Well, I won’t dwell more than necessary, on the fact that caving has come to a halt due to COVID-19, as we all know this. However, in between the series of lockdowns over the past year I have been able to get a few trips done and a few photos taken. The major event to occur was the successful Gorteenaguinnel Expedition in September of last year. This was organised to map uncertain caves in that region in County Leitrim just prior to the country entering a series of harder lockdowns. More will be forthcoming on this, when the |expedition leader publishes our findings in the next Irish Speleology journal.
I will attempt to keep updates coming with my backlog of photos not yet shared online. My first is an entirely rewritten page on Pollnagollum Cave in Clare with photos not before included. Please find it here.
Here is my favourite photo from the above mentioned Leitrim Expedition:
Just prior to the Expedition a few of us managed to get a flying visit to the classic Pollnagollum of the Boats in Fermanagh, where I had terrible camera flash failures but managed to get this not unreasonable shot:
Finally, and again just prior to the expedition, on a trip to my my most local caves, in an attempt to calibrate survey gear, I got this shot from Portrane Caves:
Unfortunately, some very sad news came in October with the untimely passing of one of Ireland’s great cave geologists, Matthew Parkes. He had written on the Portrane caves and was an extremely knowledgeable man who never hesitated to share his knowledge; and I enjoyed our often long discussions by email. He was a big supporter of my website and photography and strongly encouraged my work. Rest In Peace, Matthew.
Caves Of Ireland 