The Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI), have been very active over the years with major cave conservation clean-ups, and they’ve been hard at work, this time in Carren Mine in co. Clare. The cave clean-ups started again with the Student Forum in 2019. The SUI received a heritage grant from Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) which…
The latest book on Irish caves to be published by the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society (UBSS) in conjunction with the Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI), Caves of southern Ireland has now gone to the printers and is expected to be launched this Autumn in both Ireland, at the SUI’s annual symposium, and in Bristol….
, If you want to know why a couple of Aussie cavers have had two new species of cave spider named after them get your mitts on the new issue of Descent, which brings you caving news from around the world. Descent 280 should now have reached you by now, but if not, it’s time…
Descent 277 is now here. It’s yet another great issue from the Descent team with interesting and exciting content, including some great exploration stories. There is so much to tell that this issue has eight extra pages! We start with Newsdesk where, of course Covid-19 gets a mention or two. Probably the most useful is…
A guidebook on Irish caves has won the prestigious Tratman Award for 2019. The Caves of Mid-West Ireland, edited by Graham Mullan on behalf of UBSS, was the unanimous choice of the judges for the award in memory of EK Tratman, an influential figure in British and Irish caving, who died in 1978. The SWCC…
The British Caving Association (BCA) and the Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI) have issued more advice about how to make a safe return to caving. BCA secretary Russell Myers has sent the following: BCA notes that both the Scottish and Welsh governments have indicated a possible relaxation of their 5 mile local travel restriction scheduled…
In the UK, the British Caving Association (BCA) has issued clubs with some guidance on cleaning tackle. As yet it’s not known how – if at all – the latest easing in lockdown restrictions affects caving or whether this is still classed as a ‘non-essential’ activity. Keep an eye on the BCA website for the…
UBSS, Bristol. 2019. 364pp, 20 colour photographs, 136 maps and surveys. Hardback, 180mm × 248mm. £20 ISBN 978-0-9545850-1-3 In one sense, Caves of Mid-West Ireland is the fourth edition of this caving guidebook, while in another it is the first. That is, the University of Bristol SS has a longstanding and well known intimate…
Thrill-seekers with a visual impairment are to get the chance to go underground in a ‘try-caving’ event in one of Irelands’s most spectacular underground-exploration regions – the Burren in Co. Clare. The Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI), in association with Vision Sport Ireland (VSI), CARA – Sport Inclusion Ireland, Clare Local Sport Partnership and the…
Irish cavers have cleaned up, thanks to a grant from the Geological Survey of Ireland – and may also have found new access points to a cave. The Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI) was awarded the cash to promote cave conservation, which allowed them to support the Student Forum with a conservation theme and organise…
The Speleological Union of Ireland has warned of safety concerns after two trips into Cascades Caves in Co. Fermanagh were cancelled on Saturday. The boulder entrance squeeze is quite loose and there appears to have been movement in the soil above the entrance. A crack in the soil is visible. Scrape marks on a large rock in the…
News has reached us from Doolin, Co. Clare, that the connection between St. Catherine’s Cave and Doolin Cave has collapsed “just before the pretty grotto.” A bypass has been engineered but it may not be passable in wet conditions (and it tipped it down in the area, yesterday!) More work is planned and we will…
At the beginning of the summer break of 2017, six members of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society (UBSS) travelled to County Clare on our annual Ireland expedition. Our main objective was to continue the re-surveying of the Coolagh River cave which was started last year. We also had the secondary objective of continuing survey…
The Tratman Award, 2015 The Tratman Award has been awarded annually since 1979 to a caving-related paper-based publication in memory of E.K. Tratman, who died in 1978. It covers books, journals and articles published in a calendar year and is administered by the Ghar Parau Foundation, but judged by independent cavers; for 2015 these were…
A bear bone found nearly 100 years ago in a cave in Co. Clare, Ireland has provided evidence enabling archaeologist Dr Marion Dowd to re-write the prehistory of the human occupation of Ireland. Radiocarbon dating of a butchered brown bear bone, stored in a cardboard box at the National Museum of Ireland for almost 100…
Ireland has long been a popular destination for cavers the world over. But there is much more to Irish caves than simply their sporting interest. Archaeologist Marion Dowd’s book, The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland, has just won the magazine Current Archaeology’s Book of the Year award. The book tells the story of how people…
This year’s Irish Student Caving Forum is being hosted by the Dublin City University Caving Club in Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim on the 25th – 28th March 2016. The ticket cost is €50 per person. Accommodation is available in the Community Centre Kiltyclogher There’s a Facebook page for the event here. In addition the forum are looking…
Far from the floods back home, a team of fifteen cavers, mostly from Ireland, spent Christmas and New Year exploring caves in the Papua New Guinea rainforest. The Kosua tribe own land near Mount Bosavi in the Southern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea. In 2011/12 a successful reconnaissance expedition had explored caves around the…
