Shannon Pot | |
---|---|
Log na Sionna | |
Location | Derrylahan townland, Glangevlin, County Cavan |
Coordinates | 54°14′05″N7°55′08″W / 54.23475°N 7.919°W |
Type | pool |
Primary inflows | Shannon Cave |
Primary outflows | River Shannon |
Catchment area | 12.8 km2 (4.9 sq mi) |
Basin countries | Ireland |
Max. length | 16 m (52 ft) |
Max. width | 16 m (52 ft) |
Max. depth | 14.6 m (48 ft) |
Shannon Pot (from Irish Log na Sionna, meaning 'hollow of the Shannon' [1] ) is a pool in the karst landscape in the townland of Derrylahan near Cuilcagh Mountain in County Cavan, Ireland. [2] An aquifer-fed naturally fluctuating pool, it is the traditional source of the River Shannon. It has connections, through the Shannon Cave system, to other pools, notably two in County Fermanagh. The pool itself is about 16 metres (52 ft) wide, and has been dived to 14.6 m (48 ft) depth. Settlements near the Shannon Pot include Dowra, Blacklion and Glangevlin.
There is an early reference to the Pot in the Book of Magauran. [3] Poem X, stanza 2, composed c. 1349 by Giolla na Naomh Ó hUiginn, which states, Innte a-tá an tiobra as dtig Sionann/sruth as uaisle i n-Inis Fháil (In it is the well whence comes the Shannon, noblest stream in Inis Fáil).
According to legend, the Shannon is named after Sionnan, who was the granddaughter of Manannán mac Lir, the god of the sea. She came to this spot to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which was planted by the druids. As she began to eat it, the waters of the pool sprang up and overwhelmed her. She was drawn down into the pool and its water began to flow over the land, forming the River Shannon.[ citation needed ]
Shannon Pot was first explored by divers Roger Solari and John Elliot on multiple dives in 1971, to a depth of firstly 6 m (20 ft), then 9 m (30 ft). At this point the water was found to emerge from a 2-metre (6.6 ft) wide slit, up to 300 mm (1 ft) in height. [2] [4] Their progress was hampered by submerged tree branches, equipment problems and poor visibility in the dark brown water. [4] The pot was later explored by Martyn Farr, among others, but no further progress was made until the late 2000s. [5]
In December 2008 and January 2009 the pot was dived again by Alasdair Kennedy and Paul Doig, and subsequently by Artur Kozłowski. After widening the slit and continuing downwards past a loose cobblestone slope, Kozłowski discovered an unstable chamber. A strong current was found to emerge from a tight, unstable shaft in the floor. Doig and Kennedy surveyed the chamber to a depth of 14.6 m (48 ft). [4]
Surveys have defined a 12.8 km2 (4.9 sq mi) immediate permanent catchment area covering the slopes of Cuilcagh. This area includes Garvagh Lough, 2.2 km (1.4 mi) to the northeast of the pot. Water from Garvagh drains into the Pollnaowen sink, [n 1] before emerging at Shannon Pot. [2] The highest point in the catchment is a spring at Tiltinbane on the western end of the Cuilcagh mountain ridge; this sources an unnamed stream which itself feeds into Shannon Cave. Further sinks that source the pot include Pollboy and, through Shannon Cave, Pollahune in County Cavan and Polltullyard and Tullyrrakeeragh in Fermanagh. [2] Surveys suggest that Shannon Pot may once have had a much bigger catchment area.
It has been shown that in times of high water flow, the pool is hydrologically linked to Badger Pot and Pigeon Pot, located 10.6 km (6.6 mi) north of the Shannon Pot in the Cuilcagh Mountain area near Florencecourt Forest Park, Fermanagh. [2]
In July 2023 Cavan Belturbet Municipal Council approved planning permission for the development of a discovery centre. [6] [7]
The River Shannon is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at 360 km in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of 16,900 km2 (6,525 sq mi), – approximately one fifth of the area of Ireland.
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (Bréifne). Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county, which had a population of 81,704 at the 2022 census.
