Writer: Helena Bergström
We have visited two caves in Ireland: Aillwee Cave, which was a secret for many years, and Doolin Cave with Europe's largest stalactite. Join us in two exciting caves in Ireland! Today we also tell you a bit about Irish food, and about our continued journey south ...
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Caves in Ireland
There are several caves in Ireland, and we have visited two of the most interesting: Aillwee Cave and Doolin Cave. Both caves are located on the west coast, just south of Galway.
Aillwee cave - Long a secret
We started by visiting Aillwee Cave located on the west coast of Ireland, just south of Galway. This cave was found in 1944, when farmer Jack McGann, lost his dog and had to crawl into the cave to find it.
For some reason, he waited 30 years (!) before telling anyone about the cave. Once he did, excavation began, and now the cave is a tourist attraction along with a cheese shop and a centre for birds of prey.
What's special about Aillwee Cave is that it was formed by an underground river, so it's shaped like a tunnel with a circular roof. So you walk where the water once flowed! Inside the cave there is also a small waterfall.
Locally produced cheeses
Once you've finished visiting the cave, you can walk down to a cheese shop, which sells the award-winning "Burren Gold Cheese", and a bird of prey centre. We sampled the cheeses in the shop and because they were so good, we took home two cheeses: "Garlic & Nettle" and "Black Pepper". In the same picture you see two things my Irish colleague told me to buy: soda bread and Irish butter. Very good!
Doolin Cave - Europe's largest stalactite
The next cave we visited was Doolin Cave, located just outside Doolin on the west coast of Ireland. This cave was discovered in 1952 by cave climbers J M Dickenson and Brian Varley. Although the cave they crawled into was... sick cramped, they continued for five (!) hours because they felt that there was oxygen in front of them, and thus there could be an opening. Bear in mind that they were travelling in pitch black darkness, with only basic caving equipment from the 1950s.
Finally, they arrived at a large hall, with the largest stalactite in Europe. The stalactite is 7.3 metres long and weighs around ten tonnes! Today, a larger entrance has been made so that visitors can reach the same hall and stalactite.
The journey continued ... but where?
After visiting two caves in Ireland, we continued our journey southwards. We set the satnav to our destination and asked it to pick up the fastest the road. You could say we were a bit surprised by the GPS's choice of route, but who knows, maybe it was the fastest route? Anyone who can guess where we are going? The answer will be in tomorrow's post, which we will publish at 06:00.
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Nils-Åke Hansson says:
Caves are exciting, strange how water has made its way through. Is the cheese stored in the cave?
Is there high humidity and do you feel it?
09 May 2018 - 7:42
Helena says:
Good questions! No, the cheese simply came from a farm nearby. And no, not really, it didn't feel that moist.
09 May 2018 - 9:56
Ama de casa says:
Cool both with the waterfall in the cave and that bauta stalactite 🙂 ).
Have a continued good journey, it will be exciting to see where you end up 🙂 .
09 May 2018 - 9:43
Helena says:
Thank you very much! We also think it is exciting! 🙂 (We have an approximate plan, but it is revised all the time if you say so ;))
09 May 2018 - 9:56
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
Surely there is something exciting about caves. We visited the Postojna cave last week, very worth seeing, although a bit more organised than your caves. Incredibly impressive stalactite, we were told that they grow about 1 mm in 40-50 years!
It's fun to browse through domestic foods, sometimes it's really good and sometimes it's more interesting than good....
09 May 2018 - 11:41
Helena says:
The Postojna cave is incredibly beautiful! And yes, stalactites grow slowly so you realise that this one is very old ... 😉.
09 May 2018 - 18:29
BP says:
The stalactite is really impressive. I wouldn't want it in my head;-)
The small roads are incredibly charming, as long as you're not in a hurry or have an appointment.
I love Irish butter. We often choose it in Spain actually.
Maybe you are on your way to the Aran Islands. Exciting to read tomorrow:-)
09 May 2018 - 20:46
Helena says:
You get meetings sometimes ... It actually goes well, but sometimes you have to fix and fiddle a bit 😉 Glad you like Irish butter! I've probably never tasted it before, but it's good! Exciting guess by the way! The answer will come tomorrow 😉 .
09 May 2018 - 22:01
Matts Torebring says:
How cool and how much I am discovering now.
10 May 2018 - 8:21
Helena says:
There is a lot to see and discover on this island! 🙂
10 May 2018 - 8:55
Elisabeth says:
Cosy with caves and large stalactite.
16 May 2018 - 21:42