Hidden Earth 2019

Shannon Cave, Ireland: High level explorations 2017-2019

30 minute Lecture|Petie Barry

Abstract

Shannon Cave is an 8.5km long cave system straddling the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. A magnificent system, it consists in the main of a huge river passage which can be followed for over 3.5km. It is also notable for significant quantities of high-level passages which effectively duplicate the stream passages below

First discovered in 1980, explorations between 2005 and 2010 doubled the known length of the cave to over 5km in length. A new phase of exploration from 2017 onwards has seen another 3km of passage added to the system, largely due to the systematic surveying and exploration of high-level passages. While much of this passage was previously entered, close to a kilometer of this passage is newly discovered. Now the fourth-longest system in Ireland, there remains significant exploration potential, with a number of major digging leads and several undived sumps.