Enniskillen – Whitsun, 1959

by P. R. Harris

This meet will long be remembered for the incredibly fine weather which dominated the whole week’s activities. The party, 12 strong, embarked at Preston Docks with two Land Rovers, and a trailer to carry all the tackle and kit. The crossing to Lame was made in the landing ship ‘Ionic Ferry,’ which has most comfortable quarters and excellent food.

Everybody enjoyed the drive across Ireland in brilliant sun­shine and we arrived at Killesher at about 9.30 p.m. to be welcomed by the Club’s old friend, Mr. Barbour. Our camp site was in a field by the side of the River Cladagh and proved an excellent centre for all potholing operations during the week.

The party fortunately included members who had been to Ireland before and who knew this particular area well. A new road, running close to Monastir Sink and by the side of Pollnagollum down to the Florence Court road one mile south of Wheathills Post Office, upset their orientation for a while but their presence was a great factor in making it possible to explore so many potholes in so short a time. The weather was kind to us throughout the week, with rain only on the Thursday morning; for the rest of the time the sun shone brilliantly, giving the lie to tales of an Ireland swathed in mist and soaked in perpetual rain.

The fullest use of the Land Rovers made it possible to do three major potholes in one day, the electron ladders and nylon ropes which were used being transported by this means almost to the mouth of every hole. Members enjoying their first trip to Ireland were able to appreciate the effort and determination of previous expeditions when rope ladders and hemp ropes had to be carried great distances across the hills.

Another innovation on this 1959 meet was the use by four members of immersion suits made of rubber and completely enfolding the feet and body, leaving only the hands and head uncovered. They can be inflated but it was found from experi­ence that only a little air is needed to support the body, their main use was in keeping the body dry and acting as an insulation against the cold water.  The suits were used in exploring the further reaches of Marble Arch and in descending Noon’s Hole and are indeed a necessity for protracted immersion in water under­ground.

Most of the potholes descended had been explored by Y.R.C. members in visits covering a period of over 50 years; the descents of 1907, 1908 and 1912 were not by official Y.R.C. parties but by members of the Club who accompanied E. A. Baker. For this reason a resume of previous exploration has been included in the descriptions which follow of the work done in 1959, and it is hoped that these notes, together with the maps, will be a help to members on future Irish meets.

Pollnagollum

Until 1938 Pollnagollum was just a hole in the ground about 54 ft. deep. It is entered from the north down a boulder-strewn slope and ends in a shallow cave, the roof of which looks very unsafe. In 1938 the Y.R.C. found a small hole under a boulder in the floor of the cavern, and the entrance to an immense system was discovered.

A 24-ft. ladder pitch leads down a steep slope into a chamber 18 yds. long and 7 ft. wide. At the southern end of this chamber a tight pitch leads down to another chamber and at the southern end of this there is a lake 40 yds. long and 15 ft. wide running west to east, but turning southwards at its end on to a sandy beach. This lake is deep and very cold; collapsible boats needed to effect its crossing. A large passage leads south east­wards for 35 yds. to the main chamber which is 50 yds. long and 18 yds. wide. The stream passage then turns southwards for 120 yds. and then joins a second lake. In 1959 this lake was shallow and could be waded; 60 yds. further on a third smaller lake is reached. A high level passage for 35 yds. on its east side makes another wetting unnecessary and 100 yds. further on the stream emerges from rocks on the east side of the chamber but no progress is possible that way.

A climb to the south west up a rock fall leads to a small chamber which has at some time been part of a stream passage, and a climb of 12 ft. over a smooth slab in the south east corner leads through boulders for 30 yds. to the main stream passage. The main passage then leads south for another 70 yds. to a pool 18 ft. wide and 8 yds. long which opens out into a pear shaped chamber 10 yds. long and 15 ft. wide, the far end of which is choked with boulders and impassable.

New Hole

This hole is half a mile east of Rattling Hole on a small hill covered with heather. A sink, 40 ft. by 20 ft. with three fluted holes, is wired off. The hole in the north east corner was laddered, the belay was a tree on the surface. The first 20 ft. is very tight and not too steep but the next 12 ft. is very steep and leads to a boulder floor covered with loose stones. The next pitch is 65 ft. —the belay is to an eye in the rock—and is again very tight, to a boulder floor. Digging showed that the boulder jam extended for at least 6 ft., it was then abandoned.

