Knowth 
Aerial view of Knowth oriented north. The passage tomb entrances can
be seen on the exact west and east sides. Image © Google Earth.
For many more images of Knowth, see our Knowth Photo Gallery.
Aerial view of Knowth during excavations. © Dept of Arts and Heritage
View alongside the great mound (right) to a satellite mound.
Wood henge or timber circle, added east of the great mound c.2700 BC.
Entrance to the western passage.
Quartz facade and decorated kerbstones near eastern passage.
Decorated kerbstone with spiral and serpent motifs.
A glimpse into the eastern passage.
Stone basin in the eastern passage tomb. © Dept of Arts and Heritage
Spirals on kerbstone 56.
Concentric circles on another kerbstone.
Orthostat 49 in the western passage with an apparent human face.
Knowth is a complex of prehistoric passage tombs just west of Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland. Dating from about 3000 BC, Knowth consists of a large central mound surrounded by several smaller ones. It is especially important for its rich collection of megalithic art, which includes over 300 decorated stones.
The central mound contains two passage tombs, entered from the east and west. These are not accessible to visitors, but the eastern passage can be glimpsed from an excavated chamber. The site is visited via a guided tour departing from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre (as with Newgrange).
History
The Knowth area was first settled in the early Neolithic period (3800-3400 BC). In this period rectangular wooden houses were built, along with a large wooden enclosure measuring 100m across.
The passage tombs of Knowth were constructed between 3300 and 2900 BC. Interestingly, the wooden houses built in this period were round instead of rectangular.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the deceased were cremated and their ashes were placed inside the tomb along with other material. Elaborate ceremonies took place outside.
Between 2800 and 2500, the ritual focus at Knowth seems to have shifted away from the great passage tombs. A small wooden circle was built to the east of the great mound, where grooved items and other artifacts have been found.
By 2500 BC, Knowth had fallen into disuse, but the area continued to be inhabited by the Beaker people (named for their distinctive style of pottery) in the Bronze Age around 1800 BC and the Celts in the Iron Age around 500 BC.
A new age of settlement began in the first few centuries AD. The great central mound was used as a protected settlement, fortified by the digging of two deep ditches with an entrance on the southeast. During this period, bodies were buried around its base.
By 800 AD, Knowth was the royal residence of the kingdom of North Brega and thus hosted an extensive settlement. This included many rectangular houses, domestic buildings, and underground storage areas known as souterrains. In 965, it was the seat of Cormac MacMaelmithic, who was later the high kind of Ireland for nine years.
In the late 12th century, the Anglo-Normans used the central mound as a protected fortress, the stone foundations of which can still be seen. The site was finally abandoned around 1400.
Archaeological excavation at Knowth began in the 1960s, overseen by George Eogan and Helen Roche. The western passage of the great mound was discovered on July 11, 1967 by George Eogan (see below for his account). Excavations still continue today, and the site was only recently opened to visitors.
What to See
The primary monument at Knowth is the central great mound, which measures 80m by 95m in size and is outlined by 127 kerbstones, many of them decorated with carvings.
Inside the great mound are two passage tombs, one facing directly west and the other directly east. The two do not meet, but terminate very close together at the center of the mound. Both passages are lined with decoratively carved stones known as orthostats.
The eastern passage ends in a cruciform (+-shaped) chamber similar to that at Newgrange. It contains a stone basin of uncertain purpose and is richly decorated with carved spirals and other designs.
The western passage terminates in a small tomb area, with no side niches. George Eogan recorded his experience of discovering this passage in 1967:
At last I was convinced that the entrance had been found: we set out on our hands and knees to investigate. It proved to be a thrilling, if rather worrying, experience.
About 10km from the entrance we had to crawl under an orthostat that had partly fallen inward. Next it was necessary to wriggle through a pool of muddy water on the floor beneath a couple of leaning orthostats. Loose stones on the floor made our crawling rather uncomfortable, and it grew difficult to judge how far we had come, yet there was no sign of an end to the passage.
