Monday mischief 🤣 Join us if you think learning should be fun (scan the QR code on the fourth image)

Miriam excavated with us in Ferns, and did an internship in 2023. She was a valued and fun part of the team for the summer, and we have really enjoyed watching her career flourish as she surveys the most incredible landscapes across the US working in CRM. Miriam is also an excellent artist 😁

Sacramento University have been coming to us since 2021 on a Service Learning Program led by Dr Lee Simpson. The students are always hard working and enthusiastic, and their work has contributed so much to the heritage town of Birr.

It's Throwback Thursday, when we take a look back at happy memories of past projects. Seir Kieran was founded by St Kieran in the 5th century and has been a place of pilgrimage ever since. We have undertaken LiDAR scanning, geophysical survey, graveyard recording and an educational program.

Competition Tuesday! It's the last week of our annual photo identification contest. There are 12 in total - go back to posts for the last five Tuesdays to revise). Send in your answers (1-12) by email to [email protected] by 31 Dec 2025 to be in with a chance to win 💪

Monday mischief 🤣 Join us if you think learning should be fun (scan the QR code on the fourth image)

Sunday is about gratitude. The lovely notes we receive from students, and watching their journeys after they leave makes it all worth while. For the next few weeks, we would like to share a few. If you know someone who might be interested in joining us in 2026, scan the QR code in the last image 🤗

Our partnership with Sonoma State University started in 2019, and most years since Prof Mary Gomes has brought an intrepid group of students to study the Irish landscape, myths and dreams. We base ourselves in Rock Farm Slane as a base to explore the Boyne Valley and beyond.

It's Throwback Thursday, when we take a look back at happy memories of past projects. A newspaper report in the Kings County Chronicle, dated 7 August 1919, recorded a series of trenches constructed in 'the Fourteen Acres' to train troops for service in WWI. We found them in 2018!

Competition Tuesday! From 28 Oct to 02 Dec 2025, join our annual photo identification contest. With incredible prizes and instant fame, there are two photos each week. Just like the photo if you know the location! On 02 Dec, an email will be provided for submitting answers 1-12. Good luck 💪

Monday mischief 🤣 Join us if you think learning should be fun (scan the QR code on the fourth image)

Sunday is about gratitude. The lovely notes we receive from students, and watching their journeys after they leave makes it all worth while. For the next few weeks, we would like to share a few. If you know someone who might be interested in joining us in 2026, scan the QR code in the last image 🤗

Faculty Friday - we are looking back at some of the amazing partnership we have enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) with colleagues in the US and father afield. It was a pleasure to design and lead a trip for Johns Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth. It was a special trip as gifted young teenagers.

It's Throwback Thursday, when we take a look back at happy memories of past projects. Clone is a beautiful Romanesque church located approximately 2.25km south of Ferns town. According to tradition the church is dedicated to Saint Aidan. The excavations were run as a public heritage initiative.

Competition Tuesday! From 28 Oct to 02 Dec 2025, join our annual photo identification contest. With incredible prizes and instant fame, there are two photos each week. Just like the photo if you know the location! On 02 Dec, an email will be provided for submitting answers 1-12. Good luck 💪

Monday mischief 🤣 Join us if you think learning should be fun (scan the QR code on the fourth image)

Sunday is about gratitude. The lovely notes we receive from students, and watching their journeys after they leave makes it all worth while. For the next few weeks, we would like to share a few. If you know someone who might be interested in joining us in 2026, scan the QR code in the last image 🤗

It's Throwback Thursday, when we take a look back at happy memories of past projects. 2021-23, we excavated St Mary’s Abbey in Ferns, Wexford, uncovering evidence of Diarmait Mac Murchada's, 12th C Augustinian Abbey and the underlying St Aidan’s monastery, founded c 598 AD.

Competition Tuesday! From 28 Oct to 02 Dec 2025, join our annual photo identification contest. With incredible prizes and instant fame, there are two photos each week. Just like the photo if you know the location! On 02 Dec, an email will be provided for submitting answers 1-12. Good luck 💪

Monday mischief 🤣 Join us if you think learning should be fun (scan the QR code on the fourth image)

Sunday is about gratitude. The lovely notes we receive from students, and watching their journeys after they leave makes it all worth while. For the next few weeks, we would like to share a few. If you know someone who might be interested in joining us in 2026, scan the QR code in the last image 🤗

It's Throwback Thursday, when we take a look back at happy memories of past projects. The Building the Lost Town of Carrick project, run in partnership with INHP and UCDs Centre for Ex-Arch. Students helped interpret the site and bring it back to life through reconstructions and reenactments.

