The Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark shares an international border with Co. Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. This border runs along the top of Cuilcagh Mountain, an already established feature of the Geopark.
West Cavan has much in common with the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark in terms of geology, archaeology, and culture and as a result of this a joint application by Fermanagh District Council and Cavan County Council was submitted to the European Geopark Network in March 2008 to expand the already existing Geopark across the border into selected sites in Co. Cavan. The initial application was accepted and an in depth inspection process followed in Aug 2008 when two representitives from UNESCO visited the sites in Co.Cavan and left after the week long visit with a very positive view of the area.
On the 19th September the Cavan extention of the Geopark was approved in the Czech Republic at a joint meeting of UNESCO and the European Geopark Network. This is a major sucess for this part of Ireland and represents a huge step forward for tourism in the area. It is a world first for a Geopark to cross an international border and in light of the recent turbulant history of Ireland, sets a wonderful example of co-operation to the rest of the world. The expanded Geopark will be overseen by a Joint Operational Committe made up of representatives from both Cavan and Fermanagh Councils and will be managed from the already established Geopark headquarters at the Marble Arch Caves Visitor centre in Co. Fermanagh. Dramatic cliffs, rugged rocky outcrops and upland blanket bog dominates the north west of the expanded area, while the landscape in the south east of the area gives way to gently rolling drumlins and flooded hollows which are home to some of the finest examples of glacial geology in the world. Lakes are a particularly important part of the landscape of Fermanagh and Cavan with Co. Cavan alone claiming to have a lake for every day of the year. Many of the lakes have formed as over deepened glacial valleys or in hollows between glacial deposits as a result of flooding at the end of the last ice age. Fine examples of glacial erratics can also be found within the expansion area. These are boulders which have been carried by glacial ice and which have been deposited when the ice melted. Within the Geopark and surrounding area they are often composed of sandstone and in some instances rest on a pedestal of limestone rock which they have protected from erosion since the end of the last ice age.
