Although the Giant Irish Deer ranged over a large part of central Europe and Asia, the largest concentration of its remains can be found in Ireland.

This impressive creature stood at 1.8m at the shoulder and weighed about 400kg.

However, the most striking feature of these magnificent animals was their enormous antlers which had a span of about 3.5 metres across.

Experts believe the animal originated in Siberia but gradually migrated westwards in search of a warmer climate.

They were able to travel great distances and could quickly adapt to new environments.

And Ireland had the perfect climatic conditions as well as vegetation for the animal to flourish; the huge size of the Irish form of this creature and the large volume of them in the country is an indication of how they thrived here.

Carbon dating of the animals remains and analysis of the fossil records show the Irish deer died out before man first set foot in Ireland.

Although wolves may have been a threat to the animal, overall it enjoyed a period of dominance over the landscape at least until the climate changed and temperatures dropped.

As such, Ireland has become a natural time capsule for experts to study how they lived, ate and died.