Killavullen Caves, Limestone cave system by Killavullen Bridge, County Cork, Ireland

Killavullen Caves are limestone caves with three entrances on the south bank of the River Blackwater at Killavullen Bridge. The main cave has four chambers of different sizes linked by narrow passages totalling about 200 metres; Caves 2 and 3 reach only about five metres into the rock face. The caves contain stalactites, stalagmites and columns 3 to 30 centimetres in diameter and 1.0 to 1.2 metres high.

Archaeological excavations in the 1930s uncovered significant paleontological findings, including remains of giant deer, brown bears, wolves, and reindeer. These bone deposits indicate that the caves were inhabited or used by large animals during the Ice Age.

Thomas Crofton Croker visited in the early 19th century and recorded that one cave was the dwelling of the village smith, whose forge fire cast a broad reflection across the road. The caves are closed by steel doors, so this account, not direct observation, preserves the memory of that use.

Steel doors installed in the early 1990s on public liability grounds block entry to all three entrances, so the chambers and their stalactites cannot be visited. The main entrance lies about five metres above the present riverbed on the south bank of the Blackwater at Killavullen Bridge, on the northern slope of the Nagle Mountains.

The cave system features multiple entrances leading into the same underground network, making it more complex than visitors might first expect. These several access points allowed both historical and prehistoric inhabitants different ways to use and navigate the space.