What is recorded here

Castlepook Cave in County Cork, Ireland holds cut-marked reindeer bones dating to the palaeolithic period. Human hands shaped those bones long before written memory, suggesting the darkness fed or fascinated someone. The cave still keeps that old transaction between person and beast, waiting for patience to reveal what it swallowed.

Cut-marked reindeer bones of palaeolithic date were identified from an assemblage of faunal material from this cave (C Ó'Drisceoil, pers comm, July 17, 2023). Compiled by: Matt Kelleher Date of revision/upload: 19 July 2023

Castlepook Cave, Castlepook South is a karstic cave formed in limestone through dissolution processes typical of the region. The cave has yielded cut-marked reindeer bones dating to the Palaeolithic period, indicating early human activity in the area.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.