I have been contacted with a query from a colleague about Red Squirrels in Ireland following a remark made by Oliver Rackham at a recent public lecture;
Rackham has suggested (which is also stated in his book The English Countryside (2000) p 51) that red squirrels were first introduced to Ireland after the Little Ice Age and that earlier records, circa 12th century, of
the export of red squirrel pelts from Ireland does not prove that red squirrels were present in Ireland prior to their deliberate introduction in the early 19th century. The squirrel is included in a 7th century list of Irish mammals but the text is apparently
open to other interpretations and had other anomalous species listed. They are however listed as pets in early medieval legal documents, and some bones were found in Fishamble street in Dublin (10-11th century) by Finbar McCormick.
Does anyone know of any other references or more importantly, know of red squirrel bones from sites in Ireland?
Thanks,
Emily
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Dr Emily Murray
Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork
School
of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology
Queen's University Belfast
Belfast BT7 1NN
Tel +44 028 9097 5282 [office] or 9097 3488 [bonelab]
Fax +44 028 9097 3897
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