Maguirebridge’s Dwarf Willow Record
Archived: 24 September 2026
Approximately 30,748 BCE falls within a broad, uncertain later MIS 3 chronology, not a datable Irish year. Derryvree, near Maguiresbridge, preserves freshwater silts and plants beneath and between tills, showing that Fermanagh experienced an ice-free wetland interval before glaciation. Dwarf willow, sedges, bogbean and other fossils indicate treeless, periglacial terrain with pools, mosses and sparse vegetation. Cave finds show intermittent presence of cold-adapted mammals, including reindeer, mammoth and giant deer, although remains derive from differing periods. A marked Castlepook reindeer bone may evidence human butchery, but cannot prove settlement. Ireland was undergoing uneven ice-sheet expansion, while human history remains unrecoverable.