Sir, – My understanding of the situation, derived from my father, Myles Dillon, who knew Prof Michael O'Kelly, is that O'Kelly discovered that there was indeed a light-box above the entrance at Newgrange, but that it was blocked, and he opened it up. This, it seems to me, implies an even more fascinating situation than if it had been left open. The conclusion would be that the priests of old, having worked out the exact path of the winter solstice sun, and having provided a passage for the rays into the burial chamber of the tomb, then blocked it up, leaving a conduit, not for physical sun-rays, but spiritual ones, perhaps to revive annually the spirits of the inhabitants of the tomb, thus betokening an even higher level of sophistication than that with which they would otherwise be credited. – Yours, etc,
JOHN DILLON,
Regius Professor
of Greek (Emeritus),
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Trinity College Dublin.