• Pollavurleen is the name of a area which has two small Rivers which disappear underground. The convention is for them to flow to the Sea.

  • Townlands - Castlegar and Glenanail, Galway.

  • Coordinates ;  Big one   53.293816 ,    -9.022812
                         Smaller:   53.292689,     -9.025028
  • Youtube Video (new window).
  • Source s  - The Terryland River (Sandy). local environment and the Corrib River.
  • Obvious destination;   into the ground.
  • Possible destination;   Galway Bay  somewhere around Roscam and possibly, around Waithman's Pier in Murrough.
  • A.K.A. ; Sinking Hole in English, Poll a Mhuirlin.
  • The Big one, in terms of down-volume, is to the East.
  • Rock ; Limestone.
  • Cooper's Cave is nearby.
  • When Rainfall is too great, the flow direction reverses for the main part, dumping its contents into the Corrib River.
  • Two narrow foot Bridges exist near both "holes" - for human convenience, I presume, and not wide enough for the usual Cattle populations, there.
  • You don't really see a hole - you can see the Water heading somewhere - you can hear it . It wouldn't pull a Boat down or anything  dramatic to that degree.
  • At these points, the elevation  is maybe, 2 metres, with the hinterland funneling anything responsive to gravity, into it.
  • What is dramatic enough, is the alignment of boundary walls, above it. Presumably, this was a Drainage measure and is clearer in the old Maps. The Fields are long and thin - more structured than most places.  
  • The Castle in Castlegar Village was historically, the closest structure to the East. 
  • ,

 Pollavurleen Bridge

Old map of Pollavurleen

Pollavurleen, hole in the ground

sinking