The School of Irish Archaeology

What The School of Irish Archaeology does

The School of Irish Archaeology is a privately held Dublin-based educational organization founded in 2011 by Mark Kelly, operating as Ireland's first dedicated archaeology school for children and young people. The company delivers hands-on experiential archaeology education through a portfolio of programmes: seasonal and week-long camps (Summer, Easter, Mid-Term, Halloween) for children aged 7–12, a mobile Viking house excavation experience branded as "The Big Dig" that travels to schools and events, curriculum-aligned school workshops for primary and secondary students, a semester-based after-school programme (Junior Archaeologists' Club), a 5-week adult introductory archaeology course, and expert-led heritage tours to sites such as the Medieval Town of Trim and Bective Abbey. Programmes are delivered by qualified archaeologists and teachers using authentic archaeological tools, real artefacts, and field-excavation methodologies adapted for young learners.

The underlying technology is operational rather than software-based: a mobile service architecture centred on physical equipment (full-scale Viking house reconstruction, excavation kits, crafts materials) deployed at partner school venues across Dublin (Rosemont School Sandyford, Harold's Cross NS, Clonturk Community College Dublin 9, Malahide Community School). The digital layer is a WordPress/Elementor website (sia.ie) with calendar export to Google Calendar, iCalendar, and Outlook, and a social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. There is no mobile app, no API, and no AI capability.

The business model is a mix of one-time programme fees (€40–€160 per child for camps, €35 for day events, €45 for single adult workshops, €200 for the 5-week adult course), subscription-like recurring after-school club fees (€150 per semester), and professional services delivered to schools and events. Customer segments are split between families (children aged 7–12 and parents) and educational institutions (primary and secondary schools), with smaller adult learner and community/festival segments. The go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via website and phone/email booking, supplemented by school partnerships and festival/event appearances.

Name

The School of Irish Archaeology

Legal name

The School of Irish Archaeology

Website

https://sia.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The School of Irish Archaeology is a Dublin-based educational organization, founded in 2011, delivering hands-on archaeology camps, school workshops, mobile Viking house excavations, and heritage tours for children, families, schools, and adult learners across Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Education and Experiential Learning

NAICS

Historical Sites (712120), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAIAIAG

Field Schools & Experiential Academic Programs (Archaeology, Ecology, etc.)

Education/International Education & Study Abroad/International Summer/Winter Schools & Short-Term Academic Programs

SECONDARYTHAAAOAA

Outdoor & Wilderness Education Schools (Field-Based Learning)

Travel & Hospitality/Adventure, Amusement Parks & Ecotourism/Educational Adventure Programs (Outdoor Education, Skill Development)

SECONDARYTHAJAAAB

Cultural Heritage & Historic District Tours

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Guided Tours (City, Cultural & Historical)

SECONDARYTHAJACAC

Historic Sites, Heritage Landmarks & Archaeological Sites

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Attractions & Landmarks (Observation Decks, Monuments, Scenic Sites)

SECONDARYTHAKAGAB

School Group & Curriculum-Led Trips

Travel & Hospitality/Travel Agencies, Tour Operators & OTAs/Group Travel & Educational Travel Operators

Keywords

• Children's archaeology camps
• Heritage education programs
• School workshops
• Mobile excavation experience
• Adult archaeology courses

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Children's Archaeology Camps: Week-long seasonal camps, mid-term camps, Easter camps, Halloween camps, and day camps for children aged 7-12 years. Offered at various school venues across Dublin with flexible attendance options (full week, 3-day, or 1-day).
2. School Workshops: Interactive, curriculum-focused workshops delivered at schools for primary and secondary students, using real artefacts and excavation experiences.
3. After-School Clubs: Semester-long Junior Archaeologists' Clubs meeting weekly at schools, with full-term registration options.
4. Adult Education Programs: 5-week introductory archaeology courses for adults, plus individual one-day workshops. Includes field trips to heritage sites.
5. Heritage Tours: Expert-led tours to archaeological sites and monuments across Ireland, connecting participants to historical landscapes through storytelling and guided exploration.
6. The Big Dig Experience: Mobile Viking house excavation experience brought to schools and events, providing immersive archaeological learning on location.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The School of Irish Archaeology delivers hands-on archaeology education through seasonal camps (Summer, Easter, Mid-Term, Halloween), a mobile Viking house excavation experience called The Big Dig, curriculum-aligned school workshops, after-school Junior Archaeologists' Clubs, expert-led heritage tours, and 5-week adult introductory courses. Programs are delivered at partner school venues across Dublin and brought on-site to schools and events via mobile units.