Polliniska and Pollnatagha

These two holes in the peat bog in the Swanlinbar area were first descended by the Y.R.C. in 1947. They are 30 feet apart and each is surrounded by a low earth wall. Polliniska is about 15 ft. by 10 ft. and Pollnatagha circular and about 8 ft. in diameter. A stream flows from the east over the moor and enters Polliniska over its southern tip; it then falls about 35 ft. to the floor and flows north westwards through a passage into Pollnatagha, where it falls about 130 ft. to the floor. This floor is about 150 ft. long by 100 ft. wide and the centre is a high mound of boulders and peat. The water percolates through the boulder floor, but there are three passages leading out of the chamber which were not fully explored either in 1947 or 1959, due to lack of time. These three passages are shown on the diagram as follows:—

(1)  Depression ‘A’ is about 20 ft. deep among boulders, and is 15 ft. long by 12 ft. wide. From the bottom of this depression a steep narrow pitch of 30 ft. leads to a floor of stones with a dry passage leading off to the south. This was followed for about 200 yds. against a current of fresh air, and could be seen to continue in a southerly direction.
(2)  A steep peat slope ‘ C’ leads down about 30 ft. to a drain.
This requires laddering and was not investigated.
(3)   A rock slope at’ D’ peters out in a rift 3 ft. by 2 ft. forty feet below the top of the boulder and peat mound.

These passages could quite possibly lead to a system not yet discovered and further exploration of this hole must be con­sidered to be of the highest priority.

Noon’s Hole

This is the deepest known hole in Ireland and is situated near Boho. It is completely surrounded by trees and vegetation and has been formed by a stream flowing from the west. The fissure runs from east north east to west south west. It was first attempted by Martel in 1895 but because of the force of the water he did not reach the first ledge 60 ft. down. Y.R.C. with E. A. Baker descended in 1907 to 143 ft. and in 1952 to an estimated 240 ft. to 250 ft.

In 1959 the party went in force to bottom of this hole and all twelve members took part in this operation. The previous expeditions had dammed the stream to make descent easier but this time it was decided that the risk of a dam giving way under the pressure of water whilst a man was on the ladder was too great and the four members with immersion suits who made the descent preferred the steady fall of water rather than a possible sudden onrush. The pot was laddered from the southern end, practically above the waterfall. After 35 ft. the next 25 ft. is in the waterfall down on to a ledge where it is possible to get off the ladder. After the next 50 ft. there is a bridge and a further 31 ft. down, a large ledge. The next 70 ft. is down a dry, fluted chimney, 4 ft. to 5 ft. in diameter, and the ladder continued down a dry pot for another 40 ft. This was choked with boulders and the ladders were lifted out and let down another rift where a 50 ft. descent was very wet. This rift is 10 ft. by 4 ft. at the top and narrows to 5 ft. diameter. Again the ladders were in a boulder-choked hole, 15 ft. deep and very wet, so they were once again lifted across to another rift 3 ft. in diameter which proved to be the main shaft to the bottom and which widened to 5 ft. The main stream enters the shaft at this point and the full weight of water falls on to the ladder for the final 55 ft. to the floor. The final boulder slope leads 3 ft. down to a pool of water and when entered to a depth of 3 ft.no exit could be found; the water was obviously dissipating through the boulder floor. Because of the weight of water no acetylene lights could be used and electric lights were short-circuited by the water.  It is obvious from previous exploration that the floor of Noon’s Hole frequently gives way and deepens the pot. The depth was most carefully checked—the ladders being measured by tape measure as they were removed—and the total known depth is now 322 ft.

Marble Arch System

This is beyond doubt the finest system yet known in the British Isles. Every visit has produced new discoveries and new routes and further exploration may still produce new and exciting things. The first real exploration of the system was by Martel in 1895. He went down the boulder chamber and on to the junction where he floated a collapsible boat and paddled along the Grand Gallery. He then returned to the junction and went up to Pool Chamber. The Y.R.C. went with E. A. Baker in 1907 and 1908 and found other entrances into the system, but it was not until 1935 that any serious exploration was done, and then the Y.R.C. went in force and among other things swam from Marble Arch to Lower Cradle Hole. In 1936 Skreen Hill Passage was discovered running parallel to the passage between Pool Chamber and the junction. The Y.R.C. went again in 1936, 1938 and 1939 and after the war in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and found that some considerable changes in detail had taken place but made no major discoveries.

In 1959 the members penetrated to the final known pool in the Skreen Hill Passage, then swam about 44 yds. to a curtain of rock and ducked under this into a chamber 30 ft. long. A passage in the far left-hand corner over a calcite shelf leads into two passages. The right-hand one runs in the same direction as Skreen Hill Passage for 25 yds., it is 2 ft. 6 ins. wide and 5 ft. high with rock curtains down to within 1 ft. of the water; it ends in a sump. The left-hand passage runs parallel to Skreen Hill Passage in the reverse direction for 13 yds., is 2 ft. 6 ins. wide and 8 ft. high, and ends in a curtain of rock. The passage along the Grand Gallery to Cradle Hole was again swum but for a great deal of the distance it was possible to wade, the depth of the water varying between 3 ft. and 6 ft. (the deepest places were where the screens came down to within 1 ft. of the water). Upstream from Cradle Hole a small dry passage 27 yds. long ends in a small chamber after a tight mud crawl. It was noticed that the main stream entered the passage from underneath a rock wall from the direction of Cradle Hole Sink. Further exploration was done in Skreen Hill Passage; the passage to the left at the beginning of the final pool was explored for 30 ft. but ends in a boulder choke. On the right-hand side of the new chamber which leads into Skreen Hill Passage a small maze about 30 ft. long was found which leads back again into the new chamber.

