Derryvree’s Trifoliate Fen
Archived: 20 September 2026
Abstract
31,034 BCE is a modern label for a variable late Ice Age interval, rather than a recoverable Irish year. At Derryvree, County Fermanagh, sediments between tills document an ice-free episode, dated broadly to 36,900–31,700 calibrated years BP. Pollen, plants, mosses and insects indicate cold, open wetland with shallow freshwater, sedges, grasses, bogbean and mountain avens. Ireland was approaching, but had not reached, the Last Glacial Maximum; ice, sea levels and access routes remained changeable. Cave fauna confirms mammal presence, but chronology is fragmentary. A marked Castlepook reindeer bone may indicate human activity, yet cannot establish settlement. Environmental history remains strongest.