Have you ever taken a ‘sound bath’ in an ancient Irish cave?
It’s certainly not an everyday experience but it is one that Henry McKean managed to do while in County Fermanagh.
The Marble Arch Caves are located deep underground and visitors descend well over 100 steps to reach them.
But once there, it is a unique place.
“A very different environment - a subterranean environment,” Marble Arch Caves manager Stephen Cox explained to Henry for Moncrieff.
“There’s a difference in the air and the water, the sounds; the whole atmosphere is very calming and soothing.”
Over the years, numerous films and TV shows have been filmed there.
It is a place whose unique echoes and smells have remained unchanged since the cave was formed well before humans settled in Ireland.
“We’re looking at a million year old cave formed naturally by the waters and rivers around us,” Mr Cox continued.
“It’s an active river cave, so it’s always alive with rivers flowing through.
“The water itself has come from the peaklands above, the drips come from the ground above and the landscapes around us above ground us.”
The tour extends through 1.5km of ‘show cave’ but there is more that is inaccessible to visitors.
Included in the tour is a ‘sound bath’, a sound experience in which visitors are encouraged to relax and “tune into natural environment” around them.
It is the job of Tessa Anne from Discover Northern Ireland to deliver to visitors.
“People will describe a ‘sound bath’ in their own way but you could liken it to the feeling that you’re so relaxed that you feel as if the sound waves wash over you,” she said.
“Or you float within the waves and I gather that’s where the name would come from.
“Bathering in sound is a nice way to put it.”
Once inside the cave, Henry found himself “very relaxed” surrounded by the cacophony of noise and ancient landscape.
“This is so beautiful,” he said.
“And we’re only two hours from Dublin… I’m so at peace now in nature.
“All the issues I face every day - charging my car and any other issues - have just gone.
“I feel like I’ve gone back in time.”
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Main image: Henry McKean.
