Post date: Jul 8, 2011 5:59:30 PM

Al Kennedy, Stephen Macnamara, ~4 hours

I cleaned my gear from this trip last night (07 July). It smelled.

Less odious was the trip itself, which was my first foray into cave diving. I had done a few diving practices in Strangford Lough under the expert tuition of Al beforehand, so this was the moment of truth.

The entrance to the cave is picturesque – park in a layby and hop across the style and down the slope to reach the river. It’s only a tiny section of river, emerging from the upstream Tiragarvan cave and immediately entering the downstream section. Both sections have large entrance arches. We kitted up in the daylight. We had a 3-litre bottle each, filled with fresh Belfast air.

The upstream sump is reached after a short stroll along the river bed and a clamber through the first boulder choke. A drainage pipe has been engineered from the surface down though the choke and into the sump. It wasn’t flowing, but rumour says it’s a septic tank overflow. Undeterred, Al dived first to check the line and bring through the survey gear. He arrived back after a minute, and I followed him through. Visibility was excellent, if you like brown soup. I could see it all around me, but nothing else.

The sump was short & shallow (5-6 m long, <1 m deep) and over almost before it started. On the other side, there was a short section of stream passage before sump 2 – a wide, low affair of similar length.The water levels were in fact low enough to allow this to be done as a duck, but I went through with SCUBA in any case for the hell of it. Visibility was even browner than in the first sump.

We ditched the diving gear there and caved to the end, where water issues from a bedding plane. On the way, I wedged myself into a pseudo side passage (probably the same stream), which required helmet removal and a retreat due to dogdiness. We surveyed from the upstream end of the cave, with plenty of lying in the stream to take shots. The chill started to catch up with us after about leg 20, and was slowing down physical & mental activity. We eventually did finish it, and made our way back through the sumps. I went first, and we managed to survey the sumps in a single leg each.

The sunlight brought a new burst of energy, and minus diving gear, we scooted off into the downstream section. This is a through trip, with a small amount of crawling at the end. There is a further short section of cave on the far side.

‘Twas an enjoyable trip, with some good achievements:

• • Tiragarvan cave surveyed beyond sump (survey to follow soon).

  • For me, a new Monaghan cave added to the list.

  • Death by drowning avoided.

Stephen.