CV – SHIELS HERITAGE

DAMIAN SHIELS

EDUCATION

BA (Hons) Archaeology with Celtic Civilisation, University College Cork, 2000
MA Archaeology and Heritage Management, University of Leicester, 2005
PhD History, Northumbria University, 2021

Thesis: Recovering the Voices of the Union Irish: Identity, Motivation & Experience in Irish American Civil War Correspondence, 1861-65

SELECTED TEACHING & SUPERVISION

Newcastle University, Teaching Assistant, 2020

HIS1046 The History of the Americas

Delivery of seminar teaching for two separate streams of first year undergraduate students complimenting lecture content. Included exam marking.

Teesside University, Lecturer, 2019

HIS3103 History in Depth-Inhuman Bondage: Slavery and Freedom in the American Tropics

Delivery of all course content for final year undergraduate history in depth course from February to June. Included all student liaison, mentoring, setting of exam questions and marking.

University of Edinburgh, Recurring Guest Lecturer, 2017 to 2020

ARCA10083 Here Comes the War/PGHC11448 Conflict Archaeology: Materialities of Violence

Delivery of annual guest lecture for undergraduate and postgraduate students entitled Revealing the Personal Impact of War on 19th Century American Immigrants.

Landscapes of Revolution Project, Supervision of PhD Researcher, 2016

Created the Landscapes of Revolution Project to examine and map elements of the Revolutionary landscape of East Cork, focused on IRA activities during the War of Independence. Oversaw and managed the work of a PhD researcher from Middle Tennessee State University for a period of 6 months.

Various Teaching & Training, 2002 to present

Various other teaching and training experience has included acting as a tutor for UCC Digital Humanities MA students, lecturing to evening students at the Free University of Ireland, and delivering various training lectures and seminars on topics in history, archaeological, public engagement and the digital humanities to universities, institutions and associations.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Research Fellow, Northumbria University, 2022– 2025

Research Fellow on the three-year AHRC-funded Civil War Bluejackets Project, examining the common lives of U.S. Naval personnel; also assisted Professor David Gleeson with project conceptualisation and preparation of the proposal. A central element of the project is the crowd-sourced transcription of the recently digitised Civil War Muster Rolls at the U.S. National Archives. Development and management of the Zooniverse crowd-sourcing element of the project, which has 2,250 registered volunteers who have completed 125,000 classifications. Other key responsibilities include public research output and communication of primary research. At project conclusion the deliverables will include the preparation of an academic book on the project with Project Lead Professor David Gleeson.

Heritage & History Consultant, Abarta Heritage, 2020 – 2022

Responsible for creation of interpretive content for public engagement in a wide variety of forms, including interpretive and communication strategies, heritage audits, heritage business plans etc. Provision of heritage expertise to public groups, design and creation of heritage audio content.

Researcher, Union Bluejackets Pilot Project, 2020

Worked with Professor David Gleeson of Northumbria University to devise and execute the Union Bluejackets Pilot Project, including the identification of target vessels for inclusion, gathering and management of volunteer transcribers, and creation and management of the Union Bluejackets Project Pilot webpage.

PhD Researcher, Northumbria University, 2017-2020

Full-time PhD researcher at Northumbria University.

Post Excavation Manager & Company Director, Rubicon Heritage, 2006-2017

Company Director in one of the largest archaeological heritage firms in Europe. Successfully managed and delivered numerous multi-million euro projects involving dozens of staff. Responsible for publication, editing, dissemination, quality-control and financial management of the business which at its height employed in excess of 400 staff. Involved throughout this period in archaeological and historical research and as a consultant specialist, including pioneering the sub-discipline of conflict archaeology in Ireland.

Curator, Assistant Keeper II Grade, National Museum of Ireland, 2002 – 2006

One of the curatorial team who devised, researched and executed the award-winning Soldiers & Chiefs: The Irish at War at Home and Abroad from 1550 to the Present Day. Involved in all stages of planning and delivery from inception to delivery.

Field Archaeologist & Supervisor, Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, 2000 – 2002

Archaeological supervisor and military specialist on various sites, including Carrickmines Castle, Co. Dublin, where the most significant conflict-related mass grave yet uncovered in Ireland was excavated.

