Ireland's other 'roof box' at Carrowkeel marks the Summer Solstice sunset and the lunar maximum. At Loughcrew the emphasis is on the equinox's. Knowth marks the equinox sunset and sunrise with its two passages. Dowth marks the mid-winter sunrise with one and nothing with the other. Knockroe marks the Summer Solstice sunrise in one passage and the Winter Solstice sunset in the other. Most court tombs face north. Most Portal Tombs face east. Most wedge tombs face west. Four or five passage tombs face due north.

Newgrange might be spectacular*, but it is the end of the line and one of the last major tombs to have been built. It can only be used to say what was important to one group of people in one area during a very small window into the megalithic era.

Newgrange is also a tomb, so you can't compare it to a circle. All the Cork axial circles have the axial stone at the SW. This means that the rising Summer Solstice sun shines on it across the circle and the Winster Solstice sun sets beyond it. Two for the price of one. Which was more important? Only the landscape can tell you that.

*They would all look spectacular if they had millions spent on them in renovation.