Creating Opportunities and Managing Expectations: Evaluating Community Archaeology in Ireland

Abstract

Community archaeology in Ireland has developed as a hybrid of public outreach and community-based projects, each having its own opportunities and challenges. Despite community participation in archaeology becoming increasingly popular over the recent years, funding, conflicting expectations, and sustainability are proving to be issues. It is therefore timely to review the participation of both practitioners and communities. In this chapter, the authors will use their specific perspectives—local authority, community-based, field school—to assess the models and value of community archaeology in Ireland.