Post date: Sep 30, 2013 11:57:31 PM

Jock, Bus, Claire

~7 Hours

After a quick fry stop in Clancy’s we beat a path back up to Gurteen in search of Tempall Shetric. This time we parked much further down the hill so that we didn't have to pass through the wind farm to be. We followed a small farm lane on the left just before the first a dip in the hill. This lane leads up over the hill, passing 3 gates. At the third, old, broken, red gate we followed a fence north towards the highest thicket of tress in the dry valley below.

The hidden Teampall Shetric entrance amphitheater really is worthy of ‘Temple’ status. Surrounded on two sides by towering white limestone cliffs, much of the daylight rock is covered in soft light dry green moss. Above the walls and surrounded on all four sides by a lovely mature native forest grove. Easily one of the most enigmatic cave entrances to be found in Leitrim

While Claire and Bus worked on rigging a small waterfall entrance pitch. I investigated a few of the other holes in the vicinity of the entrance grove. A wee down climb through a hole at the cliff base on the right hand side of Tempall lead down a small piece of Tullyard’esq passage to the head of an impressive pitch head above a large chamber. It was barely possible the see the floor bottom of the chamber proper. Across from this pitch head two waterfalls could be seen emanating from 2 smaller passages directly opposite. A very impressive vantage point!

Back up on the surface Bus and Claire were still busy rigging so I had a quick nosey about in some of the shorter upstream surface passages and then down climbed a mossy green hole just before where the guys were rigging at the surface waterfall pitch. From the base of this climb 2 passages could be easily followed. The first less obvious passage lead to a second dry pitch head above the same main entrance chamber. Following the stream way, a thrid and most impressive pitch head was reached.

At this wet pitch head Bus spied 2 spit placements high up above the last of the cherty ledges that overhang the drop. Claire made quick work of this rig and before long we were at the bottom a fantastic entrance chamber and stomping down a lovely bit of stream passage in the main stream way. We quickly down climbed the first cherty waterfall and not long after reached the main stream sump bowl. I down climbed this and pushed up though the low foamy sump stream way passage for a couple of meters. From here it was possible to see ahead for another 5 meters or so through the foam.

Heading back up to the first waterfall in the main stream way we took a dander off down O’Connell Street. We had a quick look at the climb above the O’Connell street sump and about turned to head up the red rift series. After a bit of wading through some glutinous red mud we had a go at climbing the aven at the end of the red rift but stopped just short of the roof at the top as it was getting a bit slippy. Back up the main stream way just before the main entrance chamber Clare and I pushed a low tight unsurveyed crawl to a tighter crawl half filled with water for about 20 -30 meters.

Back at the bottom of the main entrance chamber we spotted a dry passage heading off through boulders beside the bottom of the pitch. We followed this through low crawls for about 60 meters to a T junction. From here we turned right and followed another 30 meters or so of low flat pretty crawls to pop out beside some dark stals at roof level well above the first waterfall climb in the main stream way far below. By now we were feeling fairly pleased with our ‘Sunday’ trip and decided to head for home. Claire went on ahead to go up the pitch but on the way out Bus decided to have a quick nosey up the other (unsurveyed) branch of the T junction. This looked like it continued on up through a boulder squeeze so I pushed up through this to pop up into a fairly decent sized chamber. Bus quickly followed and we turned around to be greeted by a bit of Leitrim caving history. Written in small mud sausages on the flat side of the big block that we had just squeezed under was: J Dixion – 1944, SUSS – 1959, 1966 and ICC - 1970

Some people had obviously been here before us but rather than dampen our spirits the letters from the past only served to increase our interest as to what else was to be found. On the other side of the boulder we spotted a low crawl continuing beneath the ‘memory stone’. Dropping down through this squeeze a low muddy crawl could be followed for another 10 meters to pop out into yet another small chamber. From here we climbed down climbed a small mud wall and headed off up a walking size rift passage past a nice column and some hanging flow stone. This passage closed down after a few meters at a small crawl blocked off by a 3-4 meter long rock bridge that halted any further progress. The crawl was taking a very strong fresh draft and seemed to have good potential so we decided that we should definitely try to get back for a return visit the following weekend.