Hill, Brodkick, and Rule — The Mitchelstown Caves. 239 



the bottom of the declivity to the right, which the common people call 

 the river, a part of the way over a sort of potter's clay which moulds into 

 any form, and is of a brown colour — a very different soil from any in the 

 neighbouring country. I have seen the famous cave in the Peak, but 

 think it much inferior to this ; and Lord Kingsborough, who has viewed 

 the Grot d'Ancel in Burgundy, says that it is not to be compared with it." 



The cave is also mentioned in the " Postchaise Companion " ^ ; but the 

 description is merely an abstract from Young's account. 



After the capture of the old Earl, in 1601, the cave was always known as 

 Desmond's Cave ; but previous to that time it possessed the name of " The 

 Grey Sheep Cave " ; and this is accounted for by a legend related to the authors 

 by Canon Courtenay Moore, of Mitchelstown. The story is that one day the 

 tenant of the land found a fine grey ewe in a field near the cave mouth, and 

 as there was no owner forthcoming, he took possession of the stranger, and 

 eventually raised a flock of lambs from her. One day he decided to kill one 

 of the lambs; but, on his doing so, the mother gathered the rest of her 

 offspring about her, and the whole flock set oft" in the direction of the cave 

 mouth, down which they plunged, and were never seen again. 



There is strong evidence in favour of the tradition that the cave was used 

 as a place of refuge at the time of the Eebellion in 1798, as the walls of the 

 long tunnel are covered with names and dates, many of them about that 

 period. The earliest date discovered on the walls was 1602 — the year after 

 Desmond's surrender — but the name above it was illegible. This was situate 

 on the right hand wall of the tunnel near a side passage. There are many 

 dates of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, but 1835 

 is about the latest ; from that time onwards tourists ceased to visit the Old 

 Cave, the New Cave having been discovered. 



Arthur Young describes the beautiful scenery of the Old Cave as it was 

 at the time of his visit, and refers more particularly to the wealth of stalac- 

 tites ; but the cavern has been sadly depleted of its wonders, and although 

 the size of the chambers makes it highly impressive, it cannot vie with the 

 New Cave in beauty. Many of the stalactites were removed at the time 

 of the great famine in 1847-48 by the starving peasantry, who sold them to 

 the neighbouring landowners, and specimens are still to be seen in the 

 grounds of Mitchelstown Castle. The removal of these enormous columns 

 must have entailed a great amount of labour, as they had not only to be 

 borne along the passages, but also to be raised over 20 feet to the surface. 



i*'Tlie Postchaise Companion; or Traveller's Directory thi'ough Ireland," 3rd edition, Dublin, 

 1805, cols. 301-2. 



