Derryvree Before the Drumlin
Archived: 15 September 2026
Around 31,653 BCE, Ireland experienced unstable Late Pleistocene conditions during Marine Isotope Stage 3, before the Last Glacial Maximum. Derryvree, County Fermanagh, preserves freshwater sediments indicating locally ice-free tundra wetland, open pools and severe periglacial conditions between glacial advances. Cave records show intermittent milder phases and a varied fauna, including reindeer, mammoth, giant deer, bear, wolf and hyaena. Low sea levels may have enabled animal movement, though connections remained variable. No secure human settlement is known. A possibly butchered reindeer bone from Castlepook Cave may indicate brief Palaeolithic visitation, but remains inconclusive. Expanding ice later reshaped and obscured much evidence.