Eventually the roof began to rise in height and we could almost stand upright. Nearly all the orthostats appeared to be decorated, and the whole structure was much more impressive. At one point a stone basin lay in the passage. Then, coming to a sill, we illuminated the orthostat on its inner right side and beheld what seemed to be an anthropomorphic figure with two large, staring eyes.
This ghostly guardian suggested that we were approaching the inner sanctum. But we still had several metres to go, now walking erect and easily except for some boulders on the floor. The end of the passage was finally reached: an undifferentiated chamber with two sillstones. The outer sill and the rear stone of the chamber were decorated, apart from the vertical line, in a manner similar to that of the kerbstone before the entrance - with concentric rectangles.
We remained speechless for some time and marvelled at the achievement of these anonymous passage-tomb-builders. Here was truly one of their great enterprises of close to 5000 years ago... What a day!
--George Eogan, Knowth and the Passage Tombs of Ireland (1986), 32-33.
Visitors to Knowth cannot currently enter either passage due to safety reasons, but can enter a chamber created by archaeologists just south of the eastern passage.
Inside is an illuminated plan of the site, a cross-section of the layers of the mound created by the left wall, and a section of the defensive ditch built around the mound. On the way in, there is a view into the eastern passage, but no carved stones can be seen.
Scattered around the central mound are 19 smaller satellite mounds, which are also passage tombs. At least two of these were built before the great mound, and some have decorated stones.
Just east of the eastern passage is a timber circle or "woodhenge" that was constructed between 2800 and 2500 BC. The logs that stand today are of course not the originals, but a reconstruction using the post-holes that were discovered fairly recently.
Visitors can climb to the top of the mound, where there are foundations of the 12th-century Norman settlement and fine views of the Boyne Valley.
Quick Facts
| Names: | Knowth; Cnóbha |
| Type of site: | Passage tombs |
| Faith: | Prehistoric/unknown |
| Status: | Restored ruins |
| Dates: | c.3000 BC |
| Size: | Great mound: 80m x 95m with passage tombs 35m and 32m long |
| Location: | Bru na Boinne, Co. Meath, Ireland |
| Coordinates: | 53.701127° N, 6.491225° W |
| Phone: | 041/988-0300 |
| Website: | http://www.knowth.com/bru-na-boinne.htm |
| Hours: | Nov-Feb daily 9:30-5; Mar-Apr and Oct daily 9:30-5:30; May daily 9-6:30; June to mid-Sept daily 9-7; mid- to late Sept daily 9-6:30 |
| Cost: | Guided tour (required) and admission to Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre: €5.50 adults |
Location Map
Location map and satellite view of Knowth. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our Ireland Map or get our free Google Earth download.
Getting There
Knowth cannot be accessed directly; you must visit on a guided tour that leaves from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre.
From Dublin: Take the M1 motorway heading north, leave the motorway at the Donore Exit near Drogheda, (Brú na Bóinne is clearly signposted before the exit). There is a toll of 1.50 Euro before the Donore exit. Travel about 6km (4 miles) to the village of Donore, turn right passing Daly's Brú na Bóinne Bar and Restaurant on the right, travel about 1km, the Visitor Centre car park is on the right hand side.
Or, take the N2 heading north via Ashbourne towards Slane in Co. Meath. Turn right about 2km south of Slane, the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre is 7km (4.5 miles) east towards the village of Donore. For about 3km before the Visitor Centre the road follows the bend in the river Boyne.
From Drogheda: Bus Eireann runs a service to the gate of the Visitors Centre. The journey takes 20 minutes and there are six daily from 10:15am to 4pm.
Article Sources
- Personal visit (August 28, 2007).
- Bru na Boinne: Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth, and the River Boyne (Archaeology Ireland, 2003), 16-17.
- Knowth.com
- "Ireland: Neolithic Period" - Encyclopędia Britannica
- Lonely Planet Ireland, 7th ed. (January 2006), 525.
