Community Archaeology and Heritage Services

Experts in Community Archaeology & Heritage – we help to connect people to place

Community Archaeology and Heritage Services

Experts in Community Archaeology & Heritage – we help to connect people to place

Our Community Archaeology & Heritage Services help to empower people to understand, protect, preserve & promote their local monuments

Our key mission is to help to create greater appreciation and public value in heritage. We believe that one of the very best ways to achieve that is to work with communities to help to empower them to get involved with their local monuments and heritage landscapes through a process of community archaeology. We always focus on the importance of following best-practice and getting expert advice, and we can help to create a positive and collaborative partnership between stakeholders.

We are one of the most experienced and committed companies in Ireland that specialises in community archaeology and heritage. When it comes to community heritage we quite literally wrote the manual, when we worked with the Heritage Council to deliver the Adopt a Monument Manual: Guidance for Community Heritage Projects in 2017. Following its publication, we were delighted when the manual won an award from the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland in 2018. The manual was designed to be useful and practical with accessible information and best-practice advice on how all stages of a community heritage project, including key aspects like group formation and management, funding, interpretation, research and conservation.

We manage flagship national schemes for the Heritage Council like Adopt a Monument and we have designed and developed award-winning public archaeology programmes like the Hellfire Club Archaeological Project, along with numerous training and community engagement projects across the island of Ireland. These include a Community Heritage Audit for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and the Fingal Fieldnames Project on behalf of Fingal County Council. Neil has also taught the Archaeology and the Public modules for the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin.

We believe that collaboration is one of the surest paths to sustainable success in heritage. This is best achieved by working to empower communities at the same time as building a positive network of stakeholders. This requires experience in communication and mediation, and a set of shared goals for the short, medium and long term. We can help you to create the foundation for such a positive collaborative project.

Students of Tallaght Community School at our Hellfire Club Community Archaeology Project

Church of the Rath, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, conservation works 2019. Adopt a Monument is one of the most important community archaeology and heritage projects undertaken in the history of the state

Community archaeology at Rath Church, Killeshandra brick workshop which was facilitated by the Adopt a Monument Grant Scheme facilitated by Creative Ireland Funding

OUR PROCESS

We help to create positive platforms for collaboration. This is the surest path to achieving best practice in community archaeology and heritage.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR NEEDS & AMBITIONS

We begin the process by meeting with you to discuss your key priorities and by visiting the site to see what the most appropriate course of action could be. Everything we do is in line with best practice, and this process of evaluation and actively listening to your needs helps to understand the long term goals and it allows us to determine who the main stakeholders for the project are. We then help you to begin the essential work of building a collaborative network.

BUILDING POSITIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR COLLABORATION

This stage is absolutely crucial to the long term success of any community archaeology or heritage project. The process of turning individual stakeholders into a positive and supportive group with shared goals can be a lengthy and ongoing process, but this foundation is essential. Stakeholders might include the group themselves, the landowner, experts in the period or place, the local authority, the State in the form of the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland, potential funding bodies and the wider community.

RESEARCH & PLANNING

From our discussions we will work with you to produce a management plan that will ensure an appropriate path to knowledge in accordance with best practice and the National Monuments legislation. Our experienced researchers will carry out desk-based and library research to help to uncover some of the stories about your site or region, using state archives and cartographic sources. Based on the research we will help you to devise a long term management plan that identifies the next steps in understanding your local monument.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – NON-INVASIVE SURVEY

We can offer advice and guidance about what the best strategies for non-invasive archaeological survey are, and we will help to find the appropriate specialist surveyors and geophysists that ensure the best outcomes. We can also assist with aerial survey, another useful tool in understanding an archaeological landscape.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – EXCAVATION

Where appropriate (and subject to licence), we can assist with small targeted test-excavations. Every excavation is unique. We will help to plan and execute the best course of action at varying levels of community involvement. From hands-on digging experience to an open dig where visitors are encouraged to see the work unfold.

RAISING AWARENESS & PROMOTION

After the surveys and excavation comes the most important phase, the reporting, publication and dissemination of all the results. We can help with talks, tours and conferences. We will also ensure the story of the site is widely available through various forms of media, from social media, YouTube videos and blogs to traditional publications.

OUR PROCESS

We help to create positive platforms for collaboration. This is the surest path to achieving best practice in community archaeology and heritage.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR NEEDS AND AMBITIONS

We begin the process by meeting with you to discuss your key priorities and by visiting the site to see what the most appropriate course of action could be. Everything we do is in line with best practice, and this process of evaluation and actively listening to your needs helps to understand the long term goals and it allows us to determine who the main stakeholders for the project are. We then help you to begin the essential work of building a collaborative network.

BUILDING POSITIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR COLLABORATION

This stage is absolutely crucial to the long term success of any community archaeology or heritage project. The process of turning individual stakeholders into a positive and supportive group with shared goals can be a lengthy and ongoing process, but this foundation is essential. Stakeholders might include the group themselves, the landowner, experts in the period or place, the local authority, the State in the form of the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland, potential funding bodies and the wider community. Sometimes values and needs can conflict, but a process of mediation with clear and honest communication can work in the long term.