A fun day in Kilcoole National School, Wicklow, doing 'art of the illuminated manuscripts' with first class pupils. Funded by the Heritage Council through the Heritage in Schools Scheme. Here is a sample of the children's lovely work 😁 @theheritagecouncil

Competition Tuesday! From 28 Oct to 02 Dec 2025, join our annual photo identification contest. With incredible prizes and instant fame, there are two photos each week. Just like the photo if you know the location! On 02 Dec, an email will be provided for submitting answers 1-12. Good luck 💪

Monday mischief 🤣 Join us if you think learning should be fun (scan the QR code on the fourth image)

Sunday is about gratitude. The lovely notes we receive from students, and watching their journeys after they leave makes it all worth while. For the next few weeks, we would like to share a few. If you know someone who might be interested in joining us in 2026, scan the QR code in the last image 🤗

Faculty Friday - we are looking back at some of the amazing partnership we have enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) with colleagues in the US and father afield. We have co-led two amazing programs for Riverdale Country School in the Bronx is an incredible school with fabulous staff and students.

Happy Hallowe'en (in case you don't know, the origins of Hallowe'en are from pagan Ireland)

It's Throwback Thursday, when we take a look back at happy memories of past projects. 2018-22, we excavated the ruins of Carrick, located in the INHP, Wexford. Built in 1169 by Robert FitzStephen, Carrick was Ireland’s first recorded Anglo-Norman castle.

Competition Tuesday! From 28 Oct to 02 Dec 2025, join our annual photo identification contest. With incredible prizes and instant fame, there are two photos each week. Just like the photo if you know the location! On 02 Dec, an email will be provided for submitting answers 1-12. Good luck! 💪

Monday Mischief - if you sign up for one of our 2026 programs, be warned it is all serious work with no fun had whatsoever.

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Environmental Science - we welcomed Fort Hays KAMS program for a super study tour of the landscapes of Ireland. We are very grateful for our fabulous faculty partners.

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Forensic anthropology - an intensive 1 week forensics course, run in partnership with NUI Maynooth (worth 7.5 ECTS), led by team osteoarchaeologist, Dr Anna Diana.

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Experimental Archaeology - Prof Brendan O'Neill of UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology provides one of our most popular modules. Everyone learns by making!

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Survey: accurately record upstanding archaeological remains, aiding research and conservation is a key skill, led by everyone's favourite grump, Richard Reid.

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Photogrammetry: resident expert Dan O'Meara leads our photogrammetry workshops. Students contribute to on-going research and conservation whilst learning new skills.

It's the people that make a tour and we enjoyed the company of a great group on this year's Archaeological Institute of America tour.

A morning with our guide Tom on the Falls and Shankill roads gave us a sense of what communities went through in the troubles, showed how far we have come, but also how fragile the peace is, 27 years on from the Good Friday Agreement. We all signed the Peace Wall - in the hope for a brighter future.

Where would I (Steve) be without my wife Debbie's help and patience on tour with the Archaeological Institute of America? She somehow kept the carriages on the track throughout, no matter what debris we rumbled over! *lildebbiecupcakes

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Geology and the landscape: Understanding how the landscape formed, how it shaped human settlement and was impacted by humans is 101 for heritage studies.

A huge thank you to our wonderful guest experts for our Archaeological Institute of America tour. Dr Fiona Beglane - Green Fort Sam Moore - Sligo Gerry Lynne - Derry Dr John O'Keefe - Carrickfergus Ye were the making of the tour!

Exhausted after a long tour with the Archaeological Institute of America - but it was a great tour with intrepid travel companions. Next year we are doing a Pre-history tour of Ireland, from hunter gatherers to first farmers to the first metals to kingship and sacrifice. We'll keep you posted.

The Giant's Causeway was at its dramatic best for our visit. Spectacular columnar basalts formed when the Ireland was at the epicenter of the opening of the northern Atlantic Ocean. It was of course really made by he legendary leader of the Fianna, Fionn Mac Cumhaill!

Dunluce Castle, a dramatic ruin on Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast, dates back to the 14th century. Once owned by the MacQuillans and later the MacDonnells, it witnessed shipwrecks, treasure, and destruction. A storm in 1639 led to its abandonment.

The Guildhall is a remarkable building with a fascinating history. Our Archaeological Institute of America tour enjoyed a super visit, guided by the lovely Siobhan.

The murals of the Bogside in Derry and an important part of the story of the city, of Northern Ireland and Ireland. For centuries, Catholics were second class citizens, and then they sought change through peaceful protest they were gunned down on Bloody Sunday.

If you want to understand Irish, UK, European and indeed western world history, then the historic walled city of Derry is a must visit. Our Archaeological Institute of America tour participants were enthralled by the knowledge, story telling and wit of our guide, my friend Gerry (from Derry!).

Our final visit of a long smorgasbord of a day touring with the Archaeological Institute of America was Grianan of AIleach, the Early Christian ringfort sited at 801 feet with spectacular views across Donegal and Derry.

Thursday Throwback - tune in at this time and bat channel every Thursday for a look back at what we have been working on this year. Excavation: we have moved away from large scale excavations towards a more holistic approach. Excavation still has its place and our work at Clonghil has been great.

Beltany Stone Circle is a hidden gem. It looks and feels like a Bronze Age Stone circle (a huge one), but the interior is very uneven and local lore tells of the removal of huge quantities of stone (and bone) from the interior, leading scholars to surmise that it may have been a passage tomb.