Cuilcagh is a mountain on the border between County Fermanagh and County Cavan. With a height of 666 metres (2,185 ft) it is the highest point in both counties. It is also the 170th highest peak on the island of Ireland, and Ireland's only cross-border county top. Water from the southern slope flows underground until it emerges some miles away in the Shannon Pot, the traditional source of the River Shannon. The area is sometimes referred to as the Cuilcagh Mountains.
Blacklion is a village in the north-west of County Cavan in Ireland. It is situated on the N16 national primary road, just across the border from Belcoo, a village in the south-west of County Fermanagh.
The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The caves are named after the nearby Marble Arch, a natural limestone arch at the upstream end of Cladagh Glen under which the Cladagh River flows. The caves are formed from three rivers draining off the northern slopes of Cuilcagh mountain, which combine underground to form the Cladagh. On the surface, the river emerges from the largest karst resurgence in Ireland, and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. At 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) the Marble Arch Caves form the longest known cave system in Northern Ireland, and the karst is considered to be among the finest in the British Isles.
The Owenbrean River, is a small river in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland which flows down from Cuilcagh Mountain before sinking underground, eventually reaching the Marble Arch Cave system.
Glangevlin is a village in the northwest of County Cavan, Ireland. It is in the townlands of Gub (Glangevlin) and Tullytiernan, at the junction of the R200 and R207 regional roads. It is surrounded by the Cuilcagh Mountains and borders the counties of Leitrim and Fermanagh. A large stone known as 'Maguire's chair' is deposited on the right hand side of the road, roughly 4 miles from Glangevlin village, so-called because it was supposedly the inauguration site of the Maguire clan in medieval times.
Badger Pot and Pigeon Pot are two caves found in the Karst topography on the eastern slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain, south of Florencecourt Forest Park, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
The Cladagh River is a small river in County Fermanagh, formed from three rivers and a number of streams draining off the northern slopes of Cuilcagh mountain, which combine underground in the Marble Arch Cave system. On the surface, the River Cladagh emerges from one of the largest karst resurgences in the UK, before flowing through Cladagh Glen Nature Reserve and eventually draining into the Arney River.
Noon's Hole lies about 5 km northwest of the centre of Boho, in the townland of Old Barr in the parish of Devenish, County Fermanagh, close to the border with Boho parish. The cave is under part of the escarpment on the east side of the Glenade Sandstone uplands. At 81 m (266 ft), this pothole was thought to have the deepest shaft in Ireland, but this honour was passed to the nearby Reyfad Pot, which contains an entrance shaft of 88 m (289 ft). The continuation of the cave system contains 3.7 km (2.3 mi) of passage, and it connects to the resurgence at Arch Cave through three cave dives, making this system the 8th deepest in Ireland, at 108 m (354 ft).
Shannon Cave is an active stream passage cave which straddles the border of County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland.
The Caves of the Tullybrack and Belmore hills are a collection of caves in southwest County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The region is also described as the West Fermanagh Scarplands by environmental agencies and shares many similar karst features with the nearby Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark.
The Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark formerly known as the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark straddles the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is centred on the Marble Arch Caves and in 2001 it became one of the first geoparks to be designated in Europe.
Artur "Conrad" Kozłowski was a Polish cave diver who spent his last years in Ireland. Amongst other achievements in cave exploration, he set the record for the deepest cave dive in Great Britain and Ireland at a depth of 103 m (338 ft).
Pollatoomary is the deepest explored underwater cave in Ireland. It has been explored to an underwater depth of 113 metres (371 ft). The explored limit of Pollatoomary is also 23 metres (75 ft) deeper underwater than that of the terminal sump in Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, England, which previously held the record for the deepest underwater cave in Great Britain and Ireland.
Derrylahan, an Anglicisation of the Gaelic, ‘Doire Leathan’ meaning The Wide Oak-wood, is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Glangevlin and barony of Tullyhaw.
Alteen is a townland in the civil parish of Kinawley, barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. The local pronunciation is IL-Keen. A sub-division is called Tullynahunshin.
Michał Marek was a Polish cave diver who spent his last years in Ireland. As of May 2019, he holds the record for the deepest cave dive in Ireland at a depth of 113 m (371 ft).