Theresa,
Hello hello:) How are you?? Great to hear from you
and i'm so excited that this forum opened up as my
time at Achill, second session of 2004, was a life
changing exprerience:)I was there when Audrey Horning
was there and Moira was too and then one of your
cousins? got married and I met a few of them, they got
me drunker than a skunk too:) I am happy the
fieldschool is still going strong and that there is
talk of reunions:) I was also wondering if you would
have any advice for me as I would love to find a way
to live in Western Ireland either through study or
work. I have an undergrad in Anthropology and French
and would like to get a doctorate in History! But
basically i am really wanting to go back to Ireland
for an extended amount of time. What would you
suggest?? Well i'd better get to work, I hope you are
well, niki
--- theresa47mcdonald <theresa47mcdonald@...>
wrote:

> Hello everybody!
> Since 1991, it has been my privilege to welcome
> 1500+ students from
> Scandinavia, France, Germany, Belgium, Great
> Britain, the USA, South
> America, Canada, Australia & New Zealand to the
> Achill Archaeological
> Field School and while I cannot claim to remember
> each and every one
> of you, I do very much appreciate the fact that you
> choose to come to
> Achill and participate in the Field School. Many
> of you have
> successfully continued your education in your own
> country while
> others have opted for further study at Irish and
> British
> universities; some have returned to the field school
> as volunteers, -
> the really enthusiastic `Achill lovers' doing so on
> several
> occasions; others have returned with family and/or
> friends and have
> been made welcome by myself, field school staff and
> numerous locals.
> Over the years, the field school has added several
> new short and
> specialist courses to our programme, all of which
> are detailed on our
> website. One such course is aimed at Faculty +
> Student groups
> from overseas universities. To date, three USA
> universities have
> availed of our specially designed faculty 10-day
> module:-Franklin
> Pierce College in New Hampshire, Cornell in New York
> and the
> University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Professors Bob
> Jeske and
> Bettina Arnold from UWM said: ' Achill provides a
> stunning landscape
> coupled with hospitable locals who made us feel very
> welcome. We, and
> our students will take back abiding memories of a
> starkly beautiful
> island where generations worked and died over
> thousands of years,
> leaving a legacy of buildings, field systems, tombs
> and graveyards.
> We were taught to 'read' this marvellous landscape,
> and the weather
> was kind!' Achill Island has the archaeological
> resources and
> facilities to cater for small groups (25) like those
> from the
> universities listed above.
> The vast amount of research carried out via
> excavation and survey at
> the Deserted Village and at other sites on
> Slievemore Mountain could
> not have been accomplished without input from the
> students and
> dedicated staff who participated in the field school
> since 1991. A
> monograph detailing the excavations and surveys is
> currently nearing
> completion with publication envisaged in 2007. It is
> also hoped that
> the various Masters and PhD Theses undertaken by
> former students on
> aspects of Achill Island's terrestrial and maritime
> archaeology will
> be made available for dissemination to the public
> via publication or
> through the AFS website.
> In 2006, I was very pleased to receive emails from
> several of the
> students who participated in the 1996 field school,
> reminding me that
> it was 10-year since they had been to the school and
> were obviously
> still feeling nostalgic! Many other students have
> expressed a wish
> for a 'get-together' in Achill or the USA, so maybe
> John Bennett, a
> former student (2003) and our Alumni administrator,
> might set the
> ball rolling to see how many people would like to
> meet up, either in
> the USA or Achill Island. Go for it!
> All of us at the Field School appreciate the many
> emails, photos etc.
> that former students send to the school from time to
> time, so please
> do continue to keep in touch.
> My best regards to you all.
>
> Theresa McDonald
>
>
>
>




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