Post date: Jun 28, 2011 5:39:32 PM

Persons: Peter (The Father), Petie (The Son), Martin (The Holy Ghost/The Brother).

Another reconnaissance trip to the Vale of Tipperary to scout potential projects. After a wonderful trip over the Knockmealdown Mountains we reached Garrymore Bridge, near Clogheen. I was hoping to find Garrymore Cave to check it out for prospects, especially with regard to the sumps at the poorly described far end of the cave. I was also hoping to make a rough survey. We soon found the rising, which is reasonably big, coming from under the road revetment to the south of the bridge. We crossed up into the field above the rising and went to the first depression. This showed evidence of having been filled in with earth and no cave was forthcoming. We went to the next depression 200m away and this was a better candidate for the cave, being steep like the description and with decent limestone outcrops. However the most promising part was buried under a heap of branches and earth, the remains of a hedgerow, meaning if the cave is under there somewhere, then it would take a good bit of work to enter again. This is disappointing as Garrymore has excellent potential, situated between two large springs (the one mentioned before and one 400m to the north).

We then drove north and west to an area beyond Pollskeheenarinky. There was a sink marked here that I'd been meaning to check. I'd recently discovered that the place was actually Stink Hole, an old dig of Gilhuys and that Boulder Collapse, a 6m deep pot created in the early 70's when a tractor drove over it, was in the same field. The collapse was long filled in but Stink Hole was found, bone dry and containing a cow ineffectually hiding behind a pine tree. There was little obvious potential in the big hole - there was one huge fluted limestone boulder in a spot where there may once have been an opening but little else other than huge pine trees and stray sandstone boulders.

A bit disappointed I didn't expect much from the last site I wanted to look at. It was an odd looking gully I'd spotted on the old OS maps that I suspected may have cave potential, given it was only a short distance away from the sandstone-limestone contact. Dad decided to stay in the car and listen to the hurling while Martin and I headed off. After battling through several hedgerows we eventually reached the gully. It was indeed an odd feature. Several streamlets appeared out of nowhere and combined into a proper stream and the gully deepened and headed into a heap of nettles. Avoiding these we climbed out and went round the top of the gully to the far end where we presumed the water was sinking. Here I scrambled down near a small outcrop and found an open rift. Quickly clearing debris away from it I could hear the stream in the rift below and soon made it human sized. Slithering in I climbed down 4m and saw a passage lead off. I clambered down this through an easy squeeze to a more spacious bit where the stream disappeared into a low crawl. Since i was in jeans, t-shirt and runners I didn't fancy pushing this. I made my way out and gave my headlight to Martin who regained my previous limit while wearing his best Sunday shirt. We headed back to the car to get surveying gear and I put on my wetsuit which I'd brought along in case there was something worth entering. Returning with Dad I began a rough survey of the cave. More suitably attired the crawl presented no problem and I entered large passage again which unfortunately ended there, more or less, when the passage hit

a wall. The water went into a crack which I squeezed through, dug out another squeeze and reached a final squeeze, beyond which the passage could be seen to choke in gravel and flood debris.

I wriggled back out and checked all other little rifts but none went. I spotted foam in places and flood debris 4m above the stream. The cave evidently backs up quite a bit. Especially in flood. Not so much in drought. The end of the cave is digable but it wouldn't be easy. You would have to haul all the digging spoil out so it wouldn't get washed back in again. The best way to do this would be to clear out the sink to make hauling easier, install a gate to stop debris getting in and then dump the spoil where the floods won't get it. There's also no indication that the passage opens up in any direction, it ends in phreatic anastomoses. On the other hand it does seem to take a fair bit of water in flood... On the upside Tipperary has a new cave - Polldangan. There is a similar sink 1km to the west, also just beyond the sandstone-limestone contact, that I hope will also yield new cave.

Petie

.