The American Society for Irish Medieval Studies seeks a General Editor, Associate Editor, and Book Reviews Editor for its peer-reviewed journal Eolas.

The General Editor must have a PhD in hand with research interests and expertise within the field of Irish medieval studies, and a record of publication in the field of medieval studies. Previous editorial and design/production experience is greatly preferred. This is a three-year renewable term.

The Associate Editor should be either a PhD or PhD candidate with expertise an area of Irish medieval studies, and a record of publication in the field of medieval studies. Previous editorial experience is preferred.

• The Book Reviews Editor must have a PhD in hand with research interests and expertise within the field of Irish medieval studies, and a record of publication in the field of medieval studies.

All applicants must be members of ASIMS upon the time of their appointment.

These positions will remain open until filled.  To apply for any one of them, please send a letter of interest and c.v. directly to ASIMS President, Lee Follett.

We have reached that time of the year when it becomes necessary to open the floor for nominations to the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies Executive Committee. The Board meets roughly three or four times per year via Google Hangouts, and provides review for submissions to the ASIMS journal, Eolas, as needed throughout the publishing year and according to each member’s specialty or field representation. Members may also be asked to adjudicate submissions to the annual Barry Award and Adams Award competitions each spring. The duties are therefore not generally onerous and offer a great way to contribute to the overall success and welfare of our professional organization. Officers do need to possess a doctorate in their field and be members of ASIMS at the time their terms begin. 

The offices listed below will become vacant effective in May at the International Congress on Medieval Studies; all terms are two years except Vice President, as noted: 

Executive offices that will be vacant in May:

(1) Vice President (elected)

Becoming VP is a commitment for a total of four years: two years as VP followed by automatic accession to the office of President for two years. The duties of the VP are not extensive and primarily concern the running of ASIMS’ annual awards competitions and the society’s elections.

(2) Secretary (appointed)

Discipline and Regional Representative offices that will be vacant in May:

(1) Archaeology Representative (elected)

(2) Art History Representative (elected)

(3) Literature Representative (elected)

(4) Philology Representative (elected)

(5) Theology Representative (elected)

(6) Ireland Regional Representative (appointed) 

The Ireland Representative acts as an ombudsperson and local representative for ASIMS in Ireland; the Ireland Rep therefore needs to physically reside in, or have recently resided in, Ireland itself. 

If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else, please provide the relevant individual’s name and email address to me, Máire Johnson, at mjohns38@emporia.edu, by Monday, March 4th; feel free to contact me also if you have any questions. NOTE: Anyone who is nominated by another will be contacted to confirm their willingness to stand for election. 

We will announce the opening of elections at the end of February or beginning of March; votes will be collected via the ASIMS website and results announced by the end of March. Thank you in advance for your willingness to contribute to the ongoing success of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies!

Disert is a ritual pilgrim landscape in Co. Donegal that includes a series of early ecclesiastical enclosures, penitential cairns, a holy well dedicated to St Colmcille (also known as St Columba), a post-medieval altar and a cillín (children’s graveyard). It may date to as early as the sixth century AD when it was reputedly founded by St Colmcille or may even extend back into prehistory. Disert is still important today for religious devotion and for pilgrims seeking miraculous cures for medical conditions.

This spectacular area lies at the foothills of the Bluestack Mountains, some 10km from Donegal Town and the Wild Atlantic Way. Rural sites such as this are poorly understood and the excavation will offer the opportunity to examine the role of Disert in both early and more recent Irish Christianity.

2019 will be the first year of excavation so the focus will be on understanding the dating and origin of the site as well as the nature of features previously identified by fieldwalking, drone survey and geophysics. Students will be working closely with members of the local community and with Irish students to begin to unpick this fascinating story. They will gain experience of excavating, recording and surveying sites and in the evenings will be introduced to Irish culture, society and hospitality.

No previous experience is necessary and the program is open to all undergraduate and graduate students. Attending students will be awarded 8 semester credit units (equivalent to 12 quarter credit units) through our academic partner, Connecticut College. Connecticut College is a private, highly ranked liberal arts institution with a deep commitment to undergraduate education.

All of the relevant information and online application forms can be found here: https://ifrglobal.org/program/ireland-disert/

Feel free to download and post the flyer as well!

ASIMS is pleased to announce that the 2018 winner of the Terry Barry Prize for Best Graduate Paper in Irish Medieval Studies is Laura McCloskey for her paper “Exploring meditatio and memoria in Ireland through the Book of Durrow: manuscript illumination as the intersection of theological and artistic traditions.” She presented it at the 2017 American Society for Irish Medieval Studies conference at Glenstal Abbey in Ireland.

Laura E. McCloskey is a PhD candidate in art history at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and the recipient of an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship. Laura holds a B.A. in Art History from George Mason University, a M.A. in Irish Studies from Catholic University, and a M.Ed. in Multilingual and Multicultural Education also from George Mason University. She has been a lecturer of history and art history at George Mason University since 2008, specializing in Irish history from pre-Christian to contemporary periods, Celtic art and mythology, and medieval Scotland. She has presented at numerous international conferences on early medieval Irish manuscript traditions.

Working under the supervision of Dr. Laura Cleaver, her dissertation title is “Cross-Cultural Connections between Insular Manuscript Illumination and the Mediterranean World.” Laura’s research unites the Mediterranean world from the late antique period through the early middle ages as evidenced in Irish manuscript illumination, focusing specifically on two of the best known early Insular manuscript exemplars: the seventh-century Book of Durrow and eighth-century Book of Kells. Using archaeological and literary evidence, she explores the trade relationship between Ireland and Byzantium, uniting early Christendom into a coherent artistic whole facilitated by motifs spread via the missionary work and legacy of Saint Columba.

ASIMS is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2018 Four Courts Press Michael Adams Prize for best article or essay in Irish medieval studies is Dr Rachel Scott, for her book chapter ‘Socioeconomic change in early medieval Ireland: agricultural innovation, population growth, and human health,’ published in European Archaeology as Anthropology: Essays in Memory of Bernard Wailes (ed. Pam J. Crabtree and Peter Bogucki, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2017).

Dr Scott is an assistant professor of anthropology at DePaul University. She is a bioarchaeologist as well, and her work—focused particularly in early Christian and late medieval Ireland—straddles the intersections between skeletal and other archaeological data, history, and anthropology to explore questions concerning identity and the place of disease in human history and culture. Dr Scott is the director of a project on leper hospitals in late medieval Ireland and serves as bioarchaeologist for the Irish Archaeology Field School’s excavations at the Black Friary in Trim, Co. Meath.