Ireland didn’t get the facts of cloudy skies and lack of sunshine ruin Newgrange Winter Solstice 2017, the first time the event has a video live stream.Tourism Ireland

The winter solstice of 2017 was devoid of sunlight but Ireland enjoyed Newgrange anyway

This morning’s winter solstice in Newgrange, Ireland, was slightly hampered by the lack of a sunrise with thanks to endless clouds in the completely overcast Irish skies. As today marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the ancient light chamber that is illuminated by sunrise in the few days leading up to the solstice, the shortest day of the year, it was the first time that a live stream video event had been made available to the public who could not get their hands on a golden ticket into the ancient burial tomb itself.

With over 30,000 people applying this year and only 60 sets of tickets being awarded, there were certainly many people who made good use of the live stream and even if the light stream didn’t make an appearance, they didn’t let it get them down and only made some great jokes about just how bad the Irish weather is.

Read more: WATCH Newgrange’s winter solstice magic light show live here

Many thought there was ultimately a massive chance that the weather was going to be a little bit rubbish this morning: 

Even those who had thought themselves lucky enough to get a ticket, only to witness nothing, were in good form at Newgrange itself. With drumming circles and plenty of Irish wolfhounds in attendance, it was said to be a great way to follow on the 5,000-year-old tradition, mark the end of winter and the lengthening of the days again.

Read more: Is Newgrange’s famous solstice light show a fake?

Other parts of the country had a little more luck in terms of sunlight:

You can view the full live stream here: 

Did you watch the Newgrange live stream this morning? What did you think? Is Newgrange somewhere you would like to visit?