Castlepook’s Reindeer Country
Ireland was entering a decisive climatic transformation. The Last Glacial Maximum, when the British–Irish Ice Sheet covered much of the island, lay ahead rather than behind: broadly, major ice expansion belongs to the period after about 34,000 years ago, with full glacial conditions developing later. Geological evidence from beneath tills in Fermanagh and from the west coast indicates that substantial areas of Ireland had been ice-free during the preceding millennia. That does not mean a mild or stable country. Temperatures fluctuated sharply, seasons were severe, and the growing ice sheet was beginning to reshape the wider region.