Pollnagollum Cave Waterfall

Enniskillen / Belmore Forest / Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark, Northern Ireland, UK (Great Britain)

About Pollnagollum Cave Waterfall


Hiking Distance: 500m round-trip
Suggested Time: 15 minutes

Date first visited: 2024-07-15
Date last visited: 2024-07-15

Waterfall Latitude: 54.33649
Waterfall Longitude: -7.81219

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Pollnagollum Cave Waterfall is a small waterfall within the Belmore Forest spilling over a limestone cliff in front of what appeared to be an alcove or small cave entrance.

The waterfall is said to have a drop of 12-13m in height, but its flow varies depending on how much rain had fallen.

Polnagollum_049_07142024 - The Polnagollum Cave Waterfall
The Polnagollum Cave Waterfall

As you can see in the photo above, this waterfall had a modest flow during our mid-July 2024 visit, but I’d imagine earlier in the year or in a rainier time, it could easily swell significantly.

There are actually multiple caves on the island of Ireland that have the name Polnagollum (meaning “hole of the doves”).

However, the one we’re talking about here is also sometimes called the Polnagollum-Coolarkan Cave (not to be confused with the one in The Burren in County Clare, for example).

The secondary name is due to the fact that there used to be a limestone quarry operation here called the Coolarkan Quarry, and there’s even a limestone monolith-like remnant that people now use for climbing.

Polnagollum_010_07142024 - Julie following an old forest service road approaching an opening that I suspect is the former Coolarkan Quarry site before continuing onto the Polnagollum Cave
Julie following an old forest service road approaching an opening that I suspect is the former Coolarkan Quarry site before continuing onto the Polnagollum Cave

Apparently, the Polnagollum Cave is a filming location for the popular Game of Thrones show, but I personally haven’t really seen this show so I can’t elaborate more on this association.

However, having noticed how much attention Game of Thrones filming locations get throughout Northern Ireland, this remote spot seemed to have received increased visitation as a result (though we were the only people here during our morning visit).

In any case, visiting the Polnagollum Cave Waterfall was pretty straightforward as it was a mere 250m walk (500m round-trip) to get from the car park (see directions below) to the lookout.

The walk started off along a forest road where we had driven to its lay-by to park the car, and then we walked the continuation of this road briefly to a fork where we took the narrower road on the right.

Polnagollum_062_07142024 - The short jaunt to Polnagollum Cave goes by this eccentric-looking Coolarkan Quarry, which apparently is now a climbing apparatus for enthusiasts these days
The short jaunt to Polnagollum Cave goes by this eccentric-looking Coolarkan Quarry, which apparently is now a climbing apparatus for enthusiasts these days

From there, the path skirted by what appeared to be a small opening in the forest, which was quite possibly the location of the Coolarkan Quarry.

At this opening, there was an interesting limestone protrusion or monolith that was apparently used by climbers, and there was also a path that went deeper into the opening though it’s not the way to the Polnagollum Cave.

Continuing on the main path for another 150m or so, we then followed a sign leading to some slippery steps down to the viewing platform looking down at the Polnagollum Cave and waterfall.

During our visit, there was a gate at the viewing platform fronting the continuation of the trail leading right down into the cave.

Polnagollum_020_07142024 - Julie checking out the mouth of the Polnagollum Cave from the sanctioned lookout
Julie checking out the mouth of the Polnagollum Cave from the sanctioned lookout

While the railing or gate looked like it could be easily traversed, we opted to stay in the viewing area and not go any further than that.

So our visit was brief (taking no more than 25 minutes away from the car) given that this was a short jaunt.

However, there was a longer 6km loop trail deeper into the Belmore Forest to extend this excursion though we didn’t do it so we can’t say anything more about that option.

Authorities

The Polnagollum Cave Waterfall is near the border-split towns of Blacklion, County Cavan, Ireland and Belcoo, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland within the Belmore Forest of the Cuilcagh Lakelands Global Geopark in the parish of Boho, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It is administered by a cooperation between Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Cavan County Council. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark website.

