From Feast to Famine? The Archaeological Profession in Ireland in the New Millennium

Abstract

The development and recognition of archaeology as a profession in Ireland arose after the establishment of the subject and its earliest practitioners. In the early part of the twentieth century there were few full-time archaeologists in the country and these were mostly engaged in the museum, state and university education sectors. The introduction of the first National Monuments Act in 1930 at the birth of the new Irish Free State and expansions in the university departments in the 1940s saw these numbers increase (Cooney et al. 2006, 7) and by the 1970s most practitioners were still employed in the state and education areas. During this period, many of the great type sites of Irish archaeology were excavated with most of the “labour” provided under a Relief of Unemployment scheme which used archaeological research to alleviate rural unemployment. This distinction between the site director, perhaps assisted by a small number of student volunteers, and labourers continued on many sites up to the 1970s but declined as the funding became more focused on research and greater numbers of graduate archaeologists became engaged greatly increasing the professionalism of projects. State sponsorship of staff on some excavations continued into the 1980s with the use of FÁS (state training agency) schemes and later with the introduction of the Students’ Summer Jobs Scheme (1993–2003) but this period is marked by an increasing prevalence of professional archaeologists.