Product overview

The School of Irish Archaeology operates a multi-product educational platform focused on hands-on archaeology experiences for children and adults in Ireland. Founded in 2011, the organization offers a portfolio of complementary programmes: (1) Archaeology Camps (Summer, Easter, Mid-Term, Halloween) as the primary revenue stream, delivering week-long and seasonal camps for children aged 7-12 at schools across Dublin; (2) The Big Dig, a mobile Viking house excavation experience brought directly to schools and events; (3) School Workshops with curriculum-aligned programmes for Primary, Secondary and Adult students delivered at educational institutions; (4) Heritage Tours featuring expert-led archaeological site visits; (5) Junior Archaeologists' Club, an after-school semester-based programme; and (6) Adult Workshops, a 5-week experiential learning course. The organization operates as a service-based educational business rather than a software platform, with no digital product or API offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Archaeology Summer Camps Week-long camps during summer for children aged 7-12 featuring hands-on archaeological activities including mini-dig excavations, ancient crafts, pottery, archery, and field trips. Delivered at Rosemont School Sandyford, Harold's Cross NS, Clonturk Community College Dublin 9, and Malahide Community School.
• The Big Dig A mobile excavation experience centred on a full-scale reconstructed Viking house, delivering hands-on archaeological learning directly to schools or events. Brought on-site for immersive excavation activities.
• School Workshops Interactive, curriculum-focused workshops that bring archaeology to life through real artefacts, excavation, and ancient skills. Delivered at primary and secondary schools with programs tailored to educational level.
• Heritage Tours Expert-led tours to archaeological sites and monuments across Ireland that connect participants to historical landscapes through storytelling and guided exploration, including visits to locations such as the Medieval Town of Trim and Bective Abbey.
• Junior Archaeologists' Club After-school archaeology programme bringing history to life through ancient craft and technology workshops for children. Semester-based programme meeting weekly (Every Tuesday 2:10pm-3:30pm) for 1st-6th Class students, with sibling discounts available.
• Archaeology & Experiential Learning Workshops for Adults 5-week introductory course to archaeology for adults delivered every Saturday, covering topics including archaeological fieldwork methods, history of agriculture, bread making workshop, Bronze Age axe-casting, and field trips to Trim medieval town and Bective Abbey.
• Easter Camps Week-long and 4-day camps during Easter school holidays for children aged 7-12 featuring Viking House Excavation, Clay Pot Making, Viking Boat Workshop, Archery, Medieval Weaponry, and other ancient crafts activities.
• Mid-Term Camps Week-long camps during mid-term breaks for children aged 7-12 offering hands-on archaeological activities including mini-dig excavations, ancient crafts, and historical tours.
• Halloween Camps Seasonal camps during Halloween for children aged 7-12 featuring archaeological activities with a spooky ancient history theme.
• Day Camps Single-day and multi-day archaeology experiences for children offering flexible participation options (1-day, 3-day, or 5-day options) at various Dublin locations.
• Archaeology Day Events Single-day archaeology events featuring ancient crafts and excavations for children, typically running from 10:30am-2:30pm at school venues.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of students, families and communities introduced to Ireland's heritage since 2011

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum: CHQ Building, Dublin docklands museum with a strong schools and families education programme including interactive workshops. Directly comparable as a Dublin cultural-heritage education provider serving school groups and family visitors through hands-on programming.
• Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre (Newgrange / Knowth): OPW-run visitor centre at the Newgrange passage-tomb complex offering guided tours and educational programmes focused on Neolithic Irish archaeology. Directly comparable as it shares the Irish archaeology/heritage education focus and is referenced as a destination in SIA's own adult field-trip programming.
• Irish National Heritage Park: Wexford-based heritage park offering interactive experiences covering 9,000 years of Irish history including re-constructed dwellings and archaeological activities. Comparable because it competes in the same experiential Irish archaeology education category, though with a fixed-site rather than mobile delivery model.
• Airfield Estate: Dundrum, Dublin family learning destination with seasonal kids' programming and heritage/garden workshops (Junior Einsteins-style hands-on education). Comparable because it operates as a Dublin suburban venue running family/camp programming with an educational mission.
• Dublinia: Dublin-based heritage exhibition centre focused on Viking and Medieval Dublin history. Comparable because it runs curriculum-aligned school and family workshops in the exact same subject matter (Viking/Medieval Ireland) and target market (Dublin schools and visiting families) as The School of Irish Archaeology.
• The Ark Children's Cultural Centre: Dublin-based dedicated children's cultural centre providing arts and heritage programming for primary-school audiences including workshops and curated experiences. Comparable as a Dublin children's cultural/education venue serving overlapping school and family segments through experiential programming.

Broad incumbents

• National Museum of Ireland: State-funded multi-site museum network in Dublin, Mayo and elsewhere with an established school-tours and educational workshops programme covering Irish archaeology and history. Comparable as a broader Irish archaeology education provider, although as an incumbent state institution offering free entry it competes via scale and subsidy rather than paid camp/workshop model.
• Heritage Ireland (Office of Public Works): State body that operates and interprets dozens of heritage properties across Ireland, offering guided tours and educational programmes covering Irish archaeology and history. Comparable as an incumbent heritage-education provider with national reach, though state-funded and free at point of access rather than commercial.

Emerging players

• Junior Einsteins Science Club: Ireland-based provider of kids' STEM camps, after-school clubs, and school workshops running hands-on science activities for primary-age children. Comparable as a privately-run Dublin/Irish kids' education business with similar camp/workshop/afterschool-club product mix and overlapping primary-school customer base, although focused on STEM rather than archaeology.

Regional players

• Boyne Valley Tours: Meath-based heritage tour operator specialising in the Boyne Valley including Trim Castle, Bective Abbey and Newgrange. Directly comparable as a heritage-tour business whose Trim Castle and Bective Abbey offerings overlap with SIA's adult field-trip destinations, but operating primarily in a different (regional) geographic catchment from Dublin.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SIAeducation
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCrw4A21x34XjnC4zqs-rHCA
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheSchoolofIrishArchaeology
• Instagraminstagram.com/schoolofirisharchaeology
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/school-of-irish-archaeology

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The School of Irish Archaeology