Monastir Sink

The Monastir River flows through a limestone gorge with cliffs rising to 150 ft. on either side. It then sinks in its bed to reappear at the end.of the gorge which is cut off by 130 ft. high cliffs with a 20 ft. overhang. This exit is quite small and the river flows to the north west entering the cliff through an opening 6 ft. wide by 8 ft. high. The passage continues in a north westerly direction for approximately 25 yds. into a deep pool and then turns north through another pool above which the roof drops to within 2 ft. of the water. The passage turns to the north west for about 30 yds. through two long pools 4 ft. deep to a siphon. At this point in 1907 the Y.R.C. with E. A. Baker went through a low opening to the east which led into a passage rmining parallel to the first. This is very narrow with no bottom and a roof so high that it could not be seen with magnesium flares, but is estimated to be certainly more than 80 ft. high.  After going 7 yds. to the north west, climbing along the easterly wall, there is a pebble beach, after which the fissures becomes too narrow to permit entry.

The 1959 party, on reaching the siphon, climbed straight upwards for 20 ft. through a pressure hole and then down the other side into a pool 2 ft. deep and 10 ft. long extending north­wards. After passing this pool the passage turned immediately north east under a low duck in 2 ft. of water with 6 inches of air space into a small chamber 20 ft. high flooded between 1 ft. and 6 ft. in depth. A siphon in the north east corner 6 ft. long leads to a flooded passage 30 ft. long and of unknown depth running north to south. Northwards this passage ends 20 ft. from the siphon at a point where the roof descends to a sandy bank; 10 ft southwards there is another siphon. The interesting point is of course whether this flooded passage is a continuation of the fissure explored by the Y.R.C. in 1907.

In the 130 ft. high cliff at the end of the gorge there is another cave 80 ft. up from the bottom in the north east corner. The entry passage slopes down at about 30 deg. in a northerly direction for 80 ft., it then steepens to an angle of 80 deg. and continues northwards for 20 ft. A passage to the west leads back to the cliff in a southerly direction but is choked by a boulder fall. The main passage goes on, still northwards, down through a small boulder chamber to the top of a 22 ft. pitch which ends in a still deep pool 10 ft. by 25 ft. from which there is no visible exit. It is thought however that there may be a siphon at the northern end of this pool. Parallel to this passage to the east is another which is linked in several places with the main passage but has no other exit. The total estimated depth from the entrance to water level is 80 ft.

Pollbwee

This is mentioned by Martel but was not descended by him. The fissure runs from north to south, the north being a mud slope, it is bridged in the middle by a boulder. There is a vertical climb of 67 ft. on to a steep mud slope leading down to a deep pool some 100 ft. below the surface. In 1907 the Y.R.C. explored a side fissure, position not stated, which was blocked by a huge boulder. On the other side however the passage led forward for 60 ft. over jammed boulders and the floor then sloped steeply downwards turning to the right and ending in a small pool. On the left-hand side the passage ends in a steep slope of water-worn limestone and after a 30 ft. climb is too narrow for further progress. In 1959 the Y.R.C. swam the main pool in a south easterly direction for 60 yds. and no exit above the water line was found.

New Pot

In 1959 a new pot 100 yds. north of Cat Pot was found and after a large boulder had been removed a narrow fissure in broken rock led down 20 ft. on to a steep boulder and mud slope which itself descended another 15 ft. into an old stream passage. This passage ran south for 30 ft. ending in a mud block; another passage leading off this to the west 10 ft. from the end was also blocked after a further 8 ft. Ten feet below this old stream passage the present stream runs south to north and is blocked to the south by boulders after about 15 ft. The passage northwards was explored for 80 yds. and this ends in a siphon. At a point about 50 yds. along this northern passage the stream enters another passage to the west with about 4 ft. of still water, which runs 80 yds northwards but has no visible exit.

