Home » Blog » Brú na Bóinne: Knowth (Ireland)

The neolithic passage grave at Knowth in the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.
The neolithic passage grave at Knowth in the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.

Brú na Bóinne: Knowth (Ireland)

Visiting the prehistoric archaeological landscape at Brú na Bóinne, a bend of the Boyne River north of Dublin, was one of the highlights of my trip to Ireland.

Map of Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site

BrunaBoinnemap

Source: World Heritage Ireland – Brú na Bóinne – Visitor Information

Access to the passage graves at Knowth and Newgrange is by guided tour only. My group went to Knowth, which was great, because I’d been to Newgrange on a previous visit.

You can climb the stairs to the top of the neolithic passage grave at Knowth. What a view!
You can climb the stairs to the top of the neolithic passage grave at Knowth. What a view!
The view of the Boyne Valley from the top of Knowth. You can see Newgrange in the distance.
The view of the Boyne Valley from the top of Knowth. You can see Newgrange in the distance.

This Rick Steves video gives a wonderful overview of the site.

The display at Knowth visitors centre draws your attention to the spiral carvings on the stones surrounding the passage tomb. Beautiful and mysterious.

Inside Knowth visitors centre.
Inside Knowth visitors centre.

At the visitors centre there was a video about excavations at Knowth that I would have loved to see but didn’t have the time.

Look at those trenches!
Look at those trenches!

This UNESCO video tells more about the site, Europe’s largest and most important concentration of prehistoric megalithic art.

Spirals carved in stones surrounding Knowth.
Spirals carved in stones surrounding Knowth.

Brú na Bóinne is museum no. 87 in my #100museums challenge (see 100 Museums Challenge).