SELECTED RELEVANT PROJECTS, RESEARCH & ACTIVITIES

Irish Battlefields Project

Managed in conjunction with Eneclann Ltd the Irish Battlefields Project for the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government. The most comprehensive analysis of conflict sites ever undertaken in Ireland, it produced historical and archaeological reports on every known battlefield from the 8th to 18th centuries that involved over 1,000 combatants, and mapped all locatable actions to facilitate future research and management.

Kinsale Battlefield Project & Vinegar Hill Longest Day Research Project

Founded the Kinsale Battlefield Project in 2001. Through volunteer and grant-funding the project has conducted a number of seasons of work, leading to the identification and subsequent protection of the English siege sites. Among the outcomes of the project is a reassessment of the location of the battlefield. Directed the fieldwork for the Longest Day Research Project at Vinegar Hill, the largest battlefield survey yet undertaken on the island of Ireland. Results identified extensive evidence for intense fighting and close quarter combat.

Landscapes of Revolution Project

Founded the Landscapes of Revolution Project (www.landscapesofrevolution.com) to identify, map and disseminate information on the archaeological remains of Ireland’s revolutionary past. The project has received funding from a number of Irish local authorities to conduct analysis, which involves interdisciplinary archaeological and historical work. The project provided the methodological template for the ongoing Irish Research Council COALESCE funded Archaeology of the Irish Revolution Project currently being undertaken by School of Archaeology at University College Dublin in conjunction with Abara Heritage Ltd. Contributed towards the development of that project proposal and selection of the study-area, served on the interview panel for the post’s post-doctoral position, and currently act as a project advisor.

Digital Public History

Founded the award-winning www.irishamericancivilwar.com website in 2010, which has grown to become the largest website dealing with the Irish experience of the American Civil War online, with in excess of 1,000,000 words of content and which has enjoyed well over 1,000,000 visitors. It was selected by the National Library of Ireland for permanent digital archiving to ensure the ongoing preservation of its content. Creator of a number of digital public engagement projects, such as Widows in the Atlantic World and Andersonville Irish Project. Creator and content director of a number of other digital websites, such as the original website blog of Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd, the Midleton Archaeology and Heritage Project, the Bere Island Heritage Project website and the Union Bluejackets website.

Exhibition Curator, National Museum of Ireland, Port of Cork/Sirius Arts Centre & Irish Veterans

Conception, research, layout and design of bespoke military exhibitions, both as part of a small curatorial team, as with the award-winning Soldiers & Chief exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, and as project leader with Portraits: Women of Cork and the U.S. Navy 1917-1919, displayed in the Sirius Arts Centre and Spike Island, and Ireland and the Medal of Honor, displayed at Irish Veterans Kinsale, Tampa Bay History Center, and Iowa Irish Fest. The latter two projects were entirely created and conceived from personal research.

Battlefield Lectures & Tours, Ireland and the United States

Leader of military tours on various historical and archaeological sites throughout Ireland and examining Irish aspects of the American Civil War. Tours in Ireland have included those to U.S. military personnel such as Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland Jr. and Vice Admiral Joseph Maguire, US Navy Seal Captain Duncan Smith and politicians such as Michael Russell MSP. Recurring lecturer and tour leader for Catholic University of America and University of North Carolina summer institutes. Public tours in the United States have included leading Irish-themed tours First Bull Run battlefield and Andersonville National Historic Site, the latter to a group of dignitaries that included Irish Government Minister Darragh O’Brien T.D.

Specialist Analyses

Involvement in a wide-range of consultancy and specialist analysis, including specialist reporting on military finds from excavations across Ireland and Britain. Regular consultancy on regional and national heritage initiatives, including projects such as the Béal na Bláth Centenary Redevelopment, the Brigid 1500 Centenary Programme, Cork County Council Heritage Audit, Interreg Atlantic Area MMIAH Project, National Museum of Ireland Archaeological Artefact Scoping Report, Camden Fort Meagher Finds Storage Report, Kildare Military Heritage Survey.

Heritage Interpretation

Consultant and content producer on a wide-range of heritage interpretation initiatives, from planning through to delivery stage, including the design and content creation of panels and local heritage tours and audio guides.

