All eyes and cameras are focused on the smudge of light. No one speaks. Gradually, as it spreads, the colour of the light turns to pale yellow, and by 6.32am we are able to make out mysterious patterns on the stone resembling flowers with petals or leaves, alongside carvings and radial line patterns.
Not even archaeologists can say with certainty what their true meaning is, but it is believed they mark the expected variations of the sunbeam with the drifting of the equinoctial rising sun. The passage grave is thought likely to have been a focal point for a group or tribe, or was perhaps a territorial marker; the symbolic carvings and orientation to the sun reinforces the ritual nature of the monuments.
A further 10 minutes passes and the markings come into sharper focus. The stones have emerged riotously decorated with swirling motifs, whorls and an enigmatic range of arcs, zigzags and spirals. The sunlight is framed by the doorway and continues its slow movement across the stone, taking more than an hour to complete its journey. No light enters from above, but we notice how the original corbelled roof is still intact.
A wondrous aura surrounds this hill – a rich repository of archaeology, history and mythology
Blinking in the sunshine, we return outside to a torrent of lark-song. The hill on which the cairn stands, Slieve-na-Calliagh (‘the hill of the witch’), is a modest 277m. The witch is said to have jumped from one hill to the next, dropping stones from her apron to form the cairns.
