about this amazing monument. But as our tour guide told us, imagination is all we have in uncovering our own personal truth about Newgrange, you believe what you want to believe.