Editing

Editing, publication mentoring and publication assistance for a large range of heritage reports both technical and for publication. Copy-editing of a wide variety of documents, including a number of PhD dissertations.

Podcasting

Co-creator and co-host with Finbar Dwyer of Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast.

Television & Media

Regular contributions to television, radio, podcast and print/digital media on topics relating to Irish history and Irish archaeology. Television appearances include BBC, RTE, TV3/Virgin Media, TG4, Yesterday, YLE and C-Span, Radio appearances on stations such as RTE, Today FM, Newstalk and various local radio programmes. Opinion and interview pieces have been published in The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Journal.ie and others, historical research output has been contained in a range of media outlets throughout Ireland, Britain, Canada and the United States, with international examples including the Vancouver Sun and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

SELECTED AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS

Andersonville Irish Project Funding Award, Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta/Department of Foreign Affairs, 2024
Prisoner of War Research Grant, Andersonville National Historic Site, 2021
Andersonville Irish Project Funding Award, Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta/Department of Foreign Affairs, 2021
Council for British Archaeology Archaeological Achievement Awards 2021- Shortlisted Finalist in Public Dissemination Category (as part of Abarta Heritage) for The Unsilent Stones Audiobook co-authored with Neil Jackman
Northumbria University PhD Scholarship, 2017-2020
Scottish Association for the Study of America Essay Prize “Preserving the Jewel of Liberty: Uncovering the Letters of Scotland’s Union Soldiers”, 2018
Immigration and Ethnic History Society Annual Blog Competition Winner, 2017
Best Arts & Culture Blogger, Blog Awards Ireland, 2015
Kinsale Town Council Grant, Kinsale Battlefield Project, 2015
Royal Irish Academy Archaeology Research Grant, Kinsale Battlefield Project, 2015
Royal Irish Academy Archaeology Research Grant, Kinsale Battlefield Project, 2014
Appointed Public Relations Officer for the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, 2012
Appointed Company Director and Board Member, Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd., 2009
Eligibility to conduct Licenced Archaeological Excavations in the Republic of Ireland, 2005

PUBLICATIONS

In excess of 50 publications, including popular articles, academic-chapters, peer-reviewed journals and books. A complete list is available at https://shielsheritage.com/publications/. A selection is provided below.

SINGLE-AUTHORED BOOKS

Shiels D 2025. Green and Blue: Irish Americans in the Union Military, 1861-1865. Louisiana State University Press.
Shiels D 2016. The Forgotten Irish: Irish Emigrant Experiences in America. The History Press, 288pp.
Shiels D 2016. The Heritage Centenary Sites of Rebel County Cork. Cork County Council, 227pp.
Shiels D 2013. The Irish in the American Civil War. The History Press, 256pp.

EDITED BOOKS

Bolger T, Shiels D & Moloney C (eds) 2015. A Journey Along the Carlow Corridor: The Archaeology of the M9 Carlow Bypass. Wordwell.

EBOOKS

Hourihan S, Long P and Shiels D 2015 A Guide to the Excavations at Love Lodge Farm, Ffairach, Carmathenshire. Rubicon Heritage for Carmarthenshire County Council
Moloney C, Baker L, Millar J and Shiels D 2014 Guide to the Excavations at Ardreigh, County Kildare. Rubicon Heritage for Kildare County Council

GUIDELINES

Brück J and Shiels D 2024 Researching and Protecting the Archaeological Heritage of the Easter Rising, War of Independence and Civil War. With a foreword by Micheal MacDonagh, Chief Archaeologist of the National Monuments Service

EXHIBITION CATALOGUES

Shiels D 2017 Portraits: Women of Cork and the U.S. Navy 1917-1919. New Research by Damian Shiels

BOOK CHAPTERS, PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS & ARTICLES

