An international team of researchers has identified eight cave sites in southwest Ireland containing rock art that dates back at least 15,000 years, potentially pushing back the timeline of human settlement in Ireland by approximately 5,000 years. The discovery was made as part of the Lost Land Bridge Project, led by Dr. George Nash from Liverpool University, alongside experts from University College Dublin, the University of Adelaide, and institutions in Dubai, Wales, and Portugal.
During the last Ice Age, significantly lower sea levels exposed a land bridge between modern-day Pembrokeshire in Wales and the southeast coast of Ireland near Rosslare. This corridor, which would have stretched approximately 46 miles coast-to-coast, featured forested and grassland plateaus capable of supporting large herbivores such as wild horses, mammoth, bison, and reindeer. Researchers theorize that hunter-gatherer populations from Wales, where evidence of human settlement dates back 35,000 to 40,000 years, would have inevitably migrated westward across this accessible pathway.
The research team employed artificial intelligence and digital mapping technology to identify potential cave sites, analyzing characteristics of known Welsh cave dwellings and searching for matching formations in Ireland. This approach yielded 28 candidate caves, of which eight were confirmed to contain cave art. The discovered artworks include wall engravings, ochre and charcoal paintings, and line sketches created by fingertips in clay and earth.
According to Nash, population growth in Welsh cave settlements, including approximately 100 human-inhabited caves on the Gower Peninsula alone, would have motivated westward expansion. The research team has chosen not to disclose precise cave locations to prevent vandalism or looting. Researchers believe additional discoveries remain probable, as early human populations would have logically expanded beyond southwest Ireland into neighboring regions such as Wexford, Waterford, and Cork.
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