Derryvree’s Moss Beds
Archived: 14 September 2026
31,743 BCE is not a datable Irish event but an approximate point within unstable Marine Isotope Stage 3. At Derryvree, County Fermanagh, organic freshwater beds between glacial tills indicate a temporarily ice-free wetland, with mosses, sedges, open pools and treeless tundra vegetation. Cave calcite records show recurrent climatic warming episodes. Southern cave remains demonstrate that reindeer, mammoth, giant deer, bears and hyaenas occupied Ireland intermittently, although assemblages span long periods. A cut-marked Castlepook reindeer bone may indicate short human visits, not settlement. No institutions, farming or trade are evidenced. Before maximum glaciation, Ireland supported shifting habitats, fauna and transient foragers.