Knowth, Neolithic passage grave in Meath, Ireland

Knowth is a Neolithic passage grave in County Meath, its broad grass-covered mound split by a straight concrete stairway running from base to top, flanked by wooden handrails. Two independent passages lie along an east-west line, ending in separate chambers; the eastern one is cruciform with a corbelled roof about 9 metres high. A row of grey kerbstones rings the base of the mound.

The mound was raised around 3200 BC, with two independent passages and 17 satellite tombs. After a long period of disuse, ditches and souterrains were added in the late Iron Age and early Christian era, when Knowth became a hill fort and the seat of the Kings of Northern Brega. The Normans used it as a motte in the 12th century, and Cistercian monks of Mellifont Abbey later farmed it, building stone walls over the mound. George Eogan excavated from 1962 for 25 years.

The stones display more than 200 pieces of megalithic art featuring spirals, concentric circles, and geometric patterns carved into their surfaces. These carvings offer insight into how people of that era expressed their ideas and beliefs.

Access is only by guided tour from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre between April and October. It's wise to book ahead and wear comfortable shoes, as the path crosses the site's terrain.

The kerb of 127 stones has a deliberate gap at satellite tomb No. 16, which already existed when the kerb was laid; the tomb's entrance was moved into a newly built bent passage, a form found nowhere else in Irish megalithic architecture.