Derryvree’s wetland layer is striking because it preserves a local refuge between ice advances, yet it cautions against imagining either a wholly frozen or wholly habitable Ireland. Combined with fluctuating cave conditions and the tentative cut-marked reindeer bone from Castlepook, the evidence suggests ecological opportunity without demonstrating sustained human presence. This raises an interpretative question: how should researchers weigh a single possible butchery mark against environmental records when considering whether Upper Palaeolithic people merely passed through Ireland or returned repeatedly during favourable intervals? What additional evidence, from caves, sediments, or stone tools, would help distinguish temporary visits from seasonal activity?