Boho, County Fermanagh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Boho Botha |
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| Location | ||
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Ulster | |
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| County: | County Fermanagh | |
| District: | Fermanagh | |
| UK Parliament: | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | |
| Dialling code: | 028, +44 28 | |
| Population (2001) | ||
| Website: www.fermanagh.gov.uk | ||
Boho (pronounced "Bo") (Irish: Botha) is a very small village outside Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
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[edit] Places of interest
Boho graveyard has the remains of a 12th century high cross-shaft featuring Adam and Eve and the serpent on its east face.
Noon's Hole lies about 3 miles (5 km) north west of Boho and at 250 feet, this pothole is the deepest in Ireland.
1km from the crossroads in Boho is The Linnet Inn, one of the last few remaining thatched public houses left in Ireland. Owned for over thirty years by Brian McKenzie it boasts an impressive open hearth fire and unique cave bar at the back.
Other places of interest include the Church of Ireland at Farnaconnell, 1.2 miles (2 km) north west and the Sacred Heart Church at Carrickbeg which houses the 12th century high cross in the graveyard.
[edit] Boho high cross
The high cross is in Boho graveyard, on an eminence overlooking the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart to the west. Ecclesiastical use of this site dates to the Early Christian period. The cross is perhaps 1000 years old and, before excavation, comprised a weathered shaft and accompanying socketed base of red sandstone. Excavation suggested that the cross was not in its original position, as it was set over a partially excavated charnel pit containing disarticulated human remains and post-medieval artefacts. The most probable date for the re-erection of the cross at its current location is after 1832, when the site was first reused for Roman Catholic worship and a new church was built in the graveyard.
[edit] Noon's Hole
Noon's Hole lies about 5km. N.W. of Boho. At 250 feet, this pothole is the deepest in Ireland. It used to be called "Sumera" meaning abyss but gained notoriety, and the new name of "Noon", after a notorious murder took place there. Ordnance Survey maps still use both names.
Dominick Noone (original spelling) was a highwayman. He was apparently of strange appearance and wore his yellow hair in ringlets down to the waist. He was a Ribbonman but also became an informer, so in 1826, his "colleagues" in that illegal organization lured him to his death at this Sumera where he was bludgeoned and flung into the depths. However his body caught on a ledge and eight days later, the police, local gentry, three magistrates and a great crowd gathered at the brink of the hole. Planks were put across and a well-sinker named Cavanagh was lowered to bring up the remains. The body was then carried to a chapel with the plan to hold a wake but it was not to be, as people blocked the doorway and prevented entrance. The murderers of Noone were never caught. In 1879 a long ballad was composed about the event. The penultimate verse goes.
Within the mountain nature made, A deep and dismal cave, That suited well the murderers said, To be a traitor's grave, They flung the lifeless body below - A groan they thought it gave.
Bottomless pit
So that is the story of Dominick Noone. But what of the pothole itself? A Sumera is a bottomless pit and locals treated it as a supernatural area and viewed it with suspicion and fear. However, in August of 1895, a Frenchman, M. Martel explored the cave for the first time, but he only descended 60 feet and it was not until 1912 that a group actually reached the bottom.
Comparison sketch of pothole and City Hall Belfast City Hall could easily fit in the depth of Noons Hole. First complete descent
In 1912, four men, Dunn, Kentish, Major Wingfield and Ernest A Baker from the Yorkshire Ramblers Club made the climb using a 105 feet rope ladder which had been built for them by Fermanagh ships chandlers and timber merchants. For illumination they wore candles in their hats and occasionally lit magnesium strips to enhance the light.
Not a lot
And what did they find on reaching the bottom? Not a lot. A "dungeon like place" some 20 feet by 6 feet wide with a small passage leading off. However after 20 feet, this passage ended in water reaching to the roof so they couldn't proceed any further. A stream pours over the edge into the pothole so climbers are constantly inundated with this deluge. At the bottom it disappears to eventually emerge about half a mile away at Ooghboragan
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