World Heritage in Ireland to be Impacted by Freeway Bypass
Knowth Passage Graves, Ireland
Knowth passage graves, located near the Boyne River in Ireland, are part of the great megalithic complex surrounding Newgrange. The sites are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bru na Boinne, because of their pristine condition, their solar alignments, ritualistic function and concentrations of megalithic art.
Newgrange, Ireland
Newgrange Entrance Slab
The nearby village of Slane applied for permission to build a freeway overpass over the Boyne River. The road would carry large trucks so that they would no longer have to travel through the village.
Sacred Sites International has protested the plan asking for undergrounding of the road because it would be most visible and audible from the Knowth site and within 500 meters of 44 archaeological and cultural sites. We have just heard from the Irish An Bord Pleanala, the government office that would grant permission for the road. They have asked for 12 detailed additions to the Environmental Impact Statement, including alternative road routes, alternative designs for what is being called the Slane Bypass, “a report of all geophysical and archaeological investigations carried out.”