As NUI Postdoctoral Fellow in Humanities, I am using archaeological, historical and environmental evidence to develop a radical periphery-centred perspective on the emergence of capitalism in late medieval and early modern Europe. Focusing on ‘marginal’ upland communities in Ireland and Sweden, I ask how farmers adapted to growing market demands for meat and dairy and determine their role, as food suppliers, in the development of commercial urban centres. This project will help the humanities to start contributing to the debate on rural sustainability by highlighting the agency of rural people and also the long-term consequences of commercial livestock production for community and landscape alike.
I am based in the Department of Archaeology, which has a strong track record in landscape research and maintains links with rural geographers and early modern historians around UCC, especially concerning the south west where his Irish case study is located. At the same time, I am forging new international links for UCC in Sweden, particularly Stockholm and Uppsala. You can follow my updates on:
http://www.nui.ie/awards/Profiles/2020/Eugene_Costello.asp
https://ucc-ie.academia.edu/EugeneCostello
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eugene_Costello2
https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=r3YLZqMAAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-7585
https://twitter.com/booleying
I have extensive experience of teaching undergraduates and postgraduates, ranging from lectures to seminars and research supervision. At UCC, I am teaching and assessing second-year students in heritage management, and co-supervising MPhil student, Katherine Dezsofi, in the environmental history of south Kerry (with Dr Benjamin Gearey). I am also giving guest lectures in geoarchaeology in UCC and in early modern history at University of Limerick.
In the past, during my postdoctoral fellowship in environmental humanities at Stockholm University (2018-20), I taught on a first-year Medieval and Historical Archaeology module and held seminars with Masters students on human-animal relations. I also taught gender history for the interdisciplinary module, Spaces and Identities, as part of Stockholm University's Doctoral School in Humanities. In the more distant past, I have served as lecturer and tutor in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies in NUI Galway, and as a supervisor for a University of Notre Dame field school in anthropology.
Moreover, through Stockholm University's Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching, I have completed two courses totalling 15 ECTS aimed at Professional Development in Teaching.
Biography
I am an archaeologist and historian interested in marginalised peoples and places, particularly rural areas of north-west Europe. Having earned a BA at UCC and an MA at University of Sheffield, I completed a PhD in 2016 at NUI Galway funded by Irish Research Council and Hardiman scholarships. Since then, I have held a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship at University of Notre Dame and a postdoctoral fellowship in environmental humanities at Stockholm University. I have taught at both Galway and Stockholm, and continue this at UCC (see below). I have published widely, including the book Transhumance and the Making of Ireland’s Uplands, 1550-1900 (35% off at checkout with code BB135).As NUI Postdoctoral Fellow in Humanities, I am using archaeological, historical and environmental evidence to develop a radical periphery-centred perspective on the emergence of capitalism in late medieval and early modern Europe. Focusing on ‘marginal’ upland communities in Ireland and Sweden, I ask how farmers adapted to growing market demands for meat and dairy and determine their role, as food suppliers, in the development of commercial urban centres. This project will help the humanities to start contributing to the debate on rural sustainability by highlighting the agency of rural people and also the long-term consequences of commercial livestock production for community and landscape alike.
I am based in the Department of Archaeology, which has a strong track record in landscape research and maintains links with rural geographers and early modern historians around UCC, especially concerning the south west where his Irish case study is located. At the same time, I am forging new international links for UCC in Sweden, particularly Stockholm and Uppsala. You can follow my updates on:
http://www.nui.ie/awards/Profiles/2020/Eugene_Costello.asp
https://ucc-ie.academia.edu/EugeneCostello
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eugene_Costello2
https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=r3YLZqMAAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-7585
https://twitter.com/booleying
Research Interests
Publications
Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2020) | Transhumance and the Making of Ireland's Uplands, 1550-1900. Eugene Costello (2020) Transhumance and the Making of Ireland's Uplands, 1550-1900. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. [DOI] [Details] |
Book Chapters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2021) | 'Imagining and identifying seasonal resource exploitation on the margins of medieval Ireland' Eugene Costello (2021) 'Imagining and identifying seasonal resource exploitation on the margins of medieval Ireland' In: Seasonal Settlement in the Medieval and Early Modern Countryside. Leiden: Sidestone Press. [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Transhumant pastoralism in historic landscapes' Eugene Costello, Eva Svensson (2018) 'Transhumant pastoralism in historic landscapes' In: Historical Archaeologies of Transhumance across Europe. London: Routledge. [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Morphology of transhumant settlements in post-medieval South Connemara: A case study in adaptation' Eugene Costello (2018) 'Morphology of transhumant settlements in post-medieval South Connemara: A case study in adaptation' In: Eugene Costello and Eva Svensson (eds). Historical Archaeologies of Transhumance across Europe. London: Routledge. [Details] | |
