Aillwee Cave is a cave in the Burren karst landscape, possibly the oldest in County Clare and one of the oldest in Ireland. A 300-meter-long passage ended with an artificial tunnel is open to the public. This part is one third of the total length of the cave. The route takes about 30 minutes to walk, among others over bridge gaps, under fancy formations and under an underground waterfall.
The formations visible in the part intended for tourists date back to 8,000 years, but in the closed sections there are calcite samples from even 350,000 years ago. The cave was discovered in 1944 when farmer Jack McGann followed his dog tracking a rabbit. The man did not tell anyone about this find for almost 30 years. It was not until 1973 that the Aillwee Cave was first explored, and three years later it was made available to the public.
The name Aillwee comes from the Irish phrase Aill Bhuí, which means "yellow cliff".
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