Shiels D and Eogan J 2024 “‘Embellished with Many Elegant Seats’: Uncovering Elements of the Post-Medieval and Early Modern Landscape in the Hinterland of New Ross” in J Eogan and J Hession (eds) Places for the Dead, Places for the Living: Archaeological Discoveries on the N25 New Ross Bypass. Wordwell.
Shiels D 2023 ‘Transported to Fairyland: The Irish Brigades Celebrate Christmas during the American Civil War’ in S Ryan (ed) Christmas and the Irish: A Miscellany. Wordwell.
Shiels D and Gleeson D 2023 ‘Northeastern England and America’s Bloodiest War’ in North East History 54.
Shiels D & Brück J 2022. ‘The Battle for Cork: Landscapes of Counter Memory’ in D Gannon & F McGarry (eds.) Ireland 1922: Independence, Partition, Civil War. Royal Irish Academy.
Shiels D 2021. ‘None of her Children Ever Lived: Stories of Birth and Loss from Irish Pensioners of the American Civil War’ in S Ryan (ed.) Birth and the Irish: A Miscellany. Wordwell.
Shiels D & Bonsall J 2021. ‘Picking up the Pieces: The Archaeological Survey of Vinegar Hill’ in R O’Flaherty & J Hynes (eds.) Vinegar Hill: The Last Stand of the Wexford Rebels of 1798. Four Courts Press.
Shiels D 2020 ‘In Search of Siege Landscapes’ in Archaeology Ireland 34, No. 2.
Shiels D 2020 ‘Shot, Shell and Scars: Evidence for 17^th Century Siege Encounters’ in Archaeology Ireland 34, No. 1.
Shiels D 2019 ‘Siege, Storm and Slaughter: 17^th Century Mass Graves’ in Archaeology Ireland 33, No. 4.
Shiels D 2019 ‘Ireland’s Forgotten Great War: Re-evaluating the American Civil War’s Place in Irish History’ in History Ireland 27, No. 4.
Shiels D 2017 ‘Ireland’s U.S. Navy War Brides’ in History Ireland 25, No. 4.
Bolger T, Mynett A, Tommasino Suarez C, Shiels D and Timpany D 2017. ‘A Medieval Stud Farm? Economy and Subsistence at Mullamast’ in T Bolger (ed.) Colonising a Royal Landscape: The History and Archaeology of a Medieval Village at Mullamast, Co. Kildare. Wordwell.
Shiels D 2016. ‘Widows and Dependent Parents Civil War Pension Files: A New Source for the Irish Emigrant Experience’ in C Reilly (ed.) The Famine Irish: Emigration and the Great Hunger. The History Press.
Shiels D 2015. ‘The Long Arm of War: Exploring the Nineteenth Century Ulster Emigrant Experience through American Civil War Pension Files’ in P Fitzgerald, C Kinealy & G Moran (eds.) Irish Hunger & Emigration: Myth, Memory and Memorialisation. Quinnipiac University Press.
Shiels D 2015. ‘Place versus Memory: Forgetting Ireland’s Sites of Independence? In L Godson & J Brück (eds.) Making 1916: The Material and Visual Culture of the Easter Rising. Liverpool University Press.
Shiels D 2015. ‘Reconstructing Battlefield Landscapes’ in T Barry & V McAlister (eds.) Space and Settlement in Medieval Ireland. Four Courts Press.
Shiels D 2015. ‘Continuity and Change in the Medieval and Post Medieval Landscape’ in T Bolger, D Shiels & C Moloney (eds.) A Journey Along the Carlow Corridor: The Archaeology of the M9 Carlow Bypass. Wordwell.
Shiels D and Moloney C 2015 ‘Safe Haven? The Archaeology of Bere Island’s Defence, 1793-1815’ in Newsletter for the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement, 19.
Shiels D 2014. ‘Witnesses to History: A Military Assemblage from the 1691 Aughrim Battlefield’ in B Kelly, N Roycroft & M Stanley (eds.) Fragments of Lives Past: Archaeological Objects from Irish Road Schemes. Wordwell.
Shiels D 2013. ‘The Military Finds’ in C Manning (ed.) Clough Oughter Castle, Co. Cavan: Archaeology, History & Architecture. Government Stationery Office.
Shiels D 2013 ‘The Military Archaeology of Irish Buildings in the Twentieth Century’ in Institute for Archaeologists Buildings Group Newsletter 35.
Shiels D 2012 ‘Tait Uniforms’ in History Ireland, Volume 20, Issue 5, September/October 2012.
Shiels D 2011 ‘A Flintlock Pistol from Whitestown, Co. Waterford’ in Decies: The Journal of the Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society, No. 67.
Shiels D 2009. ‘Identifying & Interpreting Ireland’s Post Medieval Conflict Archaeology’, Journal of Irish Archaeology 17.
O’Keeffe P & Shiels D 2008 ‘A More Miserable Siege Hath Not Been Seen’ in Archaeology Ireland Volume 22, No. 3 Autumn 2008.
Shiels D, 2008 ‘Dún An Óir 1580: The Potential for intact Siege Archaeology’ for the Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, Series 2 Volume 7.
Shiels D 2007. ‘Battle and Siege Maps of Elizabethan Ireland: Blueprints for Archaeologists?’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology 3.
Shiels D 2007. ‘The Potential for Conflict Archaeology in the Republic of Ireland’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology 2.
Clinton M, Fibiger L & Shiels D 2007. ‘The Carrickmines Mass Grave and the Siege of 1642’ in D Edwards, P Lenihan & C Tait (eds.) Age of Atrocity: Violent Death & Political Conflict in Ireland 1547-1650. Four Courts Press.
Shiels D, 2006 ‘The Archaeology of Insurrection: St. Stephen’s Green 1916’ in Archaeology Ireland Volume 20 No. 1, Spring 2006.
Shiels D 2004 ‘Fort and Field: The Potential for Battlefield Archaeology in Kinsale’ in H Morgan (ed.) The Battle of Kinsale. Wordwell.