Polnagollum_018_jx_07152024 - Signposted turnoff for the Belmore Forest and Polnagollum Cave shortly before driving to the lay-by nearest to the attraction
Polnagollum_002_07142024 - The small lay-by representing the nearest car park for the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_008_07142024 - Approaching the road fork where the narrower road on the right led to both the Coolarkan Quarry and the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_013_07142024 - Julie going by a sign for the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_014_07142024 - Julie continuing along the narrower gravel path on the way to the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_059_07142024 - Sign before the slippery steps leading down to the lookout fronting the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_017_07142024 - Julie carefully descending the slippery steps to the lookout deck for the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_021_07142024 - Broad look at the mouth of the Polnagollum Cave and its waterfall
Polnagollum_038_07142024 - Long exposure look at the Polnagollum Cave Waterfall, which had a somewhat light flow during our July 2024 visit
Polnagollum_044_07142024 - Portrait look at the Polnagollum Cave Waterfall in long exposure
Polnagollum_003_jx_07152024 - Contextual look at the Polnagollum Cave Waterfall and the cave's mouth opening
Polnagollum_051_07142024 - Looking back at the context of the lookout deck for the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_053_07142024 - More zoomed in look at the chain-locked gate blocking the descent to the mouth of the Polnagollum Cave, but due to how long the fencing is, I'd imagine lots of people actually hop the fence though we refrained from doing that
Polnagollum_057_07142024 - Going back up the slippery steps after having had our fill of the lookout for the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_061_07142024 - Returning to the open area by the Coolarkan Quarry after having had our fill of the Polnagollum Cave
Polnagollum_064_07142024 - Another look at the Coolarkan Quarry, which seemed like a curious formation that was away from the rest of the limestone formations by the Polnagollum Cave


The Polnagollum Cave Waterfall resides in the Belmore Forest near the hamlet of Boho, which is situated between the twin border towns of Blacklion, County Cavan, Ireland and Belcoo, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and the city of Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

However, since we approached this waterfall from Sligo, I’ll describe the driving directions from there.

Drive_to_Polnagollum_026_MingSung_07152024 - Driving on the N16 Road towards the Polnagollum Cave
Driving on the N16 Road towards the Polnagollum Cave

From Sligo, the most straightforward route would be to follow the N16 from the city centre, and continue on the N16 for about 47km towards the twin towns of Blacklion-Belcoo.

Be careful when crossing the border into Northern Ireland because the distances and speed limits switch from the metric system in Ireland to the English system in Northern Ireland.

By the way, the currency also changes from the Euro in Ireland to the Pound steling in Northern Ireland.

After crossing the border from Blacklion, Ireland, into Belcoo, Northern Ireland, the N16 becomes the A4, which we continued for another 700m to a signed turnoff for Boho on the left.

Polnagollum_005_iPhone_07152024 - The signed turnoff for the Belmore Forest as we were getting close to the Polnagollum Cave
The signed turnoff for the Belmore Forest as we were getting close to the Polnagollum Cave

Once on the Boho Road, we then followed it for about 900m before turning right at its junction with the Holywell Road to continue along the Boho Road.

Then, we drove another 300m before keeping left to stay on the Boho Scenic Way, and we continued along the Boho Road for another 6.3km before reaching a signed turnoff for Belmore Forest.

Turning right onto this access road for Belmore Forest, we then drove the final 600m to a humble-looking lay-by on the right, which is the nearest place to park the car for the Polnagollum Cave.

Overall, this drive would take a little over an hour.

Polnagollum_067_07142024 - Looking back at the context of the lay-by for the Polnagollum Cave as seen from the road fork leading to the Coolarkan Quarry and beyond
Looking back at the context of the lay-by for the Polnagollum Cave as seen from the road fork leading to the Coolarkan Quarry and beyond

For context, Boho was about 6.4 miles (15 minutes drive) northeast of Belcoo, about 10.2 miles (under 30 minutes drive) west of Enniskillen, about 32km (over 30 minutes drive) east of Manorhamilton (Ireland), about 56km (about an hour drive) east of Sligo (Ireland), 45km (under an hour drive) southeast of Ballyshannon (Ireland), 66km (a little over an hour drive) southeast of Donegal (Ireland), about 63 miles (over 90 minutes drive) southwest of Londonderry, 93 miles (about 2 hours drive) west of Belfast, and 173km (about 2.5 hours drive) northwest of Dublin (Ireland).

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Checking out the cave and the waterfall from the official viewing deck

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Tagged with: boho-belmore mountain, marble arch caves, global geopark, belmore forest, enniskillen, boho parish, cavan, northern ireland, united kingdom, britain, ulster, game of thrones



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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