Michelle Comber

Lecturer      

Exploring the archaeology of daily life in the first millennium AD

Biography

Dr. Michelle Comber is a graduate of the Department of Archaeology, N.U.I., Galway, having completed her primary degree in 1994, Masters degree in 1996 and PhD in 2000. Her research interests lie mainly in the archaeology of Ireland’s Early Medieval period, especially its fine metalwork, economy and settlement. She held a one-year post-doctoral research post at the Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change at NUI, Galway 2001–02, and has over 15 years excavation experience. She is currently directing a project examining the settlement landscape of the Burren, Co. Clare in the first millennium AD. She has been tutoring and lecturing part-time with the department since 1994, and is currently course manager for the department’s evening diplomas in archaeology. She has been appointed Academic Director of the Irish Studies Online programme, a series of web-based courses in Irish Studies developed by NUI, Galway in conjunction with Regis University, Denver, Colorado.

Office 204, Martha Fox House, Centre for Irish Studies, Distillery Road, NUI, Galway.
Tel 091 492887
Fax 091 525700  
E-mail michelle.combernuigalway.ie

Awards/Distinctions

• National University of Ireland Fellow, 1996 – 1998
• Government of Ireland Scholar, IRCHSS Scholarships in the Humanities and Social Sciences 1998 – 2000

Research

• Early Medieval Ireland, 5 ^th to 12 ^th century AD
• Material culture and its economic significance
• Ringfort landscapes

Current Writing Projects

• Garranes Ringfort, Co. Cork and its contemporary ringfort landscape
• The Archaeology of the Beara peninsula, Co. Cork, in the first millennium AD
• The Archaeology of a Burren Ringfort Landscape
• Excavations in Caherconnell townland, Co. Clare
  

Teaching

• AR130 Introduction to Archaeology (1Dip)
• AR131 Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland (1Dip)
• AR132 Historic Archaeology of Ireland (1Dip)
• AR240 Archaeology in Practice and Theory (2Dip)
• AR242 Regional Historic Archaeology (2Dip)
• AR115 Celts, Vikings and Normans (1BA)
• MA in Landscape Archaeology: investigating landscape
• ILC programme, Centre for Irish Studies
• AR245 Archaeology in Practice (2BA)
• AR325 Minor Dissertation (3BA)

Administration

• Departmental Director of diploma programmes
• Examination Officer for diploma programmes
• Diplomas advisor
• Academic Director of Irish Studies online programme

External Responsibilities

• Committee member, Galway County Council Heritage Forum
• Council member, Discovery Programme
• Archaeological Director, Caherconnell Archaeological Field School

Publications

Forthcoming

• 2010 'Caherconnell, Co. Clare - a cashel of continuous use?'  The Other Clare vol. 34.

Select

• (With Graham Hull) 2010 'Excavations at Caherconnell Cashel, the Burren, Co. Clare: implications for cashel chronology and Gaelic settlement.' Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 110C, 133 - 171.  Available online at:  http://www.ria.ie/RIA/files/6c/6ca57f2f-9a09-43fe-9fc7-35a0d23547d7.pdf 
• 2009 'Beara in the first millennium AD.' In O'Brien Local Worlds, 58-68.  Cork, Collins Press.
• 2009 'Early Settlement Zone 3 - Caheravart slopes.'  In O'Brien Local Worlds, 157-67.  Cork, Collins Press.
• 2008 (with W.O’Brien) Archaeological Investigations at Ross Island cave, Killarney, Co. Kerry. Journal of Irish Archaeology 17, 19–56.
• 2008 The Economy of the Ringfort and Contemporary Settlement in Early Medieval Ireland. British Archaeological Report, International Series 1773, Oxford. Pp. 335.
• 2006 Tom Fanning’s excavations at Rinnaraw cashel, Portnablagh, Co. Donegal. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 106C, 67–124.
• 2004 The Early Medieval Settlement Landscape of Killarney. In O’Brien, W., Ross Island: Mining, metal and society in early Ireland, 424–37. Galway.
• 2004 Ross Island and Early Medieval Metallurgy in Ireland. In O’Brien, W., Ross Island: Mining, metal and society in early Ireland, 437–50. Galway.
• 2004 Native Evidence of Non-ferrous Metalworking in Early Historic Ireland. British Archaeological Report, International Series 1296, Oxford. Pp. 233.
• 2002 M.V. Duignan's excavations at the ringfort of Rathgurreen, County Galway, 1948–1949. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 102C, 137–97.
• 2001 Trade and communication networks in Early Historic Ireland. Journal of Irish Archaeology 10, 73–92.

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