AN INTERNATIONAL archaeological field summer school to be held in Clare this month has attracted three applications for every available place.
The Caherconnell Archaeological Project began in 2007 with an excavation within the large cashel of Caherconnell, in the townland of the same name in the central Burren, Co Clare.
The following year a second excavation was undertaken, this time focused on a medieval structure outside the cashel, while in 2009, a third dig concentrated on a prehistoric settlement and ritual site. The three excavations were voluntary operations, co-directed by Dr Michelle Comber of NUI Galway and Graham Hull, director of TVAS Ireland Ltd, an archaeological consultancy company based in Crusheen, Co Clare.
They were supported by the landowner John Davoren, a dairy farmer with huge interest in the archaeology of the Burren. The excavations had no source of funding and so equipment and lab facilities were provided free of charge by TVAS Ireland while conservation costs were covered by Mr Davoren. It quickly became apparent that the Burren landscape had huge archaeological potential on a local, regional, national, and international scale, and that, having begun work, it could not be abandoned.
However, it also became clear that a source of funding would be needed to ensure the future of the project. It was decided, after the 2007 excavation, that the establishment of an archaeological field school was the only way to do this.
Siobhán King, Shannon Development tourism officer for Co Clare said: “This is a wonderful new initiative which combines tourism and learning and will be a great asset to the tourism offering in this beautiful and fascinating area of Co Clare.”
The first official field school course will run for the weeks Monday to Friday, August 16th to 27th, and cater for a maximum of 20 students. More than 60 applications were received within a month of the school being advertised, largely from students in North America. The 2010 excavation will target the entrance to the large cashel called Caherconnell, and all visitors to the site are welcome to view the excavations.