Mitchelstown Cave (also known as New Cave) is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

near Burncourt,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Situated from

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50 ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, it became the first cave in Ireland to be developed for the public in 1972. The cave is located near Mitchelstown, County Cork, but is actually in Tipperary off the

R639 The R639 road is one of Ireland's regional roads. Once designated the N8 national primary road (and before that some fractions were designated as the T6 and others as the T9), it was reclassified in stages as the R639 following the progress ...

Mitchelstown. It is a privately owned local landmark and tourist destination, with a number of caverns open to the public through a guided tour. Noteworthy

speleothems A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depending on ...

include the Tower of Babel column. The largest cavern, known as the Tír na Nóg has hosted musical events including a performance by the Celtic Tenors.

History

While the presence of a nearby cave (referred to variously as Old Cave, Old Mitchelstown Cave or Desmond Cave) has been known in the area at least as far back as 1777, Mitchelstown Cave aka "New Cave" was discovered accidentally by Laura Condon, a farm worker on 3 May 1833. The Mitchelstown Caves are so called, in spite of their distance from Mitchelstown, due to their location on the old Kingston estate. The lord of the estate,

Lord Kingsborough Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough (16 November 1795 – 27 February 1837) was an Irish antiquarian who sought to prove that the indigenous peoples of the Americas were a Lost Tribe of Israel. His principal contribution was in making availab ...

, had his seat in

Mitchelstown Castle Mitchelstown Castle, the former home of the Anglo Irish Earls of Kingston, was located in the north County Cork town of Mitchelstown in Ireland. 15th to 18th century ''White Knights, Dark Earls'' is to date the most extensive published accoun ...

. Mitchelstown Cave was first explored and mapped in 1834 by James Apjohn, and subsequently visited by a large number of eminent naturalists and

speleologist Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form ( speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology) ...

s. In August 1857 Alexander Henry Haliday visited with

Edward Percival Wright Edward Percival (Perceval) Wright (27 December 1834, Donnybrook – 2 March 1910) FRGSI was an Irish ophthalmic surgeon, botanist and zoologist. Family, education and career He was the eldest son of barrister, Edward Wright and Charlotte Wrig ...

and recorded a number of animal species present. Members of the Dublin, Cork and Limerick Naturalist Field Clubs took part in a trip to the cave in July 1894 and also reported on the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

found within. In 1895,

Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938, Montbrison), the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native Franc ...

and H. Lyster Jameson visited and completed a new

cave survey A cave survey is a map of all or part of a cave system, which may be produced to meet differing standards of accuracy depending on the cave conditions and equipment available underground. Cave surveying and cartography, i.e. the creation of an accu ...

. In 1908 the cave was thoroughly explored and resurveyed again by Dr C. A. Hill, Dr A. Rule and Harold Brodrick of the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club, along with

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and t ...

. A survey of Old Cave was also completed at this time. Jackie English decided to make the cave more accessible to the public by putting in electricity and steps, this work was completed in 1972. It took 7 years to complete this work and the footprints of the two main workers can still be seen at the foot of the Tower of Babel. Prior to this work all visitors had to enter the cave using Tilly lamps and a rope ladder.

References

External links

Mitchelstown Cave – Official Web Site
Limestone caves Mitchelstown Show caves in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Tipperary {{caving-stub

History

References

Further reading

External links