Ireland Field School
Student Information
Who Can Apply?
Anyone 18 or over can apply to the program. We are looking for students and staff with previous experience in the field of archaeology to join us this summer. Often we have large programs of over 50 people, but this summer we are looking to run the program at a smaller size of less than 20 people. We will be selective in our application process as there will not be as much space to accommodate students this year. We urge everyone to apply and we will let you know as soon as possible whether you have been accepted to the program.
Orientation Meetings
We will be holding optional orientation meetings for students and their family members on the Foothill campus. We will let you know the dates/times and specific location of these meetings. I want to stress that these meetings are OPTIONAL. We know that many students are not local to the Foothill area, so we do not require you to attend these pre-departure orientation meeting. There will be an official orientation in Ireland at the beginning of the program.
Cost
Total: $3,150 plus tuition costs (does NOT include airfare)
Tuition: CA state resident – $31.00 per unit
Out-of-state/International student – $160.00 per unit
Included in Cost: All transportation, food and housing during the month long stay.
Excluded from Cost: Airfare, personal expenses, travel insurance, health care, optional field trips
Financial Aid
Financial Aid is available for Enrollment in a Study Abroad Program while attending Foothill College; foothill.edu/financialaid/apply.html Please make the aid office aware that you are doing the summer abroad program.
Getting There
The project officially starts in Dublin on July 5th and runs until August 1st.
If you are arriving in Dublin on July 5th, you will head directly to our pre-arranged meeting locations in the airport as soon as your plane arrives.
If you are already in Dublin prior to the 5th, we will meet you at a pre-arranged location in the center of Dublin.
As the arrival date gets nearer, we will send out more details for the arrival time and locations, including links to public transportation from the Dublin airport to the city center.
In addition to encouraging an early arrival, we also encourage you to stay in Ireland and Europe after the end of the program, if your budget and schedule permits. Many students stay on after the program and travel together around Ireland and the rest of Europe. When looking for flights, you might want to keep this in mind.
Purchasing Airline Tickets
You are responsible for getting yourself to Ireland and meeting us in Dublin. Tickets tend to be cheaper for mid-week flights, enough to make it a good possibility for you to come to Ireland a few days early. If you do come early, there is plenty to do in and around Dublin. However, we are not going to be available to assist you until July 5th when we meet in Dublin. Prior to that you are on you own. We are not ‘responsible’ for you until July 5th when the program officially begins, and our responsibility ends on August 1st, the final day of the project. Whether you come early or leave late, we leave that up to you, but please know that we are only responsible for you on and between the project dates. (You are welcome and encouraged, however, to connect with other participants via the Facebook to organize get-togethers in Dublin prior to the program start date and/or make group travel plans after the program finishes.)
Once you have purchased your airline tickets, please email your full itinerary to us so that we know when to expect you.
INSURANCE
We require that you are covered by insurance and will require proof of insurance prior to departure. You can purchase short-term traveler's insurance, which is cheap and supplements any other insurance you may have. There are a number of vendors. Participants in the past have used www.eglobalhealth.com where we see quotes for $60.00 covering up to $1,000,000.00 for the month of July.
PASSPORT
Your passport is essential for travel to Ireland. If you are US citizen, you will not need a visa, but you need to ensure that the passport's expiry date is at least 6 months after you return to the US. Passport applications are taking up to 12 weeks to process ,and the expedited process is taking longer than previous years.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A VALID PASSPORT, APPLY FOR ONE ASAP.
If you are not a US citizen, please be sure to check the requirements for travel on the official Ireland travel website.
Food, Lodging and Transportation During the Project
On July 5th, you be accompanied from Dublin to Ballintober on the train. Upon arrival in Ballintober, you will be placed into pre-assigned housing, which will be in a shared home with other students and staff volunteers. In general, housing assignments last for the duration of the project, although we do occasionally move students around by necessity or request, so we ask for flexibility from all program participants.
Program participants will be residing in the small village of Ballintober and the town of Castlerea. The majority of the participants will stay in accommodations at Clonalis, the O’Conner family property in Castlerea, with a smaller group in houses situated within the village of Ballintober. Clonalis is located on an active farm that is part of a private estate and the ancestral home of the O’Connors, the current owners of Ballintober Castle and descendants of the Kings of Connacht. Housing at Clonalis is in an 18th century renovated stables with kitchens, showers, dining hall, and room for 23 beds.
Food will be provided by the project from dinner on July 5th to breakfast on August 1st. We try to accommodate all dietary needs and have always made good food a primary focus of our projects. The program uses the two local pubs, which hire local cooks to make the dinners and provide lunches three days a week with communal dinner created by staff and students the remainder of the nights. Breakfast will be ‘self-catering’ (you will make it yourself). We feel it is important to try to have the entire group eat together, so we make an effort to have group dining for lunch and dinner.