New Book: Booleying in Ireland
Dr. Theresa McDonald, Director of Achill Archaeological Field School, has published a new book titled ‘Booleying in Ireland’.
For Sale or Lease: Achill Field School
Explore the Opportunity of a Lifetime: Transform the Achill Archaeological Field School into a Multi-Disciplinary Educational Campus in Ireland’s Scenic West Nestled on stunning Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland, the Achill Archaeological Field School has been a beacon for archaeology students worldwide for over 30 years. Established in 1991, this campus is now available for sale or lease, presenting a truly unique opportunity to create an educational hub that… Read More »For Sale or Lease: Achill Field School
Applications Open for 2024 Season
Details of 2024 courses available at Achill Archaeological Field School have been revealed, and applications are now open! For 2024 we will be hosting a two-week accredited course on Archaeological Field Studies, offering 3 Semester Credits (6 ECTS credits) to undergraduate and graduate students. We also have a four-week course offering the same Archaeological Field Studies module along with a Data Analysis module, providing a combined total of 6 Semester… Read More »Applications Open for 2024 Season
One Day Guided Tour Half-Price for Students on Excavation & Recording 1 Course
As an extra bonus for signing up to our six-week course ‘Excavation & Recording 1‘, all students on this course can avail of a half-price one-day guided tour of archaeological sites of interest in County Sligo. The day tour, including lunch, is offer free-of-charge to students who enroll on this course before 1st March 2024. The tour will focus on two sites: Carrowmore Passage Tomb megalithic cemetery – 6,000 years… Read More »One Day Guided Tour Half-Price for Students on Excavation & Recording 1 Course
Banshees of Inisherin, Filmed on Achill Island, Wins 3 Golden Globes
The Martin McDonagh movie ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, which was largely filmed on location here on Achill Island, has won three Golden Globe awards. Filming took place in late summer 2021 at six locations on Achill Island, as well as on Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands in Co. Galway. Among the locations used on Achill was Keem Bay, some 4.5km from our campus in Dooagh, and which has been… Read More »Banshees of Inisherin, Filmed on Achill Island, Wins 3 Golden Globes
2021 Season Cancelled due to COVID-19
COVID–19 UPDATE: 12 April 2021 It is with much regret and great sadness that as a result of the unprecedented and unpredictable conditions arising from the continuing spread of Covid-19, also known as the Coronavirus, that we announce today, in consideration of the health and safety of our student participants and staff members, the cancellation of the 2021 Achill Archaeological Field School program. Despite our hope and strong desire to offer… Read More »2021 Season Cancelled due to COVID-19
Introduction: Help Us Write the History of Achill Island
“Having a seat at the table and an acknowledged voice matters far more to local communities than being invited to hear foreigners talk to them about local cultural heritage and what it should mean to them.” – Alex Knodell, 2009 Hello! My name is Faith Walker and I am a third-year university student from America. During the summer of 2019 I will be researching community engagement with the Achill Archaeological… Read More »Introduction: Help Us Write the History of Achill Island
Pot-boilers, limpets, and wine bottles: Digging Caraun Point 2018
What was it like to live on an island off Ireland’s Atlantic coast in the eighteenth century? Popular images of this place and time are often grim. The looming spectre of the mid-ninteenth century Famine, and echoes of the Cromwellian dispossessions of the 1650s colour our perceptions of the period. How did people really experience it? Where historical documents are largely penned by biased outsiders, archaeology provides a unique methodology… Read More »Pot-boilers, limpets, and wine bottles: Digging Caraun Point 2018
Illuminating the past: Experimenting with rush lights
By Bridgit Lee Working here at the Achill Archaeological Field School on early modern vernacular housing for the past two summers, one of the constant questions for me was how were these houses lit? Of course there were the open fires in the houses that would have provided some light to the house but what was used for the more detailed domestic work of sewing and knitting? This question lead… Read More »Illuminating the past: Experimenting with rush lights
Launch of New Achill Archaeology Guidebook
Theresa McDonald’s new book, A Guide to Archaeological and Historical Sites on Achill, Achillbeg and the Corraun Peninsula, was launched last night in Dooagh by well-known archaeologist Michael Gibbons. The launch was organised by Achill Historical and Archaeological Society and included a fascinating lecture by Michael Gibbons on the history of seaweed farming in eighteenth and nineteenth century Ireland. The book was published in 2016 and is a practical and informative guide… Read More »Launch of New Achill Archaeology Guidebook