Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark
This global Geopark is stretched over the rolling hills and rumbling mountains of County Fermanagh in the North of Ireland and County Cavan in the South. It covers a wide range of natural scenic beauty and not only covers those who have a keen interest in geography, but also archaeology, wildlife, folklore and a number of activities such as walking and cycling. Information and tours also offers visitors an opportunity to learn about the 650 million lifespan that the area has.
The main attraction of this Global Geopark is the Marble Arch Caves. Although they are dated to be at least 300,000 years old, the caves were only discovered and explored in 1895 by Eduoard Martel and Lyster Jameson. Martel found the initial rivers, waterfalls and chambers that we see today. However in 1935 a group of eager English cavers came to the area and continued to find more chambers, expanding the size of the caves. The caves lay unseen for a number of years, until in the 1970’s when the Fermanagh Council toyed with the idea of opening the caves to the public as ‘show caves’. It wasn’t until 1985 that the Marble Arch Caves became opened to the public and it wasn’t long before it became immensely popular with tourists and the natives of Ireland, North and South. In 2001 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) gave their approval to the park becoming of European Geopark rank. 2004 seen this rank reach Global Geopark level and in 2008 the park became the first International Geopark worldwide when it was extended into County Cavan in the South of Ireland.
First-class lighting (improving visitor’s vision of chambers and stalactites), lively and animated tour guides, powered boats and well designed and fantastic walkways come as one when visiting the Marble Arch Caves. Suitable and engaging for all ages, the caves are an amazing experience even if you aren’t interested geology! The information centre boasts a restaurant, a souvenir shop, exhibition area, and an audio-visual theatre, where one can watch a documentary on the history of the area and how it came to be what it is today. Visiting the Marble Arch Caves will prove to be a day well spent for both families and tour groups alike and is a definite must-see if visiting or just passing through Fermanagh.