Study Archaeology at IT Sligo, Ireland

Welcome to the Archaeology programme at IT Sligo, where you will find a range of courses designed to meet your needs.  Whether you are envisaging a career in archaeology or you would like to learn more about your local heritage, we have a course that’s right for you.

Training Excavation

At IT Sligo we aim to provide the most practical, focused training in archaeology available anywhere. We are proud to offer the only Higher Certificate, BSc and BSc (Honours) in Archaeology available in the Republic of Ireland.  See the individual courses for details of the modules covered. Our graduates have an excellent record in employment and in postgraduate study – one excavation director said about our graduates “Their knowledge, skills and attitude set them in a league of their own” (Jean O’Dowd).

As well as covering the traditional ‘humanities’ aspects of archaeology our courses involve learning and taking part in practical fieldwork such as surveying, geophysics and excavation. One of the highlights is the training excavation, which is a full two-week module undertaken at the end of the first year of all of our courses.  This training excavation is also available as a Field School for non-IT Sligo students, giving you a chance to meet people from all around the world.  The Higher Cert and Degree courses also include training in the scientific analysis of archaeological finds such as human and animal bones, and artefacts made of materials including metals, stone and ceramics.

Geophysics module

Since September 2014 we have been offering our new 2-year Higher Certificate in Applied Archaeology.  This means that IT Sligo now runs taught courses in Applied Archaeology at Level 6 (Higher Certificate), in addition to our  Level 7 (BSc degree) and our flagship Level 8 (BSc Honours degree), which first ran in 2003. Have a look at the course pages to see more details, including the subjects you will be studying and the points needed. We also supervise research postgraduates at both Masters and PhD level.

Our class sizes are small, so you will receive personalised attention from academic staff.  We attract a wide range of different types of students and are open to applications from both school-leavers and mature students. So whether you have just finished the Leaving Certificate, or whether your school days are a distant memory you can be sure of a warm welcome at IT Sligo.

We welcome students from Northern Ireland, Britain and further afield.  For NI and British students see here for more information.  For overseas students, we have the flexibility to offer a whole degree, a year or just a semester of study in Sligo – see here for details of our International Office.  You may also be interested in attending our summer Field School, excavating a Medieval Castle!

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Graduation Day

Stones and Bones Archaeology Society

This society at IT Sligo is open to all students and members of staff who have an interest in archaeology and is very active throughout the year. This year the society will host a series of afternoon lectures by guest speakers on a wide range of topics in archaeology, visit archaeological sites throughout the country, host regular evening discussion sessions, table quizzes and more. The society aims to promote an active interest in all aspects of archaeology amongst the public as well as its members through the sharing of knowledge and information. You can follow Stones and Bones on Facebook.