- Marble Arch Caves
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Marble Arch Caves Location near Florencecourt, County Fermanagh Depth 94 m Length 11.5 km (7.1 mi)[1] Discovery 1895 Access Show cave; accessible beyond with permission from Marble Arch Caves centre[2] The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. They are formed by water draining off the northern slopes of Cuilcagh mountain.
Contents
History of exploration
The caves were first explored by Édouard-Alfred Martel and Dublin naturalist Lyster Jameson in 1895,[3] starting at the Cladagh Glen resurgence, already a popular tourist attraction.[4] Using a canvas boat, and with candles and magnesium flares for light, Martel and Jameson found 1,000 feet (305 m) of passages,[5] including the junction where the Owenbrean and the combined Aghinrawn and Sruh Croppa waters meet. In 1908 and later in 1935, groups of English cavers from Yorkshire Ramblers' Club explored further and discovered more chambers, the latter group reaching the limit of today's show cave.[4] In the late sixties a major breakthrough was made when a bypass to sump 1 was found, giving access to the Legnabrocky Way and Skreen Hill 2 and Skreen Hill 3 sections of the cave. A notable feature of the Legnabrocky Way is the Giant's Hall, a large chamber 60 m long, 30 m high and 15 m wide.[4]
In 2009 and 2010 diving connections were made to the nearby cave systems by Artur Kozłowski, firstly to Prod's Pot – Cascades Rising, doubling the total length of the system from 4.5 to 9 km (5.6 mi)[6], and subsequently to newly established Monastir Sink - Upper Cradle system [7], extending the system further to 11.5 km (7.1 mi).[8] The discoveries make this the longest cave in Northern Ireland.[1]
Show cave
Covering a small section of the system, the Marble Arch Caves tour is a popular tourist attraction due to the cave's accessibility and grandeur. The show caves were opened to the public in 1985[9] following work to make them more accessible the previous year. Tourists can partake in a seventy-five minute tour of the show caves, during which they travel through the first part of the caves in a specially designed boat floating on the subterranean Cladagh River, before walking through the rest of the chambers. Near the end of the tour they also pass through the Moses Walk, where the roof of the cave was too low to carry on so the floor was dug out. The Moses Walk is so named because the water is either side of the wall.[3]
European/Global Geopark status
Main article: Marble Arch Caves Global GeoparkIn 2001, the caves and the nearby Cuilcagh Mountain Park joined to become a European Geopark under the name Marble Arch Caves European Geopark, the first park in the UK to be recognised by the European Geoparks Network (EGN).[9] This allocation was due in part to the existence of the caves themselves and also the rare blanket bog which covers a vast area of the mountains. Under an agreement between the EGN and the UNESCO Earth Sciences division in 2004,[10] the park became part of the Global Network of National Geoparks (GGN) scheme and was renamed Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark, and in 2008 the park boundaries were extended across the border into parts of County Cavan, making it the first international Geopark in the world.[11]
Conservation issues
The cutting of turf has led to damage in the area. Extensive drainage in parts of the bog has damaged the bog's ability to retain water, resulting in flooding and abnormally high water levels in the caves downstream. This has impeded tourist activity in the past. As a protective measure, people have been employed to protect the land around the caves to ensure no further damage ensues.
Another problem is that human interference can cause the limestone to be damaged or eroded. In a particular case in 1984, a group of vandals broke into the showcaves before they were opened to the public and threw stones at any of the formations that could be seen around the entrance. Many small stalactites were snapped off at their bases while the tip of the largest stalactite (over 2 metres in length) within the showcaves was broken off. This tip fell onto a sandbank on the cave floor where it was retrieved the next day by a workman. It was then sent to the Ulster Museum in Belfast where a calcite resin was specially produced and subsequently used to stick the tip back onto its original position. This formation can be seen at the end of the tour of the showcaves.
See also
- Cuilcagh Mountain Park
- Cladagh Glen Nature Reserve
- List of caves
- List of caves in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ a b "N Ireland – Longest caves". http://www.ukcaves.co.uk/country-nireland-longest. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
- ^ "Access". Speleological Union of Ireland. http://www.caving.ie/access/. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
- ^ a b "Welcome to Marble Arch Caves European Geopark" (PDF). Fermanagh District Council. http://www.fermanagh.gov.uk/pubuploads/CavesTourBook.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b c Jones, Gareth Ll.; Burns, Gaby; Fogg, Tim; Kelly, John (1997). The Caves of Fermanagh and Cavan (2nd ed.). Lough Nilly Press. pp. 79–84. ISBN 0-9531602-0-3.
- ^ "British Caves and Speleology". The Geographical Journal X (5): 500–511. 1897.
- ^ Report from connection between Marble Arch and Prod's Pot/Cascades systems 2009. Hell&High Water
- ^ Monastir Sink - Upper Cradle connection 2010. Hell&High Water
- ^ Report from connection between Marble Arch and Upper Cradle 2010. Hell&High Water
- ^ a b "Marble Arch Caves & Cuilcagh Mountain Park: A Global Geopark in the border region of Ireland". European Geoparks Network. http://www.europeangeoparks.org/isite/geopark/33,1,0.asp?mu=1&cmu=6&thID=0. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ^ "The Organisation – Introduction". European Geoparks Network. http://www.europeangeoparks.org/isite/page/58,1,0.asp?mu=4&cmu=33&thID=0. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ "Geopark News: The Worlds First International Geopark!". Fermanagh District Council. 2008. http://www.fermanagh.gov.uk/index.cfm?website_Key=47&Category_key=134&Page_Key=553. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
Further reading
- Jones, Gareth Ll.; Burns, Gaby; Fogg, Tim; Kelly, John (1997). The Caves of Fermanagh and Cavan (2nd Ed.). Lough Nilly Press. ISBN 0-9531602-0-3
External links
- Official web site for the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark
- Map of the Marble Arch system2010. Marble Arch Project
- Original video footage from connection between Marble Arch and Prod's Pot/Cascades systems2010. Marble Arch Project
Coordinates: 54°15′30.34″N 7°48′51.53″W / 54.2584278°N 7.8143139°W
Categories:- Limestone caves
- Show caves in the United Kingdom
- Caves of Northern Ireland
- Visitor attractions in County Fermanagh
- Landforms of County Fermanagh
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