Portroe Quarry

[loctite]

Hey, just wondering does anyone know what the deal is with Portroe quarry...
I know the owners didn't mind people using it a while back and then there was a period of not allowing anyone in.... anyone know what the deal is with it at the minute???

[Seawolf]

Unfortunately, despite some continued discrete diving over the last 2 years been done, the deeper 52M quarry has now been put beyond diver access. I am aware of some diver visits, that were been made to the rear Quarry ..mostly tekkies,rebreather and cave divers, but, the owner has now, for some reason has ended that.
Something has changed, that appears to have encouraged owner to make the rear Quarry inaccessible. I am still trying to understand why it was made impossible to access anymore so if anyone can shed some light on it, well it would be helpful to know.

What has changed:
A machine has dug a number of trenchs along the walk in path to the water's edge.
Unfortunately this wonderful all weather resource is no longer available.

It's a pity!! as there are 2 potential all weather diving resources available that are effectively going to waste. The potential to turn the sites into a Stony cove is very real.

[murrayp4]

Probably fears an accident on the property which the land owner may be found liable for. btw, an Irish Stoneycove is a nice idea

[loctite]

I've never dived there myself but I've heard it is supposed to be fairly spectacular...... It's a real shame. It would be great to have a good inland dive spot that could accommodate diving all year round...

[portroe10]

We had to block access to the quarry's for insurance reasons, also a lot of garbage was being thrown all over the place every weekend. At the moment I am checking to see what we can do about opening up the quarry's as a dive site. Does anyone know how many people would be interested in diving there if we made it accessable to divers?

[Benny-c]

Originally Posted by portroe10

We had to block access to the quarry's for insurance reasons, also a lot of garbage was being thrown all over the place every weekend. At the moment I am checking to see what we can do about opening up the quarry's as a dive site. Does anyone know how many people would be interested in diving there if we made it accessable to divers?

ME..

[loctite]

Hey Portroe,

I'd say there would be a huge amount of interest in diving in the quarry.

A big problem with diving and dive training in Ireland is obviously the winter sea conditions. There are a handful of locations in Ireland that would provide all year round diving conditions and Portroe would be one of them.

I'd say you would have a huge amount of interest from all local CFT clubs in the Munster region for regular use and the same with PADI centres. As a previous PADI resort manager, I would have killed to have guaranteed good conditions to complete courses on a regular schedule.

I think you could be on to a winner. Then facilities at the site, e.g. air fills, food, showers accommodation?... check out http://www.stoneycove.com/ . Would be great to see such a resource put to use and get people to use it responsibly and respect the area.

[portroe10]

Thanks for the reply Loctite and thanks for the link to Stoney Cove, we would love to see Portroe Quarry look like that some day. I am meeting with a solicitor in a few weeks to see what we need to do to allow divers back in and to cover ourselves from any lawsuits. I hope to have some answers by the end of December. Do you have any idea how many people used to dive there and could there be an increase if it was made more accessable?

[seadeuce]

Please look at the following links:

http://www.40fathomgrotto.com/

and

http://40fathomgrotto.com/pdfs/map_grotto.pdf



These are from a commercial site I've had the pleasure of diving in before the current renovations took place.

As you will see there is much planning to go in to such a project.
Being aquainted with Portroe it would be my fear that a rush job may open it to commercial gain, but long-term may stunt its potential.


There are many examples in the UK, and indeed on the continent.


Best of luck with the project. I, and many others, would use the facility - as before - for pleasure, not commercial gain.

Feel free to PM me if you need more info



Seadeuce

[robertpatterson]

A good few of us used the deeper quarry for the last two years
Wed definitely use it again if we were allowed

[yankinlk]

I'd like to echo previous posters hope for a great resource such as the portroe quarry. It would be great to have a place close to home for mid week diving all year! It would also be ideal for when the weather acts up and makes west coast diving dicey...say all of July and August for example!

[Seawolf]

There has always been a hope for divers to use Portroe when weather conditions at sea. Considering Irish weather patterns, i believe the Irish Diving clubs, PADI and other commercial and private individuals would benefit from using Portroe. I and other would love to see it available for use once more and certainly would attract all year round usage.

Cetainly the shallower 37M Older is the most attractive option while the Deeper 52M+ Quarry should be restricted to technical Diving grades. I believe it poses more hazards.

I was aware some years ago that commercial agents from Dublin use to travel to provide training all year round in the shallower quarry in Portroe, so I imagine, that divers will gladly contribute their support to enable them to dive continually and maintain their skill and training levels.

I imagine that Divers all over Irleand and the UK would travel to use the facility.

Fingers crossed, I think the links will provide some direction as regards development. I look forward to the opportunity to dive there once again.

[Silverfazer2000]

I’m sure the diving clubs would be delighted to see the quarry opened up to the diving public again, back in the 80/90’all you needed to gain access was to get the key from the shop, the majority of the local clubs Limerick, Aughinish, Lough Derg, Ennis, Buren and quite a lot of the Dublin and Cork clubs used to travel to Portroe as did the Navy and Garda divers as well as some technical diving organisations. From what I remember Limerick SAC used to hold barbeques there, they built the platform in the main quarry, sadly all that remains in the steel tubing now.
It’s a fascistic resource much better than storey cove as it tiered and quite safe for all levels of experience. Its banned by CFT for at least 4 years now.

However the question around public liability will always be a contentious one especially if someone gets injured on the property.
Fingers crossed thought as I love the quarry and can’t wait to be able to dive there again.

I would be delighted to site down and discuss the possabilities of reopening the quarry to divers. You can contact me at ciaran_enright@dell.com.
I'd particulary intrested in the history of the quarry and would be delighted to add it to our website www.limericksubaqua. com.

[loctite]

Originally Posted by portroe10

Thanks for the reply Loctite and thanks for the link to Stoney Cove, we would love to see Portroe Quarry look like that some day. I am meeting with a solicitor in a few weeks to see what we need to do to allow divers back in and to cover ourselves from any lawsuits. I hope to have some answers by the end of December. Do you have any idea how many people used to dive there and could there be an increase if it was made more accessable?

I think you can already gauge the interest by the number of posts!

I have never dived Portroe myself, but a lot of my friends have and I am aware that a lot of commercial enterprises have also in the past.

As for how many people would dive there if made accessible, I couldn't give an honest answer. But, as I have said in a previous post, there is a severe shortage of year round dive sites, and from a commercial dive centre perspective, this would be a fantastic resource. It would allow for all year round training, and diving making businesses far more viable during the winter months (and with our weathe,r the summers too)

Again I have to re-iterate, I have never dived the quarry, so i don't know what the depths are (that is if there are shallower depths for beginner etc) and what courses would be suitable to be held there. But the fact that you have another quarry that is in excess of 50 metres will also be a major attraction to technical divers and would provide an almost unheard of (definitely in this country) level of conditions, and providing such depths would allow for both training and pleasure dives for these types of divers.

I do feel that it is a great opportunity, I don't know what resources are available to you but maybe a market survey could be carried out, but I do believe that this has some great potential from what I have heard from visiting divers...

If you want contacts for clubs within the region or dive centres drop me a pm and I'll hook you up!!

[999/112]

Dived in both quarries, the shallower one on a regular basis when it was "open". Many years ago, I even did a C.F.T. exam there due to poor weather/sea conditions.
I'll be back if it opens up again.