Those of us who would like to go but will be unlikely to ever attend Newgrange on Winter Solstice and who end up being disappointed with the recordings, broadcasting and online streaming of the annual event should consider a “sunny alternative” spectacle. Discovered by the late Gerry Bracken in the 1980/90s, this phenomenon is not as widely known as its County Meath counterpart but just as astonishing.
There is an old gambling game played by throwing a coin towards a mark (called a moth) that has been popular for many years throughout the world. However, when I was growing up in a Co. Tipperary town in the 1950s, another game also called Pitch and Toss involving pennies was often played on Sunday mornings in a quiet lane.
Back in the 1950s we travelled by Steam train from Portadown to Warrenpoint, Co. Down for our summer holidays. We had a small caravan in a field just off the Rostrevor Road, not far from the well-known Rostrevor Monument. I was interested to learn that it’s dedicated to General Roos, whose army during the American Wars burned The White House in 1814. Some days before we left Portadown my mother baked spicey apple tarts and wheaten and soda bread to take with us. We carried our suitcases from Warrenpoint Station to the caravan, a distance of around two miles.
