Welcome to Emerald Archives
Emerald Archives presents Ireland’s story one reference year at a time, from the deep prehistoric past to the modern era. Each article explores the evidence, people, places and developments associated with a particular year and places them within their wider historical setting. The collection brings together archaeology, politics, society, religion, culture, conflict, everyday life and changing landscapes in one continuously expanding timeline. New articles appear here as the archive grows. You can also explore the full Irish History Timeline, search the archive directly, or use Explore to move through the collection by period and subject.
31310–31301 BCE
Derryvree’s Drumlin Archive
Around 31,310 BCE, Ireland’s history is reconstructed from environmental evidence rather than written records. Derryvree in County Fermanagh preserves freshwater sediments between glacial tills, indicating a cold, treeless tundra wetland during part of MIS 3, when local ice retreated before returning. Its radiocarbon date spans a broad calibrated interval encompassing the notional year, not a precise event. Castlepook Cave in Cork records diverse cold-stage fauna, including reindeer, mammoth and hyaena, accumulated over time. A possibly butchered reindeer bone suggests human activity, but not settlement. Uneven ice-sheet growth, changing sea levels and limited evidence preclude island-wide conclusions about conditions or occupation.
