Castlepook Cave highlights a compelling imbalance: Ireland’s changing Ice Age environment is far better documented than any human presence within it. The debated cut-marked reindeer bone may record brief carcass processing, but it cannot demonstrate settlement, cultural identity, or even a dependable route of arrival. Since later glaciation and shifting seas erased or concealed so much evidence, the lack of camps and tools is inherently difficult to interpret. Comparisons with continental Upper Palaeolithic communities suggest possibilities without establishing direct links. What future discoveries, scientific analyses, or comparisons would distinguish isolated visits from regular returns to Ireland during this uncertain period?