Pollthanacarra

This was first descended by the Y.R.C. in 1908 and is 100 yds. south of Pollnagollum. The fissure runs from north to south, it is 40 ft long by 20 ft. wide and is surrounded by a low wall. The Y.R.C. went down in 1938 and again in 1959, on each occasion laddering from the north to north western end. A 30-foot pitch leads to a steeply sloping floor and this goes down another 30 ft. to the bottom which is 45 ft. long by 21 ft. wide. At the north end the floor is weak and composed of loose stones and as this is now used as a depository for dead animals by the local farmers, there is little to be enjoyed by its descent.

Rattling Hole

This was first descended by the Y.R.C. in 1908; the entrance is a long open fissure partly surrounded by a wall and mostly by very dense vegetation. By 1959 it was extremely difficult to break a way through this growth, and because of its narrow­ness the descent can be very difficult. At the bottom the chamber widens to 7 ft. and is 14 ft. long. The floor, which is 90 ft. from the surface, runs steeply upwards from south to north.

Gortmaconnell

This is the first in a line of sinks running from Pollasumera in the west in a north easterly direction, it was first descended in 1908 by the Y.R.C.; the main entrance is covered with tree trunks and surrounded by bushes and trees, the hole being con­tained within a wire fence. The main shaft, which runs north east to south west and is 48 ft. long by 3 ft. 6 ins. wide, was laddered in 1908 to a depth of 68 ft. One corner of the floor showed signs of water.

In 1959 the shaft was laddered through a small hole 18 ins. in diameter 8 ft. to the north of the main fissure. The descent is very good but care must be taken as rock projections are very sharp and capable of damaging both clothing and person.

Pollasumera

This is half a mile from Monastir Sink and was entered by the Y.R.C. with E. A. Baker in 1907 and revisited in 1908. The river runs down a gorge which disappears into a cliff face 112 ft. high, the entrance being about 35 ft. by 10 ft. There is another cave entrance 30 ft. to the west which is quite shallow although the entrance is very imposing. The main entrance leads north­wards for 92 yds., where the roof descends to within 5 ft. of the floor. The passage then turns westwards, becomes very broad and low and is strewn with huge boulders, it leads down a slope of about 30 yds. to the lake.

The 1908 party skirted the northern end of the lake in 3 ft. of water with 12 in. of air space to reach a pebbled pitch from which a curving passage led northwards and north westwards and in which curtains of rock came down to within 3 ft. of the floor. The passage gave out eventually in a dense bank of peat and old branches, flood water evidently continuing through narrow fissures. In 1959 the lake was dry and the party searched for another passage leading out of the lake area. To the south of the lake, brushwood was followed to a low duck 18 in. high leading into a passage running southwards for some 170 yds. This passage varies from 2 ft. 6 ins. to 5 ft. in height and is about 2 ft. 6 ins. wide. At this point a calcite formation had to be broken to enable the party to proceed, but after another 12 yds. a second calcite barrier proved too substantial to be broken; beyond, the passage could be seen to continue southward descend­ing steeply. On retracing steps for 19 yds., another passage was found to the east under a low duck and parallel to the first. This went on southwards for 20 yds. through two S-bends. A 16 ft. climb over a boulder choke leads to a rift, with a floor composed of chockstones, over which the party travelled and which has a roof 40 ft. high. After about 7 yds. there is a small chamber with a pitch 30 ft. deep at its southern end. The lower passage then leads northwards underneath the passage just travelled and leads down about 100 vertical feet via steep slopes and pressure holes into a stream passage again running north to south. It is known that the water from Pollasumera flows through to Pollnagollum and further exploration may find the passage connecting the two systems. It is strongly advised that markers be left in this series of passages to ensure a safe and easy return to the lake area.

There is obviously a terrific amount of potholing still to be done in County Fermanagh, especially in the Swanlinbar area, the peat moor between Pollnatagha and Pigeon Pots can itself be the scene of a whole week of exploration. It has been proved by the use of Fluorescein that:—

(1)  the water from Pollasumera flows underground to Poll­nagollum and then to Skreen Hill Passage in the Marble Arch system.
(2)  the Monastir River flows from Monastir Sink underground to Pollnagapple and Cradle Hole and on into the Grand Gallery of the Marble Arch system.
(3) the Sruh Croppa, which sinks in its own bed south of Cat’s Hole, joins the Monastir River underground between Monastir Sink and Pollnagapple.

Already on the homeward journey plans were being drawn up for another Irish Meet in 1960, at which Pollasumera and Poll­natagha were to be the main targets.

The Club’s most grateful thanks are extended to those who make these enjoyable Meets possible:—

To the Earl of Enniskillen, who has always given us every encouragement;
To Mr. Barbour of Killesher, for his help, generosity andco-operation;
To the Irish people themselves, for without their kindness and friendliness these Meets would never take place.

The Author thanks all those members who have supplied information, diagrams and maps; also the Craven Pothole Club for permission to use their survey of Pollnagollum.