Maguirebridge’s Buried Freshwater
Archived: 10 September 2026
Around 31,848 BCE, Ireland experienced the unstable cold conditions of Marine Isotope Stage 3, rather than a datable historical event. Landscapes varied between ice, periglacial ground, wetlands and exposed shelves, preceding the Last Glacial Maximum. At Derryvree, County Fermanagh, freshwater sediments enclosed by glacial tills preserve evidence of treeless tundra, mosses, sedges, pools and frost-affected terrain. Castlepook Cave, County Cork, contains a fauna including reindeer and Ice Age animals. A possibly tool-marked reindeer bone may indicate human presence, but no settlement, tools or occupation surface survives. The evidence documents environmental change and shifting animal communities, not prehistoric society or politics.