Irish Student Caving Forum 2019

The 2019 Irish Student Caving Forum was hosted by none other than TUD Caving Club - formerly known as DIT Caving Club. This year it was hosted in none-other than Kiltyclogher! This must mark the 5th year now in a row apparently that the forum has been hosted at Kilty since the "incident" which had apparently happened in County Clare the last time we students got together. At least everyone is familiar with Kilty, and this year QUB decided to host the tent city, with everyone pitching tents at the back of Kilty.

My weekend trip began on the 18th April, thanks to my abundance of annual leave from placement I had left over. I decided to head down a day early and stay in the Hoo to get an extra day of caving in - tossing this idea around in the pub on Wednesday night, Robert decided he wanted to tag along and enjoy the banter with those who had travelled over from England in the Hoo! So at 12 noon I picked up Robert, all of the associated caving gear from the club store and began the smooth, overfilled car journey down to the Hoo!

The journey was smooth as per usual, with the trusty passat surprisingly not breaking down! Arriving at the Hoo, we noticed some activity, of course two cars full of cavers from England had been enjoying the atmosphere around the Hoo. Simon, Botch, Louise, Rowan, Brendan, Ben and Merryn were busy undertaking meal prep. We unloaded the car, packed everything into the trailer then headed to get some food. Especially before the usual evening banter was to be had!

The Friday we all arose after a night of drinking and story telling! Robert and myself would use this extra day to our advantage by getting the club trailer down to Kilty (my first time towing) after which we would head to Proglish to help rig the cave. Packing the trailer quickly, we left the Hoo at around 12 noon before making a much needed stop at our first cave of the weekend, Pollna-clancies, the finest dining adventure of the lands, before our arrival at Kilty. Here we started the building of tent city much to Roberts delight. I went off to socialise with the locals and find out what had been happening over the last month in Kilty, whilst also leaving the trailer behind.

After this, we speedily drove to Proglish to assist in the rigging adventures. On arrival to the cave after a 20minute bog walk in the 20 degree heat, we found Eszter and Fergal ascending back up the first pitch in Proglish shouting they had forgot the Karabiners to rig any further! Typical Faff! Both Robert and myself then lashed down the cave to finish rigging with Robert using me to his advantage as the test dummy! Cave complete, time to see what Eszter and Fergal were up to - failing to rig Taga! Not their fault however, DIT forgot to give us enough Karabiners, rats! Back to the cars and another 20minute bog walk to hatefully experience. The Friday night had the usual antics of any student forum, with much socialising to be had.

Saturday morning came around and I set of with Emily Punzalan, JP Wallace and Adam Prior, to take a trip down Noones Hole. It was my first time attempting Noones, as nobody from Queen's had recently attempted it, due to the faff associated with taking a bunch of newbies like myself and the mayhem this might end up causing. Overall it was good trip, making our way down the pitches in a stead-fast method, before eventually side stepping above the canals to avoid getting soaked and making our way through crucifixion crawl. We explored a small amount of High-noones right before deciding to turn around and get back up as another group of cavers had decided to pile into the cave and things might have gotten a little busy on the pitches if we chose to hang around any longer. Whilst we were in Noones caving, the rest of the cavers had taken part in the DIT organised Cave-Cleanup at Pollnagossan Cave in Leitrim. Arriving back at Kilty, the usual antics of a forum weekend had began to climax, especially with the evening activities and a substantial flow of beverages. Overall it was a good evening, with plenty of memories to be recalled in the future at some point over a pint in the pub.

The last day of the forum had came around, and with it came one last trip into Prods Pot with Brendan Hall, Daniel Black and Niall O'Rourke. This was a quick bounce trip to the end of streamway and back. Whilst awaiting folks to head up the pitches, a discussion about life itself took place between myself and Brendan, before we sprinting up the pitches, through the sporting boulder and out of the cave. Brendan de-rigged as he went along. Arriving back at Kilty, DIT had laid up a BBQ for us all, which was enjoyable which setup the night perfectly for the final event of the weekend, the pub quiz held at the local pub just up at the roundabout in Kilty.

The Roosters awoke a mob of hungover cavers on the Monday, a call reminding the weary students that at last, the student forum for this year had come to a close.

Many thanks to DIT for hosting a memorable event. Onto the next one!

(Future Paul here, Forum 2020 sadly didn't go ahead due to the fun that we'll all remember - the Covid-19 Global Pandemic)