Derryvree’s Muskeg Flora
Archived: 19 September 2026
Although 31,145 BCE cannot be assigned precisely, Derryvree, County Fermanagh, preserves a freshwater interval between glacial tills, broadly dated to 36,900–31,700 calibrated BP. Its silts and organic remains reveal treeless, cold, waterlogged tundra with sedges, mosses, dwarf willow and Arctic-alpine plants, demonstrating local wetland life amid fluctuating MIS 3 conditions. Later ice buried and preserved the deposit. Southern caves show mammoth, reindeer, giant deer and predators inhabited Ireland during the broader period. A marked reindeer femur from Castlepook suggests possible human butchery, but no secure occupation evidence exists. The record supports ecological reconstruction, not annual events, settlements, polities or beliefs.