| Noon's Hole (Sumera) – Arch Cave | |
|---|---|
 Caver rigging the entrance of Noone's Hole | |
| Location | Devenish, County Fermanagh |
| Coordinates | 54°23′00″N 7°51′24″W / 54.383255°N 7.856665°W |
| Depth | 108 m (354 ft) [1] |
| Length | 3.7 km (2.3 mi)[1] |
| Discovery | 1895 onwards |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Entrances | 2 |
| List of entrances | Noon's Hole, Arch Cave |
| Difficulty | High |
| Hazards | Verticality & water |
Noon's Hole (Irish grid ref H12684431) lies about 5 km northwest of the centre of Boho, in the townland of Old Barr in the parish of Devenish, County Fermanagh, close to the border with Boho parish. The cave is under part of the escarpment on the east side of the Glenade Sandstone uplands.[2] At 81 m (266 ft), this pothole was thought to have the deepest shaft in Ireland, but this honour was passed to the nearby Reyfad Pot, which contains an entrance shaft of 88 m (289 ft). The continuation of the cave system (incorporating the Afternoon Series and High Noon's) contains 3.7 km (2.3 mi) of passage, and it connects to the resurgence at Arch Cave through three cave dives, making this system the 8th deepest in Ireland, at 108 m (354 ft).[1]
Noon's Hole was previously called "Sumera", meaning "abyss", but gained notoriety and a new name in the 1820s, following the notorious murder of Dominick Noone, whose body was thrown into the cave. Ordnance Survey maps still use both names.[3]
- ^ a b c "N Ireland - Deepest caves". UKCaves.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- ^ "Belmore, Ballintempo & Tullybrack Uplands; Noon's Hole-Arch Cave", Earth Science Conservation Review, National Museums Northern Ireland, retrieved 7 August 2009
- ^ Jones, Gareth Ll.; Burns, Gaby; Fogg, Tim; Kelly, John (1997), The Caves of Fermanagh and Cavan (2nd Ed.), Lough Nilly Press, ISBN 0-9531602-0-3