Ardemish, Feb 12: What is billed as one of the world's largest free-standing stalactites is set to become a major tourist attraction in Ireland after authorities finally gave the go-ahead recently to develop the cave where it hangs.
The long spike hanging in the cave in Ardeamish, County Clare, in the west of the country, formed by many centuries of water containing calcium carbonate dripping from the cave ceiling, is more than 23 feet (7 meters) long.
Local couple John and Helen Browne have spent about 500,000 euros ($640,000) and 15 years waging a planning battle to get permission for the development.
An Taisce, Ireland's National Trust, and a local group had objected to opening up easier access to the Pol an Ionain cave, where the so-called "Great Stalactite" hangs.
However, planning authorities voted recently to give the green light to the Brownes' plan to open up an access shaft for a stairway and to enlarge a passage to the main chamber.
Currently, the only way to see the stalactite is to crawl down a 425-meter passage, containing a stream, that is as low as 15 inches (38 centimeters) in places.
Under the new scheme, visitors will be limited to 55,000 a year, the planning committee said, calling the stalactite "a significant part of Ireland's cultural heritage due to its scientific and aesthetic importance."
Mrs. Browne described it as a "wonder of the world."
"We think it is longer than 23 feet," she told RTE state radio, "But 23 feet is long enough for us. They say there are longer ones in Brazil but I think they are a bit inaccessible.
"It has grown to this enormous size over something like half a million years."
The stalactite is known as free-standing because while it hangs above a stalagmite, a spike growing from the floor formed by deposits of calcium carbonate falling there, the two do not meet.
Bureau Report
