A cut-marked reindeer bone pushed Ireland's human history into the Ice Age
~33,000 years ago
A reindeer bone from Castlepook Cave in County Cork bears marks interpreted as evidence of human butchery. Dating places it around 33,000 years ago, far earlier than the period when Ireland was previously thought to have its first human visitors. The find suggests people reached the island during the last Ice Age, although it does not establish continuous settlement.