A chara, – Further to Marion Walsh’s letter (December 22nd) and Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary (December 21st), my own first visit to Newgrange was back in the 1980s. I cycled up to the tomb, and there was an iron grill double-gate right at the entrance to the passage. I asked why only one half was open, and the guide told me it was a polite and subtle way of preventing larger visitors from entering. They had cases of visitors getting physically stuck in the passage, having panic attacks, and blocking everyone inside. A wonderful use of “iron age” technology! – Is mise,
CIARÁN Mac GUILL,
Clichy,
France.