Southern Irish Caves - Back

Underlying most of Southern Ireland are huge beds of Carboniferous Limestone. The structure of the limestone beds is rather like a huge saucer with the edges at the coast being those places where the limestone is exposed and caves can be found. One of the most spectacular areas of limestone exposure is the Burren, on the west coast of Eire, in County Clare. Here there are vast tracts of bare eroded limestone. There are few rivers above ground and those that do appear often disappear and reappear along their course, the water flowing underground in huge conduits to resurge at springs on the edge of Galway Bay. Cave divers are slowly exploring these underground water courses as well as cave systems on the coast formed in the geological past and now inundated by the sea.

There are many cave systems accessible to the 'dry' caver including Pollnagollum, the longest system in Ireland comprising several entrances and many kilometres of passage. Another extraordinary system, the Doolin-Fisherstreet system, has a traverse between two entrances to a point not far from its rising under the sea. At one point it runs under a stream flowing on the surface which partially empties its waters through the roof of the cave!

Visitors to the Burren can get a glimpse of the underground world by visiting Ailwee Cave, which lies in the centre of the Burren. Afficonados of the TV comedy series Father Ted may like to know that much of it was filmed in this area with one episode filmed in the cave.

The caves are characteristics by long winding narrow streampassages often beautifully decorated with stalactite formations. The walls are carved by the stream into fine scallops. Potholes are relatively unusual although they do exist, such as in the system of Poll na gCeim (Cave of the Steps) that descends in a series of deep shafts. Exploration continues to this day. Much of it has been by members of the University of Bristol Speleological Society who have been active in the region for 50 years. They have published an interesting guide book to the caves of this region called Caves of County Clare and South Galway (ISBN 0-9545850-0-3). it's obtainable from their website which also has links for accomodation at the coastal village of Doolin on the edge of the Burren.

Further south in County Kerry is another fine system, Crag Cave, near the town of Castleisland. It is now open to the public after discoveries made by welsh cave diver Martyn Farr in 1983. The cave runs under the drive to the land owner's house and an entrance could be fortuitously excavated in a field next to the drive! The author managed to make a minor discovery with his friend Ted Popham in the same system in 1984, although the trip was rather exciting due to problems with lights!

Coolagh River Cave

This system is very prone to flooding to the roof in heavy rain! Anybody who has visited the cave will be impressed by this knowledge in view of the size of the stream passages.

St. Catherine's to Fisherstreet Pot (the Doolin system)

Pollballiny

This system has the reputation of being arduous. The entrance lies in a row of shakeholes, along the west side of Knockauns Mountain, the points of engulfment for water running off impervious shale onto the limestone. The long narrow winding passage (over a kilometre in length) used to end in a boulder choke but a team from UBSS used a car jack to pass this and shortly after one the biggest cave passages in the region was entered. Unfortunately it becomes blocked by a gigantic choke of boulders extending the full 25 metre height of the passage. The stream has found a new route but it is too small to negotiate. One theory has it that this vast tunnel is just an inlet to an even large cave system yet to be discovered!

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