| (2016) | 'Seasonal management of cattle in the booleying system: new insights from South Connemara, western Ireland' Eugene Costello (2016) 'Seasonal management of cattle in the booleying system: new insights from South Connemara, western Ireland' In: Michael O'Connell, Fergus Kelly, James H. McAdam (eds). Cattle in Ancient and Modern Ireland: Farming Practices, Environment and Economy. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. [Details] |
Edited Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2018) | Historical Archaeologies of Transhumance across Europe Eugene Costello, Eva Svensson (Ed.). (2018) Historical Archaeologies of Transhumance across Europe London: Routledge. [DOI] [Details] |
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2021) | 'The Colonisation of Uplands in Medieval Britain and Ireland: Climate, Agriculture and Environmental Adaptation' Eugene Costello (2021) 'The Colonisation of Uplands in Medieval Britain and Ireland: Climate, Agriculture and Environmental Adaptation'. Medieval Archaeology, 65 (1) [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'Hill farmers, habitats and time: the potential of historical ecology in upland management and conservation' Eugene Costello; (2020) 'Hill farmers, habitats and time: the potential of historical ecology in upland management and conservation'. Landscape Research, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Temporary freedoms? Ethnoarchaeology of female herders at seasonal sites in northern Europe' Eugene Costello; (2018) 'Temporary freedoms? Ethnoarchaeology of female herders at seasonal sites in northern Europe'. World Archaeology, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2017) | 'Liminal learning: Social practice in seasonal settlements of western Ireland' Eugene Costello; (2017) 'Liminal learning: Social practice in seasonal settlements of western Ireland'. Journal of Social Archaeology, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2017) | 'Medieval memories and the reformation of religious identity: Catholic and Anglican interactions with parish church sites in County Limerick, Ireland' Eugene Costello; (2017) 'Medieval memories and the reformation of religious identity: Catholic and Anglican interactions with parish church sites in County Limerick, Ireland'. Post-Medieval Archaeology, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2016) | 'Feirmeoirí faoi Cheilt: Dui Chun Cinn agus Dúshláin sa Taighde faoi Ghnás an Bhuailteachais' Costello, Eugene (2016) 'Feirmeoirí faoi Cheilt: Dui Chun Cinn agus Dúshláin sa Taighde faoi Ghnás an Bhuailteachais'. Béaloideas: The Journal of The Folklore of Ireland Society, [Details] | |
| (2016) | 'Seasonal settlement and the interpretation of upland archaeology in the Galtee Mountains, Ireland' Eugene Costello; (2016) 'Seasonal settlement and the interpretation of upland archaeology in the Galtee Mountains, Ireland'. Landscape History, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2015) | 'Post-medieval upland settlement and the decline of transhumance: a case-study from the Galtee Mountains, Ireland' Eugene Costello; (2015) 'Post-medieval upland settlement and the decline of transhumance: a case-study from the Galtee Mountains, Ireland'. Landscape History, [DOI] [Details] |
Other Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2012) | 'Beithígh ar buaile: Transhumance in 19th and 20th century Ireland' Eugene Costello (2012) 'Beithígh ar buaile: Transhumance in 19th and 20th century Ireland' Trowel (Ucd Postgraduate Journal), . [Details] | |
| (2011) | 'Blossom Gate: A late medieval gatehouse' Eugene Costello (2011) 'Blossom Gate: A late medieval gatehouse' Kilmallock Historical Journal, . [Details] |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
Current teaching responsibilities:- Leading new 5 ECTS case study for second-year History students, i.e. 'Ireland in a New World: Climate Change and Atlantic Capitalism, c.1250-1750' (HI2105: Case Studies in Research Skills)
- Co-ordination of 5 ECTS second-year module in Heritage Management (AR2044, with Dr Colin Rynne)
- Co-supervision of MPhil student, Katherine Dezsofi (with Dr Benjamin Gearey). Thesis title: Exploring Late Holocene Landscape Change in the south Kerry Uplands
I have extensive experience of teaching undergraduates and postgraduates, ranging from lectures to seminars and research supervision. At UCC, I am teaching and assessing second-year students in heritage management, and co-supervising MPhil student, Katherine Dezsofi, in the environmental history of south Kerry (with Dr Benjamin Gearey). I am also giving guest lectures in geoarchaeology in UCC and in early modern history at University of Limerick.
In the past, during my postdoctoral fellowship in environmental humanities at Stockholm University (2018-20), I taught on a first-year Medieval and Historical Archaeology module and held seminars with Masters students on human-animal relations. I also taught gender history for the interdisciplinary module, Spaces and Identities, as part of Stockholm University's Doctoral School in Humanities. In the more distant past, I have served as lecturer and tutor in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies in NUI Galway, and as a supervisor for a University of Notre Dame field school in anthropology.
Moreover, through Stockholm University's Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching, I have completed two courses totalling 15 ECTS aimed at Professional Development in Teaching.
Contact details
-
National University of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow - ecostello@ucc.ie
- +353 21 4904395