| Dunmore Cave | |
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Cave entrance |
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| Location | Castlecomer Road, County Kilkenny |
| Length | 310 m (1,030 ft)[1] |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Number of entrances | 1 |
| Access | Show cave access only |
Dunmore Cave (from Irish: Dún Mór meaning "great fort") is a limestone cave in Ballyfoyle, County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is a show cave open to the public, particularly well known for its rich archæological discoveries and for being the site of a Viking massacre in 928.[2]
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The caves are located to the east of and close to the N78 Kilkenny–Castlecomer road and about 11 km (6.8 mi) north of Kilkenny City.[3] The entrance is in the townland of Mohill,[1] where a tourist centre has been established at the site. Overlooking the Dinnin river valley, it is found in an isolated outcrop of limestone on the Castlecomer Plateau.[1]
Dunmore is not one of the largest of Ireland's caves. It contains just a quarter of a mile of passages and at its deepest point, it descends to 150 ft (46 m), but it possesses some fine calcite formations. The most spectacular is the Market Cross, a distinctly cross-shaped column over 19 ft (5.8 m) high.
Dunmore Cave was designated a National Monument by the Commissioners of Public Works in 1944,[1][4] but development as a show cave with visitor centre and tours didn't begin until 1967, at the behest of respected archæologist and spelæologist J. C. Coleman. The cave was closed in 2000 for archæological work and redevelopment, and reopened in 2003.[5]
The earliest historical reference to the cave is to be found in the Triads of Ireland, dating from the 14th to the 19th century, where "Úam Chnogba, Úam Slángæ and Dearc Fearna" are listed under the heading, "the three darkest places in Ireland".[6] The last, meaning the "Cave of the Alders," is generally thought to be the present Dunmore Cave,[1] while the first two translate as the caves of Knowth and Slaney.[7] Other sources translate the listed locations as Rath Croghan, the cave or crypt of Slane[8] and the "Cave of the Ferns".[7]
In the Annals of the Four Masters, dated to the 17th century, Dearc Fearna was recorded as the site of a great Viking massacre in 928 AD:
"Godfrey, grandson of Imhar, with the foreigners of Ath Cliath, demolished and plundered Dearc Fearna, where one thousand persons were killed in this year as is stated in the quatrain: 'Nine hundred years without sorrow, twenty-eight, it has been proved,
'Since Christ came to our relief, to the plundering of Dearc-Fearna.'"[2]
The earliest writings on the cave of an archæological nature came from George Berkeley[9][10] whose report dated 1706 detailed a visit that he made to the cave as a boy. The essay was not published until 1871.[10] In 1869 Arthur Wynne Foot, a physician, made an archæological visit to the cave with Rev. James Graves and Peter Burtchaell and discovered large quantities on human remains, which they collected.[8] In his reports, Foot meticulously documented his findings, and also called references from the writings of researchers over the preceding 120 years.[8]
In 1999, a hoard of 43 silver and bronze items was discovered in a rocky cleft deep in the cave. The hoard was dated to 970 AD. It consisted of silver, ingots and conical buttons woven from fine silver.[11]
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