SELECTED INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Delivery of in excess of c. 200 public talks/lectures, the great majority of which are invited speaking events and conference papers in Ireland, Britain, Europe and the United States. The bulk pertain to topics associated with Irish history and archaeology, covering topics from medieval and early modern period through to the 20^th century. These have included speaking-engagements at location such as the National Archives of the United States, National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland and the British Museum. A full list is available at https://shielsheritage.com/speaking/. A small selection of some high-profile invited presentations is provided below.

October 19, 2023. The Andersonville Irish: Remarks at Irish Memorial Plaque Dedication. Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia, United States (Guest of Honour Irish Government Minister Darragh O’Brien).
October 8, 2018. Place versus Memory: Monuments, Memorialisation, and Forgetting Ireland’s Sites of Independence, Contested Memorials in Ireland & the U.S. South Conference, Queen’s University Belfast.
November 18, 2018. The Archaeology of the 1798 Battlefield of Vinegar Hill, Glenn Thompson Memorial Lecture, National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin.
August 19, 2017. Irish Battlefields Project, Annul Tudor & Stuart Ireland Interdisciplinary Conference, National University of Ireland, Galway
March 16, 2017. The Forgotten Irish, United States National Archives, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C.
August 18, 2016. The Forgotten Irish: Revealing the Voices of Irish 19th Century Emigrants. National Library of Ireland, Dublin.
28 March, 2016. Unearthing Ireland’s Revolutionary Wars– Examining the Archaeological Evidence. RTE Reflecting the Rising Event, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Heuston Lecture Theatre, Dublin, Ireland.

11 September, 2015. Profiles in Courage: The Irish Dimension to the Medal of Honor, Lucas Lecture, Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club, 11 September 2015 (Guests of Honour U.S. Ambassador, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs).
9 June 2015. Respondent to Professor Patrick Griffin, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade American Civil War Lecture, Iveagh House, Dublin.
14 November 2014. Patrick Cleburne and the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Keynote Address, Franklin, Tennessee.
4 December 2013. Archaeology and the Irish Revolution, 1916-23: Lost Opportunities, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College, Dublin.
27 February 2011. The Irish Battlefields Project, Current Archaeology Live, British Museum, London.
8 November 2008. Irish Soldiers in 1918, First World War 90^th Anniversary Event, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.

OUTREACH

Twenty years’ experience in engaging with public history and archaeology. This has included establishing and running the blogs noted above, including Irish in the American Civil War, Ireland’s most consistent scholarly history blog, which has amassed in excess of one million visits. Creation of Forgotten Irish podcast and YouTube channel. A regular contributor on television, radio and in print media on topics relating to the Irish history and archaeology. For further details see https://shielsheritage.com/speaking/ and https://shielsheritage.com/experience/.