Post date: Aug 30, 2010 8:39:34 PM

Al Kennedy and Éabha Lankford.

Trip duration 2 hours.

After an eventful dig in Shannon the previous day we had a bit of a lie in Sunday morning before setting out for another dig dig dig! Al wanted to return to Pollthainarees to the canal which heads west from the beach before the downstream sump, which had ended in a very short sump on a visit in August 2009, beyond which there was a visible though tight continuation. With crow bar and chisel, we were hoping it would be a promising dig, perhaps even connecting the cave with its neighbour Mastodon pot.

After kitting up in wetsuits etc we left the Hoo at 10.50 and walked to the cave. A few meters vertical climb down a slot at the side of the rock face and a further climb down the mucky/sandy slope towards the stream way leading us round to the left, passing a small sand bank and visiting the downstream sump before turning left and entering a series of small arches with sharp jagged rocks. In low water it was possible to duck under the roof to the left of the old dive line and gain another four metres of passage that are on the existing survey. The four metre tunnel ended with several boulders obstructing the way on. Al, flat on his belly in the water, began removing lose rocks and rolling them to me to pile on the right where a small pile of rocks already lay.

We took turns removing and piling until we ran out of nice safe-looking boulders. Al then got the ½ meter crow bar and did a little metal poking before deciding to leave it to another day to return with more equipment. We both looked down the passage and from there could see the rocks on a slant in front of us and to the right, with a promising little draught coming from the west. Although we feared it may just be another surface entrance, hopefully it will lead to higher level passage. A Mastodon-Pollasillagh connection may still be possible although it is likely the boulders were washed from the flood sink located near the field wall just east of the stile.

After debating whether or not to poke around and hope for the best, concerning the key roof supporting boulders, the consensus was to leave it. I began backing away, but Al must have had a quick change of mind as seconds after a quickly mumbled ‘hold on’, I heard the sound of tumbling rocks, smelt the dust from smashed boulders and saw Al scurry backward (towards me). After he assured me he was ok we waded back to the sand bank for 5mins.

Once the dust settled, we were disappointed to discover some of the rocks we expected to be removed were still intact. After removing the fallen boulders and some others from the dig face, the decision was made to give it another bash with the crow bar, Al kindly giving me advance warning this time. Another dodgy rock collapse left Al without his beloved crow bar. He returned one last time but only to retrieve his tools. With 2m of passage gained we decided there wasn’t much more we could achieve on this trip. Promising dig for another occasion. If the big pile of boulders to the right were removed the person in front could safely relatively speaking dislodge the boulder choke with longer crow bar or rope.

We had a little look around at the stream-way before exiting the cave. There were a few interesting tight avens. We encountered a little rift mostly filled with soft mud and more mud below it blocking it tight. We clawed away at it and it was easily removed in strips. Though it was intriguing in nature we were discouraged by the sheer amount of mud and the fact that it smelt like shit, so we left it. We had a little snoop around the massive boulder collapse to the right of the entrance before exiting out the little slot back to daylight.

Éabha