By Brendan McDonald ’25
As the academic year closes, Thomas More College students disperse across the country—and some even go beyond those borders. For Molly Hugo ’25 and Joseph Shea ’27, their summer interests led them to travel overseas.
Those interests are archeological for Miss Hugo, who spent a week on Ireland’s Achill Island, which is known for its archeological findings. The island, which is located in County Mayo on the northwest side of the country, is the site of the Achill Archeological Field School’s “archaeology immersion course” that Miss Hugo participated in last August.
In addition to visiting Ireland, the opportunity to spend time in the archeological field was an attraction for Miss Hugo, who is considering pursuing the profession after graduation. “During our week-long excavation,” she commented, “we learned how to clean a site to prepare it for documentation, properly photograph and catalog excavations and the subsequent findings, and, of course, how to excavate!”
Specifically, Miss Hugo was charged with excavating parts of a former “caher”—an Anglicized spelling of “cathair”—“a type of settlement from the early medieval time which would have been surrounded by a circular stone wall.” Among the only surviving parts of the caher—which has long been ravaged by erosion—is a “Cillín,” or burial ground for stillborn and unbaptized children, along with several house foundations constructed from stone.
Also surviving the thousand-plus years of erosion are “middens,” or medieval refuse piles. Miss Hugo’s group spent the week sorting through a midden which was mainly comprised of shells. “During the excavation, we found seashells by the dozen, teeth (human and sheep), bone (presumably sheep, or whatever else the occupants were eating), charcoal from fires, a stone wall from what could have been another house that has since eroded from the cliff’s edge, and a clay pipe, which we were able to date to circa 1680,” she reported. “As we excavated the ground, layer by layer, we could see how the soil had changed over the years.”
The TMC senior enjoyed spending time with like-minded people from all over the world. “Within the group,” Miss Hugo said, “we had a lovely couple hailing from Portland, Oregon, two teenagers from Las Vegas, a kite-surfer who lives part-time on Achill Island and part-time in Florida, a middle-aged Catholic school teacher, a German librarian who has been on an extensive number of digs, a young New Yorker with a degree in art history, an Irish college student studying archaeology, and a North Irish woman with a doctorate in archaeology and extensive knowledge of the Ulster Plantations.”
While she was investigating the possibility of attending the Achill program, Miss Hugo found encouragement from Thomas More College faculty and students. Their support “to go to Ireland on my own and do the dig was much appreciated.”
Miss Hugo was not the only Thomas More College student to travel abroad over the summer. Sophomore Joseph Shea felt called to dedicate a month to a mission trip to Ghana. “My friend said he was going to Africa to teach at a school,” Mr. Shea told us, “and I thought it would be a good thing, so I asked him if I could come along.”
Mr. Shea spent his time at the Pope Francis School and Health Center, a recently formed missionary establishment whose aim is to provide “quality education and healthcare that promotes academic, physical, emotional and spiritual growth, with a focus on the vulnerable, neglected, and abandoned population in Ghana, West Africa.”
With his friend, Mr. Shea taught “math, art, and English,” as well as American folk songs such as “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “You Are My Sunshine.” He also taught them to sing “Immaculate Mary,” a song of praise to the Virgin Mother of God. Outside the classroom, Mr. Shea played sports with the children, including soccer, and brought “American football to them.” He also borrowed from Thomas More College’s unique culture to grow closer to the children. “We taught them swing dancing, much like we do here,” he said.
For further reading:
“Called to be Missionaries”: TMC Students and Alumni Undertake Mission Trip to Jamaica
