Caving is the exploration of natural underground spaces. It is an adventure sport with inherent risks; many caves are cold or wet or muddy, or all three.
If you don't mind all that it is also a chance to explore a unique world very different from the surface. Even in Ireland it is possible to go where few or even no people have been before. Technically potholes are caves that include vertical drops and therefore require the use of ropes and or ladders but most people use either word for the same activity.
The Speleological Union of Ireland is the national organizing body for caving throughout Ireland. Membership is open to anyone interested in caving, for a small fee.
The Speleological Union of Ireland receive a grant from the Irish Sports Council which is used to provide a number of services for cavers such as training, newsletters and magazines, an annual symposium, insurance, expedition grants, library and cave access agreements.
Speleology is the scientific study of caves, trying to understand why they have different shapes, why caves are found in some places but not in others.
Some caves are high and narrow, some are round in shape while others are square. Speleology studies the formation of caves and involves studying the minerals and life forms found in caves. It includes aspects of geology, geography, chemistry and biology.
ICRO stands for the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation. It is made up entirely of volunteers who may be called upon by the police services throughout Ireland to assist in cave rescue.
Any caver with a reasonable amount of experience would be expected to join the general call out list once they have comprehensive insurance. ICRO also has a Core Team made up of cavers who have trained in special rescue techniques and who regularly update their skills.
Big thank you to all the sponsors of SUICRO 2011. Your generosity help us raise over €800 for the raffle!
• Aillwee Cave, Ballyvaughan
• Access Rescue Consulting at Height (ARCH), Eoghan Lynch
• Backwest Adventures, Bell Harbour
• Boat Shed Brewery, Ballyvaughan
• Bisun lights, UK
• DIY Pursuits, Kinvara
• Great Outdoors, Dublin
• Handknittedpottery, UK
• Hotel Doolin, Doolin
• Inglesport, Ingleton
• McDermots, Doolin
• McGanns, Doolin
• O’Connors, Doolin
• Robbie Shone Photography
• Rope Access Specialists, Tim and Pam Fogg
• The Rock Shop, Liscannor
• Starless River
• SUI
• University of Bristol Spelaeological Society (UBSS), UK
• Venture Out, Ennis
A big thanks to all of you who made the journey to Doolin for this years SUICRO. €1760 was raised for ICRO between t-shirts, raffle tickets and the quiz. There are still some t-shirts left in various sizes so contact info@caving.ie if you missed out on one. A special thanks goes to all the kids who helped sell everything on Saturday night, you did a far better job than I could have!
Thanks to all the speakers for interesting talks, to Robbie Shone for his insight into cave photography in Aillwee cave, Colin Bunce for finding funny rocks on his fieldtrip, Tim for the SRT race and of course the many people that kindly donated prizes for the monster raffle on Saturday night.
I would also like to thank the hotel staff for being on hand to our every whim all weekend and providing Guinness late into the night! See you all next year at the Shannon Group’s festivities!
SUICO 2011 Organising people
Please be aware that there has been major movement in Shannon cave which appears to affect at least 300 m of cave. From the re-birth canal right down to at least the old entrance large rock fall has been noted. It is not known what has caused this movement though it appears it is not flooding related (a number of stal were broken in fossil parts of the cave). Large fractures have also been spotted in parts of the walls.
It is advisable that people stay out of Shannon cave until a proper assessment is made.
SUI Fracking Statement
“Hydraulic fracturing is a technique for recovering gas from relatively impermeable rocks such as shale. It involves pumping water containing sand and chemicals into boreholes at high pressure causing them to fracture and so increase their permeability. SUI is concerned that if hydraulic fracturing is carried out near karst areas it will impact groundwater, hydrology and cave environments. SUI will therefore use the planning process to object to any proposed drilling that may detrimentally impact sites of speleological interest within Ireland if needed.”
Additional Information on Fracking is available for download.