book: Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers

book: Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers | Anthony Murphy, Richard Moore ...

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	• Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers Anthony Murphy, Richard Moore The Liffey Press, 2007 - 326 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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ireland of the setting sun

This absorbing book is a joy to read, and I have given it pride of place on my favourites' shelf. Written in an easy story style, it yet presents an immense amount of innovative, intense, and wide-ranging research into the extraordinary Neolithic monuments of central eastern Ireland. Alignments are described that stretch across the ancient landscape, from the estuary of the river Boyne, to Newgrange and Tara, taking in many other standing stones, mounds and raths. As we read of these stones and cairns, all described with clear and methodical astronomical descriptions relating them to the cycles of the seasons and the events of the ancient sky, a stunning picture emerges of Neolithic technology and astronomical knowledge, and the will to lay out the events of the sky across the very land of Ireland, uniting earth and sky. But there is more than careful measurements in this book, the authors also tell of folklore and place names associated with these alignments, and do so in a careful and considered manner which brings the wonder and possible meanings of these myths to life. The book is an honest and powerful step into the world of the ancestors, their science and their beliefs, and will serve, I have no doubt, as an important milestone into our understanding of the ancient past, one which other researchers will hopefully build on for years to come. Well done, both!

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Around 6,000 years ago a most sophisticated and enigmatic community of people began to arise on the island of Ireland. They were the megalithic builders of the Stone Age, cunning engineers and master astronomers who systematically assembled a vast calendrical and astronomical scheme which would stand intact over five millennia. Today, the individual monuments which each form a part of that complicated astronomical assembly lie decaying in the landscape, straddling the Boyne river, which in ancient times was named after the Milky Way galaxy and was considered its earthly equivalent. Archaeologists have been probing individual sites over the last fifty years, and have been revealing intriguing information, carvings, artefacts and dating material which, as well as answering many questions, pose even more about the purpose and genesis of these great monuments. Perhaps more importantly, some of the ancient stone sites continue to function more than five millennia after they were constructed, with famous examples, such as Newgrange and Dowth, featuring alignments to the Winter Solstice sun. In "Island of the Setting Sun" a greater story of their genesis can finally be told. As these sites awaken from the slumber of five millennia, we can more definitively describe their true purpose - to track time, vast periods of time, to bring the sky down on to the ground in a grand astronomical scheme. The authors' exploration of the sky-ground system is taken from an array of perspectives, most notably through the ancient stories about these places - some of which may be as ancient as the sites themselves. Within the complex layers of myth, folklore and placename stories lies a concealed astronomical language. Interpreting these coded cosmological messages, the authors have found that together the landscape, the astronomy and the myth reveal the true intent of the megalithic master builders of a time when giants were said to rule the land. In this lavishly illustrated book many disparate things are explored, including the invasion myths of Ireland, the link between the ancient astronomers and St. Patrick, the "pleasant plain" among the stars, the true inspiration behind Newgrange's white quartz facade, the migratory patterns of Whooper Swans, the female reproductive system and its importance to the mound-builders, the eight-year Moon-Venus cycle, and a plethora of stories about such things as underwater spears, giant hounds, tragic drownings, cruel murders, vast battles, strange animals and the Irish cyclops. In short, "Island of the Setting Sun" provides a revision of how we look at prehistory in Ireland.

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