Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre, for Newgrange and Knowth
About
The passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth sit inside a bend of the Boyne about 7km west of Drogheda, in Co. Meath, and they were built around 3200 BC. The single most important practical fact is this: you cannot drive to Newgrange. Every visit starts at the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre at Donore, and the monuments themselves are reached by shuttle bus from there, on a guided tour only. Pre-booking is essential, every visitor including children and infants needs a ticket, and unaccompanied under-18s are not admitted. Ticket availability is genuinely limited and the release windows matter: 30 days ahead between 1 April and 1 November, seven days ahead the rest of the year, released online at midnight Irish time, with returned cancellations appearing each morning between 8:30 and 9:30 and each afternoon between 3 and 4. The visitor centre exhibition on its own does not need a booking. Drogheda makes a far better base for this than Dublin does.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, built around 3200 BC and older than the pyramids at Giza
- ✓The largest collection of megalithic art in western Europe
- ✓The visitor centre exhibition, which does not require a tour booking
- ✓Shuttle bus from the centre across the river to the monuments
Tips
- →There is no drive-up access to Newgrange and no way in except a booked tour from the visitor centre at Donore. Ignore anything that suggests otherwise.
- →Book as early as the release window allows: 30 days ahead from 1 April to 1 November, seven days ahead otherwise, with tickets going live at midnight Irish time.
- →If you miss out, check for returned cancellations between 8:30 and 9:30am and between 3 and 4pm.
- →Closed 24 to 27 December and 1 January. Regular tours are suspended on the winter solstice mornings of 19 to 23 December, when the centre opens earlier.
- →Wheelchair users and anyone needing assistance should email the centre before booking, since access at the monuments themselves is limited.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Drogheda Museum Millmount and the Martello Tower
The Anglo-Norman mound above the south bank, with a Martello tower on top, the Old Drogheda Society's museum around its base, and the best view in the town.
St Peter's Church and the Shrine of St Oliver Plunkett
The national shrine of St Oliver Plunkett on West Street, holding the martyred archbishop's preserved head, in a working parish church rather than a museum.
Highlanes Gallery
Drogheda's free municipal gallery in the former Franciscan church on St Laurence Street, home of the town's art collection and a rotating contemporary programme.