Noon's Hole lies about 5km. N.W. of Boho. At 250 feet, this pothole is the deepest in Ireland. It used to be called “Sumera” meaning abyss but gained notoriety, and the new name of “Noon”, after a notorious murder took place there. Ordnance Survey maps still use both names.
Dominick Noone (original spelling) was a highwayman. He was apparently of strange appearance and wore his yellow hair in ringlets down to the waist. He was a Ribbonman but also became an informer, so in 1826, his “colleagues” in that illegal organization lured him to his death at this Sumera where he was bludgeoned and flung into the depths. However his body caught on a ledge and eight days later, the police, local gentry, three magistrates and a great crowd gathered at the brink of the hole. Planks were put across and a well-sinker named Cavanagh was lowered to bring up the remains. The body was then carried to a chapel with the plan to hold a wake but it was not to be, as people blocked the doorway and prevented entrance. The murderers of Noone were never caught.
In 1879 a long ballad was composed about the event. The penultimate verse goes…Within the mountain nature made,
A deep and dismal cave,
That suited well the murderers said,
To be a traitor’s grave,
They flung the lifeless body below -
A groan they thought it gave.
Bottomless pit
So that is the story of Dominick Noone. But what of the pothole itself? A Sumera is a bottomless pit and locals treated it as a supernatural area and viewed it with suspicion and fear. However, in August of 1895, a Frenchman, M. Martel explored the cave for the first time, but he only descended 60 feet and it was not until 1912 that a group actually reached the bottom.
Belfast City Hall could easily fit in the depth of Noons Hole.First complete descentIn 1912, four men, Dunn, Kentish, Major Wingfield and Ernest A Baker from the Yorkshire Ramblers Club made the climb using a 105 feet rope ladder which had been built for them by Fermanagh ships chandlers and timber merchants. For illumination they wore candles in their hats and occasionally lit magnesium strips to enhance the light.
Not a lot
And what did they find on reaching the bottom? Not a lot. A “dungeon like place” some 20 feet by 6 feet wide with a small passage leading off. However after 20 feet, this passage ended in water reaching to the roof so they couldn’t proceed any further. A stream pours over the edge into the pothole so climbers are constantly inundated with this deluge. At the bottom it disappears to eventually emerge about half a mile away at Ooghboragan
Click here to view a 1987 reconstructio...
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Have you ever explored Noon's Hole? Do people still think it has some kind of supernatural link? Have you ever heard the ballad about Noone's murder being sung? Do you have any other stories or information about this great pothole that you would like to share.
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