The Doneraile Bone Puzzle
Archived: 10 September 2026
Around 31,851 BCE, Ireland lay within the climatically unstable MIS 3, before the Last Glacial Maximum. Evidence is environmental and archaeological, not historical: cave bones, sediments, pollen and glacial deposits indicate a cold, open, intermittently accessible landscape. Castlepook Cave, County Cork, preserves remains of mammoth, reindeer, giant deer, hyaena and other fauna, although re-dating shows not all overlapped. Derryvree, County Fermanagh, records tundra vegetation and freshwater habitats later buried by ice. A possibly cut-marked Castlepook reindeer bone suggests a brief human visit, but lacks secure context or associated artefacts. Ireland’s human presence then remains unproven; environmental change dominates the record.
