Mitchelstown Cave

One of Europe's major show caves, Mitchelstown Cave, is situated on the border of counties Tipperary and Cork. Mitchelstown Cave is a world without sun, without time, a world where man almost feels an intruder, stumbling on a past age, and an era where nature reigns supreme.

Tours by informative guides will take you though three massive caverns in which you are surrounded by indescribable dripstone formations, stalactites and stalagmites. Graceful calcite curtains hang from the sloping roofs, calcite crystals glisten like diamonds in the distance and one of Europe’s finest calcite columns, the huge Tower of Babel, stands tall.

Groups should telephone ahead of time for an appointment, and are catered for winter and summer. Parking for cars and coaches is provided and toilet facilities are available on site.

Mitchelstown Cave was discovered on the 3rd of May 1833 when a labourer named Michael Condon, who was quarrying limestone, accidentally dropped his crowbar into a crevice. He stooped down to pull out a few boulders to retrieve the bar, next minute he found himself looking down to a vast series of underground chambers, passages and caverns.

Words themselves could never do full justice to the Mitchelstown Cave, the subterranean world in the heart of these hills will simply take your breath away by its sheer scale and depth.