About IIHSA

Staff

Featured
Dr Joanne Murphy
IIHSA Director
Dr Joanne Murphy
IIHSA Director

Joanne M. A. Murphy is a Bronze Age archaeologist whose work focuses on two main areas: ritual and mortuary practices and theory and methods. Her work on rituals and and mortuary practices explore how these practices help us understand the related society. Her work on theory and methods focuses on examining the value of survey as a primary archaeological method. After receiving her BA and MA from UCD, she earned her PhD at the University of Cincinnati in Classical Archaeology. As an MA student she taught tutorial in Greek and Roman Civilization at UCD and since receiving her Phd she has worked at the University of Akron and the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she is currently a professor of Classical Studies. In her position as IIHSA Director she oversees the activities of the Institute, and the running of the Athens office in collaboration with the Assistant Director. She is also a member of the board’s fieldwork sub-committee. She is director of the Kea Archaeological Research Survey (KARS) a multi-period and multi-disciplinary archaeological project (2012- ), on the Cycladic island of Kea.

IIHSA Director

Staff

Featured
Dr Joanne Murphy
IIHSA Director
Dr Joanne Murphy
IIHSA Director

Joanne M. A. Murphy is a Bronze Age archaeologist whose work focuses on two main areas: ritual and mortuary practices and theory and methods. Her work on rituals and and mortuary practices explore how these practices help us understand the related society. Her work on theory and methods focuses on examining the value of survey as a primary archaeological method. After receiving her BA and MA from UCD, she earned her PhD at the University of Cincinnati in Classical Archaeology. As an MA student she taught tutorial in Greek and Roman Civilization at UCD and since receiving her Phd she has worked at the University of Akron and the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she is currently a professor of Classical Studies. In her position as IIHSA Director she oversees the activities of the Institute, and the running of the Athens office in collaboration with the Assistant Director. She is also a member of the board’s fieldwork sub-committee. She is director of the Kea Archaeological Research Survey (KARS) a multi-period and multi-disciplinary archaeological project (2012- ), on the Cycladic island of Kea.

IIHSA Director
Featured
Dr Anastasia Vergaki
Assistant Director
Dr Anastasia Vergaki
Assistant Director

Anastasia M. Vergaki was born in Athens and she is an archaeologist. She studies the Bronze Age Aegean with special research interests in domestic ritual and social organization of small-scale settlements during the Late Minoan Period. She graduated in 2014 from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), where she also continued her postgraduate studies and was awarded her Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology in January 2021. She has participated in several interdisciplinary excavations and research programs and is a member of the interdisciplinary team participating in the excavation of the Minoan site of Koumasa Crete, under the auspices of the University of Heidelberg. Since 2018, she has also provided secretarial and scientific support to the NKUA English-taught postgraduate program in Archaeology.

Assistant Director
Featured
Eleni Tsiknakou
Athens Secretary
Eleni Tsiknakou
Athens Secretary

Eleni Tsiknakou has served as the scientific secretary of the Irish Institute for the last twenty years. Her first degree is in Ancient Greek and Roman History from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (2000). She was also awarded the MLitt diploma from the Classics Department of UCD for her research on Sulla’s Attack on Athens and the Master of Sociology from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (2017). She is currently a PhD student at Panteion University with an ongoing qualitative sociological research on the work of Greek Teachers of Secondary Education, for which she has been granted a scholarship from ELIDEK. Her scientific interests focus on Sociology of Education, educational politics, sociology of work and sex issues. She has been active the last three years at conferences in Greece and in Europe.

Athens Secretary
Featured
Dr Anastasia Vergaki
Assistant Director
Dr Anastasia Vergaki
Assistant Director

Anastasia M. Vergaki was born in Athens and she is an archaeologist. She studies the Bronze Age Aegean with special research interests in domestic ritual and social organization of small-scale settlements during the Late Minoan Period. She graduated in 2014 from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), where she also continued her postgraduate studies and was awarded her Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology in January 2021. She has participated in several interdisciplinary excavations and research programs and is a member of the interdisciplinary team participating in the excavation of the Minoan site of Koumasa Crete, under the auspices of the University of Heidelberg. Since 2018, she has also provided secretarial and scientific support to the NKUA English-taught postgraduate program in Archaeology.

Assistant Director
Featured
Eleni Tsiknakou
Athens Secretary
Eleni Tsiknakou
Athens Secretary

Eleni Tsiknakou has served as the scientific secretary of the Irish Institute for the last twenty years. Her first degree is in Ancient Greek and Roman History from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (2000). She was also awarded the MLitt diploma from the Classics Department of UCD for her research on Sulla’s Attack on Athens and the Master of Sociology from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (2017). She is currently a PhD student at Panteion University with an ongoing qualitative sociological research on the work of Greek Teachers of Secondary Education, for which she has been granted a scholarship from ELIDEK. Her scientific interests focus on Sociology of Education, educational politics, sociology of work and sex issues. She has been active the last three years at conferences in Greece and in Europe.

Athens Secretary

Managing Committee

  • Dr Barry Molloy

    Chair

  • Dr Will Megarry

    Minutes Secretary | Queen’s Belfast Rep

  • Dr Michael Telford

    Treasurer

  • Dr Maeve O'Brien

    Maynooth University Rep

  • Dr Padraig Moran

    NUI Galway Rep

  • Dr Christine Morris

    TCD Rep

  • Dr Jo Day

    UCD Classics Rep

  • Dr Alan Peatfield

    UCD Archaeology Rep

  • Jason O'Brien

    Fundraising

  • Liz Foley

    Student Rep

 Patrons

Featured
Professor George Huxley

George Huxley is a philologist of international reputation. He has taught Classics in Queen's University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Department of Ancient Classics, Maynooth University. He had envisaged the creation of an Irish Institute before its foundation and has remained a firm supporter since.

Anna Mallikourtis

Anna Mallikourtis is Honorary Secretary of the Friends of the Acropolis Museum, Athens. Her connection with the IIHSA started when she and her husband, the late Ambassador to Ireland, Stelios Mallikourtis, lived in Dublin.

Robert McCabe

Robert McCabe is a renowned photographer. He exhibits internationally and is the author of several books. He has supported the IIHSA from its foundation.