Hanging with the Irish by the sea
On the Whitsuntide weekend (a bank holiday in mid-June) of 1952, students Brian Varley and JM Dickenson aged 19 and 20 respectively, embarked on the vacation of a lifetime. They were exploring the rugged natural terrain of Lisdoonvarna, a small town north of County Clare in west Ireland. The Burren, as this region is colloquially known, was till then a largely unexplored area.
Noticing a thin stream of water disappearing into a cliff face, the two enthusiastic young spelunkers set out to investigate where it might lead to. They began by removing boulders and digging a narrow passageway under the cliff, wide enough for them to crawl through. They crawled through narrow and difficult terrain for nearly 500 metres, spurred on by sheer gumption.
Their labour finally bore fruit when they chanced on the chamber of a deep underground cave where a magnificent sight met them. It was a colossal stalactite suspended from the ceiling—Europe’s largest and the longest free-hanging one in the Northern Hemisphere—in what is now known as the Doolin Cave.
They later described their discovery thus: “Scrambling over boulders, we stood speechless in a large chamber, of ample width, length and impressive height. As our lamps circled this great hall we picked out a gigantic stalactite, certainly over 30 feet in length, the only formation in the chamber and set proudly in the very centre.
It is really majestic and poised like the veritable sword of Damocles. With our headlamps inadequately flood lighting this huge formation we tip toed-believe it or not! to the bottom of the chamber, not daring to speak lest the vibration of the first voices ever to sound in this hall since the beginning of time should cause it to shatter.”
Located beneath a limestone valley, the stalactite in Doolin was formed by the slow dripping of the acidic water from the nearby shale which dissolved the limestone rock surrounding it. Most stalactites grow at the rate of 10 cm every 1,000 years, placing the Doolin stalactite’s origins over 70,000 years ago. Astoundingly, it is still growing.
Visitors to the cave these days have a far more comfortable experience than Varley and Dickenson did. Decades after its initial discovery, the land on which the cave stands was purchased by John and Helen Browne, who undertook the task of making it a tourist attraction.
Once the site was deemed safe for construction, a large pathway was dug so visitors could walk underground. This allowed the 70th year celebration of the discovery of the cave to be marked with great fanfare in 2022. Varley, by then an octogenarian, was presented with a plaque on the occasion.
The cave is open every day and guided tours take place every hour till closing time. Donning hard hats, visitors walk down a steep stairway of 125 steps, then through a narrow path till they arrive at the mouth of the enormous cave. Numerous safety precautions are in place and children below the age of four aren’t allowed inside.
The cave is located a mere 15 minutes away from another popular Irish attraction—the Cliffs of Moher—so one can make a daylong excursion to the area. Other attractions here include coffee, cookies and other treats at the onsite café, as well as the chance to shop for beautiful pottery made by local artist Caireann Browne. She fashions these pieces from glacial cave clay formed over millennia, on which geologists have found traces of pollen from flowers predating the ice age, no longer available on earth.
For being an unobtrusive cave buried for millennia, Doolin certainly has a lot to offer—stunning natural formations, pottery made from ancient clay and an adventurous tale for the ages.