Yesterday on the 9th of November 6th class went on a field trip to Mitchelstown Caves where we learned a lot about the caves. Before we went into the caves our guide told us that a farmer called Michael Condon found the cave in 1833 when he dropped his crowbar down a small crack in the ground. She also said that the caves have a constant temperature of 12 degrees. When we went down all the steps we saw that the cave is made of carved out limestone and there was a lot of stalactites coming down from the ceiling of the caves. The guide said that sound travels through the caves very well so we all sung two verses of the song Péigín Leitir Mór. The stalactites also had small drops on the end of them. We learned that it was calcium bicarbonate and it dropped onto the ground to form a stalagmite. When a stalactite and a stalagmite join together it’s called a pillar. The guide also showed us columns and curtains that looked very interesting.On the way out we saw a small coral fossil. We also learned that a river used to run through the caves.
Togher Boys' National School 