Cave diving in Ireland

[Kevin Deady]

I've never heard of anyone doing this, either training or diving.

Does anyone have any usefull info?

Best regards,
Kevin.

[dave]

Hi Kevin,

I know a few Irish cave divers. I think they dive in caves around
Dingle.

Martin Farr mentions Irish cave diving in his book `Beyond the Darkness` ( think thats the title ).

If you want details send me an email.

regards,
Dave

[John S]

Hi Kevin,

Theres a few cave divers around alright. Depends greatly on the type of cave though. Sumps, Resurgences or Submarine. The sumps are generally short and nasty, caving skills are required to reach them and the diving is just a tool to reach dry cave passage beyond the sump. A few resurgences in Ireland do offer better diving with bigger longer passage and greater depth. But the visibility is generally very poor due to surface run off. There is some active exploration of some sites in the Gort/Kinvara and Cong regions. Regarding submarine caves (cave passage once dry and now flooded) probably the finest examples are around Doolin, Co.Clare.

Training wise, I'm not aware of anyone offering training in Ireland. Certification offered by agencies diving in the caves of Mexico, Florida and France are generally not suitable for diving in the fresh water caves of Ireland as the conditions here are quite different.

By the way the book by Martyn Farr is “The Darkness Beckons”, an excellent read.

Slan
John

[tony]

quote:Originally posted by dave

Hi Kevin,

I know a few Irish cave divers. I think they dive in caves around
Dingle.

Martin Farr mentions Irish cave diving in his book `Beyond the Darkness` ( think thats the title ).

If you want details send me an email.

regards,
Dave

Tony..

[tony]

dave martyn farr,s book is called "the darkness beckons. it talks about the caves in doolin co galway. and how dangerous they are also. by the way the book is a fantastic read.

we should remember that it was from these early cave divers (sheck excely, bill stone, rob palmer etc ) that tech diving was born.

regards tont obrien

Tony..

[Eoin OBeara]

I know that Tim Doyle in Bantry can teach it, but whether he does teach it is a different matter. I was talking to him about it before and he said to get back to him about it, but that was a few years ago now.

If anyone is organising a course for next year let me know. There is a pre-req of having an Overhead Environment course first (I was asking Martyn Farr about it too) and then there is a Cave Intro course before Full Cave. Feel free to correct me lads!


Ta,
Eoin

eoin@scuba.ie

[mark lakes]

Eoin your spot on with the prereqs. Martyn ran his first OE and Intro Cave course here in Ireland in August. There will be an article about Irish cave diving published soon, Sub Sea i think. If he gets enough interest he'll run them every year I'd say. You may have to visit him in Wales for Full Cave though. He is a top guy highly highly recommend him.

[John S]

Out of interest (as an active cave diver) in what site was the OE course run?

[Eoin OBeara]

Here's a link to a review of the OE Course that Martyn runs:
http://www.divernet.com/technique/0103cavern.htm#top

Ta,
Eoin

eoin@scuba.ie

[mark lakes]

John, the OE course was run in Cong. Martyn calls the site where most of the diving took place "the lost world". I have no sump index for mayo so no local name I'm afraid.

[John S]

Hi Mark/Eoin,

Cheers for the info. Can think of a few sites that have a Lost World feel to them. By the way if you want a sump index (excluding surveys) let me know. I have the original in Word.

Slan
John

[s.bothwell]

Just to let you know that Martyn Farr will be in Ireland on the weekend of Feb 25/26 2006 to give a talk at the Dive Ireland Conference in Belfast.  See http://www.diveirelandshow.com for more details.  Leigh Bishop will also be giving a presentation on Lost Liners.  Both should be really good.  

Sarah
(Dive Ireland Secretary)