Cloyne Cave
| Cloyne Cave | |
| County Cork | |
|---|---|
| Length: | two miles |
| Geology: | Limestone |
Cloyne Cave is a cave in the limestone hills near the town of Cloyne in County Cork. It is the longest cave in County Cork.
The cave has been known of for thousands of years and lends its name to the town itself. The name 'Cloyne' is taken from the Gaelic Cluain Uamha meaning 'Cave of the meadow'.
The cave largely consists of phreatic mazes formed along weaknesses in the jointing of the limestone rocks. These complex mazes result in a cave which contains several miles of passage yet covers a very small area: around 8 acres. The exact length of the cave is unknown as the cave has yet to be fully surveyed, despite several years of continuous surveying in the early 1980s by local cavers. Estimates have ranged from one and a half miles to four and a half miles. A further system of unexplored caves has been known to exist under the town itself, since a section of the main street collapsed into a cavern in the mid-20th century.
The cave is very difficult to explore due to the confusing nature of the mazes. People have been said to have been lost in the cave for two days.