The Derryvree Interval
Archived: 18 September 2026
Abstract
31,344 BCE is a modern label for an uncertain interval within MIS 3, rather than a datable Irish event. Environmental evidence is fragmentary because later glaciation disturbed or destroyed deposits. At Derryvree, Fermanagh, freshwater organic sediments between tills reveal a cold, treeless, wetland landscape during an ice-free episode. Castlepook Cave, Cork, preserves remains of reindeer, mammoth, giant deer and predators, accumulated over long periods rather than as a single fauna. A marked reindeer femur may indicate early human butchery, but cannot prove settlement. Calcite records and fossils underline fluctuating climates, varied habitats, and Ireland’s prehistory before farming, monuments or societies.