ProfessorAidan O'Sullivan

I have been Principal Investigator and Project Director of several archaeological research projects exploring these subjects. Since my appointment at UCD, I have been awarded a range of research grants by IRCHSS, Heritage Council, RIA and INSTAR amongst others, and have also supported many successful PhD and post-doctoral scholarships applications, all amounting to a total of over €3 million euros in grant awards.

My research interests revolve around 3 key areas and I would welcome contacts from any potential MA/PhD students or Postdoctoral Fellows also interested in these general themes. Early medieval Ireland in its northwest European contexts: people, settlements and their landscapes, AD 400-1200 I was Principal Investigator (P.I.), with Dr Finbar McCormick, of the INSTAR Early Medieval Archaeology Project (EMAP ), funded by UCD Seed Funding (2007), the Heritage Council (2008) and the Irish National Strategic Archaeological Research (INSTAR) programme (2008-2013). EMAP has published several books, including 'Early Medieval Ireland, AD 400-1100: The evidence from archaeological excavations (Royal Irish Academy, 2014, and 2021 reprint)

My own research on early medieval Ireland explores how people organised their settlements and landscapes, to negotiate and perform particular social identities (ethnicity, kinship, social status, gender and community). With the support of an IRCHSS Senior Research Scholarship (2002/2003), I completed my PhD on early medieval crannogs and island dwellings in Ireland (my related books include The archaeology of lake settlement in Ireland , Royal Irish Academy, 1998; Coolure Demesne crannog: an introduction to its archaeology and landscapes (Wordwell, 2007). As a UCD President's Research Fellow (2005/2006), I began research for a book provisionally entitled Early medieval people and their landscapes in Ireland, AD 400-1100 . I have written peer-reviewed articles on early medieval settlement enclosures (PRIA 2011); early medieval houses (Peritia 2008), on early medieval coastal landscapes and early medieval fishing practices (World Archaeology 2004). I lead the UCD Early Medieval and Viking Age Research Group (EMVARG) and have supervised several PhDs on early medieval Britain and Ireland.

Wetlands and Maritime Archaeology My interests in coastal and wetland archaeology encompass the ways that past peoples interacted with wet environments, whether they are estuaries, lakes or boglands. In the past, I completed ancient wood technology reports from various prehistoric waterlogged and urban medieval archaeological sites (including Viking Age houses and medieval waterfronts). Previous publications have included The archaeology of lake settlement in Ireland (Royal Irish Academy 1998); Foragers, farmers and fishers in a coastal landscape: an intertidal archaeological survey of the Shannon estuary (Royal Irish Academy 2001) and (with Robert van de Noort) Rethinking Wetland Archaeology (Duckworth 2006), which explores theoretical and interpretative potential of wetland archaeological investigations and (with Colin Breen) Maritime Ireland: an archaeology of coastal communitie s (Tempus 2007) and am on the steering group of Submerged Landscapes Archaeological Network (SLAN). I was a co-editor with Prof Francesco Menotti of The Oxford Handbook of Wetland Archaeology (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Experimental archaeology and Material Culture: I am Co-Director of the UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture (CEAMC), which is UCD School of Archaeology's facility for experimental archaeology teaching and research. I teach undergraduate courses in experimental archaeology and have supervised several PhDs and MA/MSc students with an emphasis on experimental archaeology. I co-ordinate the active ' UCD Experimental Archaeology ' Facebook group, as well as Twitter and Instagram accounts with thousands of members from 96 countries around the world, linking Irish experimental archaeologists with colleagues everywhere. I was a co-organiser of the 9th Experimental Archaeology Conference (EAC9) , held at University College Dublin and the Irish National Heritage Park, 18-19 January, 2015, and have previously been an academic adviser to the Irish National Heritage Park open-air museum, at Ferrycarrig, Co. Wexford, Ireland (particularly on aspects of their early medieval and Viking Age reconstructions).