Dunmore Cave is located approximately 11km north of Kilkenny City, near Castlecomer. The cave contains around 300m of known passages and caverns. In terms of geology, Dunmore Cave is a rare example of a cave that was formed directly by glacial meltwaters.
Although not a particularly large cave system, Dunmore has a number of great examples of calcite formations like stalagmites and stalactites. However my interest in the cave comes from its dark history.
Located in the north of County Kilkenny, in a region of the ancient Irish kingdom of Ossory, Dunmore Cave was situated right in the middle of a stomping ground between the Viking powerbases of Dublin, Waterford and Limerick. The Vikings of Ireland were not one people with a united ambition and government, but were instead rival powers who regularly came into conflict with one another.
The cave at Dunmore has a chilling story to tell. The Annals record that over 1,000 people were massacred here by the Vikings. It is said that the Vikings from Dublin were en route to attack rival Vikings at Waterford circa 928 AD. They raided the surrounding land and found that a large number of people (mainly women and children) were hiding in the cave at Dunmore.
In an attempt to drive them from the cave, they lit large fires hoping that it would force those taking shelter to flee the smoke so that they could be easily captured and sold in the slave markets. However the fires were too large and burned all the oxygen in the deep cave with many suffocating to death. Antiquarians in the 18th and 19th centuries collected large quantities of human remains from within the cave, presumably those of the poor people who were massacred in that raid.
It appears that some Vikings returned to the site later to conceal their wealth. In 1999, a small hoard of silver and copper-alloy items was discovered in a cleft deep in the cave. The hoard was dated to 970 AD. It consisted of silver ingots and conical buttons woven from fine silver.
These precious objects were found with a luxurious silk garment. The dye that coloured the garment purple was reserved for the highest ranking members of society, and it was derived from the purple murex snail that can only be found on the north coast of Africa, evidence of the incredible trading network of the Vikings. Perhaps the owner of the hoard concealed it there, hoping that the cave’s dark reputation would keep it from prying eyes, but they were never able to return to retrieve it. It is also possible that they left it as an offering to chthonic (subterranean) gods or spirits.
Today Dunmore Cave is a really rewarding place to visit with a fine visitor centre. You can enjoy great guided tours that inform you about the history, archaeology and geology of this fascinating site. You can find information about opening hours and entry fees by visiting here http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/south%2Deast/dunmorecave/.
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All photographs © Neil Jackman /abartaaudioguides.com