RESEARCH & PLANNING

From our discussions we will work with you to produce a management plan that will ensure an appropriate path to knowledge in accordance with best practice and the National Monuments legislation. Our experienced researchers will carry out desk-based and library research to help to uncover some of the stories about your site or region, using state archives and cartographic sources. Based on the research we will help you to devise a long term management plan that identifies the next steps in understanding your local monument.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – NON-INVASIVE SURVEY

We can offer advice and guidance about what the best strategies for non-invasive archaeological survey are, and we will help to find the appropriate specialist surveyors and geophysists that ensure the best outcomes. We can also assist with aerial survey, another useful tool in understanding an archaeological landscape.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – EXCAVATION

Where appropriate (and subject to licence), we can assist with small targeted test-excavations. Every excavation is unique. We will help to plan and execute the best course of action at varying levels of community involvement. From hands-on digging experience to an open dig where visitors are encouraged to see the work unfold.

RAISING AWARENESS AND PROMOTION

After the surveys and excavation comes the most important phase, the reporting, publication and dissemination of all the results. We can help with talks, tours and conferences. We will also ensure the story of the site is widely available through various forms of media, from social media, YouTube videos and blogs to traditional publications.

SOME RECENT COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE PROJECTS

Community archaeology is an important part of what we do. We love to help to connect people with the past, and directly engaging with communities is one of the most rewarding ways to do just that, by giving hands-on experience and demonstrations of the skills and techniques of modern archaeological excavation and survey. We are currently working on a number of projects to help to connect communities with their heritage such the award winning Hellfire Club Archaeological Project and Adopt a Monument Ireland on behalf of the Heritage Council.

SOME RECENT COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE PROJECTS

Community archaeology is an important part of what we do. We love to help to connect people with the past, and directly engaging with communities is one of the most rewarding ways to do just that, by giving hands-on experience and demonstrations of the skills and techniques of modern archaeological excavation and survey. We are currently working on a number of projects to help to connect communities with their heritage such the award winning Hellfire Club Archaeological Project and Adopt a Monument Ireland on behalf of the Heritage Council.

IRISH WALLED TOWNS NETWORK

The IWTN strives to make Ireland’s historic towns better places to live, work and visit. 29 towns currently form the network across the island of Ireland (both north and south).

Killeshandra Tidy Towns with Cavan County Council Heritage Officer Anne Marie Ward and Roisin Burke of Abarta Heritage during a Heritage Week event for Adopt a Monument group at the Church of the Rath

ADOPT A MONUMENT IRELAND

The Adopt A Monument scheme provides facilitation, expertise, mentoring, training and support to community groups across Ireland, enabling them conserve, interpret and promote local monuments of all eras and styles.

HELLFIRE CLUB ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT

The Hellfire Club Archaeological Project was a collaborative, multi-disciplinary community outreach project which aimed to identify, examine and interpret the archaeological remains at this fascinating site in Co. Dublin.

Contact us about community archaeology & heritage services

OTHER RECENT PROJECTS

Munster Vales Tourism MentoringGeni Murphy2021-01-22T16:11:06+00:00

Castlegarde Castle, Cappamore, Co. Limerick

OTHER RECENT PROJECTS

Munster Vales Tourism MentoringGeni Murphy2021-01-22T16:11:06+00:00

Community Archaeology and Heritage Services

Community Archaeology and Heritage Services

Our Community Archaeology & Heritage Services help to empower people to understand, protect, preserve & promote their local monuments

OUR PROCESS

UNDERSTANDING YOUR NEEDS & AMBITIONS

BUILDING POSITIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR COLLABORATION

RESEARCH & PLANNING

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – NON-INVASIVE SURVEY

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – EXCAVATION

RAISING AWARENESS & PROMOTION

OUR PROCESS

UNDERSTANDING YOUR NEEDS AND AMBITIONS

BUILDING POSITIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR COLLABORATION

RESEARCH & PLANNING

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – NON-INVASIVE SURVEY

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MONUMENT – EXCAVATION

RAISING AWARENESS AND PROMOTION

SOME RECENT COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE PROJECTS

SOME RECENT COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE PROJECTS

IRISH WALLED TOWNS NETWORK

The IWTN strives to make Ireland’s historic towns better places to live, work and visit. 29 towns currently form the network across the island of Ireland (both north and south).

ADOPT A MONUMENT IRELAND

The Adopt A Monument scheme provides facilitation, expertise, mentoring, training and support to community groups across Ireland, enabling them conserve, interpret and promote local monuments of all eras and styles.

HELLFIRE CLUB ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT

The Hellfire Club Archaeological Project was a collaborative, multi-disciplinary community outreach project which aimed to identify, examine and interpret the archaeological remains at this fascinating site in Co. Dublin.

OTHER RECENT PROJECTS

OTHER RECENT PROJECTS

Put your visitors at the centre of your site's story with Abarta Heritage

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