History of Exploration
While the Geological Survey of Ireland in 1859 acknowledged the presence of "caves worn by water, some of which can be traversed for some distance," positive efforts at exploration were not made until 1981, when the upper part of the cave was explored to a sump, named the "Green Lake". When hydrological testing of water both in the cave's active streamway and in the sump showed that the two were chemically distinct from each other, it was postulated that the sump was only "perched" above the water table and that further dry passage might be found on the far side. The sump was dived by Martyn Farr in 1983, providing the first access to the large caverns beyond. A boulder obstruction nearby was passed, allowing a dry connection into the new chambers. Following the breakthrough, 1.6 km (1 mi) of passage was explored and surveyed.
Between 1981 and 1985, further exploration and surveying brought the total length of the cave to 3.81 km (2.37 mi), with a vertical range of approximately 15 m (49 ft). The entire cave system runs under Castleisland itself, starting at Glounsharoon and ending on the far side of town at the Killarney Road.
Read more about this topic: Crag Cave
Famous quotes containing the words history of, history and/or exploration:
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to “realize” myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have “succeeded” this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is “realizable.” Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)
“For women who do not love us, as for the “disappeared”, knowing that we no longer have any hope does not prevent us form continuing to wait. We live on our guard, on watch; women whose son has gone asea on a dangerous exploration imagine at any minute, although it has long been certain that he has perished, that he will enter, miraculously saved, and healthy.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)