Poulatar Cavern
From TechnicalDiving.ie Wiki
Contents |
The Cavern
It is a small cavern, and probably one of the few places in Ireland that can actually be truly called a “Cavern”. But it is pretty as it is naturally hewn out of stone and filled with crystal clear water. In fact, you could be mistaken what country you are actually in, when you first enter it as it is so unlike the visibility we expect here.
The rock inside is smooth and there are not too many belay points, but you can still lay line safely enough as long as it isn't thin technical line which will get caught in your equipment. The right hand entrance is a low section, so you do need to be comfortable with this, but it does open up quickly (this won't be an issue for Irish 'cave' divers, but may be for some 'cavern' divers). You probably need side mounts to get through the low section.
The cavern opens up to a narrow but deeper section (approx. 12m). When we were there last time, there was an old tree submerged in the deep section. We didn't have any lifting equipment to remove it, so it may still be there. The tree spanned all the way across the narrow passage, so be careful and go over it. There was also some line left hanging vertically here too, I guess form a previous exploration. This section goes around to the left, then trends up towards the other cavern exit. This exit opens up into the same pool of water you entered initially.
There is some scalloping in the walls in here and is a nice recreational overhead dive.
Video Clips
Here are a couple of video clips taken in he cavern, one is going into it, the other is exiting. We didn't have enough light to get good video inside,only in the 'daylight zone' parts.
Entering: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PXHYDqZrQgY
Exiting: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SBgICj-bPXw
Getting There
Starting from Poulalee Rising you take a walk downstream for a while to reach an overgrown section in the River Tar. We had to climb over some fallen trees to access this section. Do be careful though, as there are live electric fences at the sides of the river and at some places, across the river!
In all honestly, this part probably belongs to a different landowner from Poulalea, though I don't know who. It is at the foot of a field with cows, so it is still 'active' land. If you find the previously land owner, then ask who owns the land that Poulatar is on, and please update this page, or e-mail the admin admin@technicaldiving.ie to update it.
Related Places
Just upriver is Poulalee Rising
Forum Links
Links to threads about this place on Irish Technical Divers forum:
