Шеннонның бастауы: Қасиетті көл және аңыз

Pool, traditional source of the River Shannon

Shannon Pot is a pool in the karst landscape in the townland of Derrylahan near Cuilcagh Mountain in County Cavan, Ireland. An aquifer fed naturally fluctuating pool, it is the traditional source of the River Shannon. It has connections, through the Shannon Cave system, to other pools, notably two in County Fermanagh. The pool itself is about wide, and has been dived to Settlements near the Shannon Pot include Dowra, Blacklion and Glangevlin.

An early reference to the Pot is in the Book of Magauran. Poem X, stanza 2, composed c. 1349 by Giolla na Naomh Ó hUiginn, which states, Innte a tá an tiobra as dtig Sionann/sruth as uaisle i n Inis Fháil (In it is the well whence comes the Shannon, noblest stream in Inis Fáil).

According to legend, the Shannon is named after Sionnan, who was the granddaughter of Manannán mac Lir, the god of the sea. She came to this spot to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which was planted by the druids. As she began to eat it, the waters of the pool sprang up and overwhelmed her. She was drawn down into the pool and its water began to flow over the land, forming the River Shannon.

Shannon Pot was first explored by divers Roger Solari and John Elliot on multiple dives in 1971, to a depth of firstly 6, then At this point the water was found to emerge from a wide slit, up to in height. The pot was later explored by Martyn Farr, among others, but no further progress was made until the late 2000s. In December 2008 and January 2009 the pot was dived again by Alasdair Kennedy and Paul Doig, and subsequently by Artur Kozłowski. After widening the slit and continuing downwards past a loose cobblestone slope, Kozłowski discovered an unstable chamber. A strong current was found to emerge from a tight, unstable shaft in the floor. Doig and Kennedy surveyed the chamber to a depth of sink, before emerging at Shannon Pot.