Thomas J. Finan


Thomas J. Finan,, is an American medieval historian and archaeologist, and presently Chair of the Department of History at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is formerly the Associate Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Director of the Walter J. Ong, S.J. Center for Digital Humanities and the Director of the Center for International Studies at Saint Louis University. Finan is a specialist in the history and archaeology of medieval Ireland, and has appeared in a number of popular formats as well as an Emmy-nominated documentary, True Gaelic, concerning his archaeological excavations at the moated site near Lough Key, County Roscommon, Ireland, in 2016. He has appeared in local and international media spots. He is a licensed archaeologist in the Republic of Ireland, and is a Registered Professional Archaeologist in the United States. He is a member of the Royal [Society of Antiquaries of Ireland]. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2012. In 2019, he was elected to the Comite Permanente de Chateau Gaillard: International Castle Studies Colloque, representing Ireland.

Biography

Finan was born in St. Louis, MO, and graduated from St. Louis [University High School|Saint Louis University High School] in 1985. Finan received his BA in Religious Studies and Anthropology with Honors from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1989. He received his AM from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, where he studied medieval church history under Bernard McGinn. He completed a PhD in History from the Catholic University of America in 2001 under Professor Lawrence Poos, focussing on the history and archaeology of thirteenth century Ireland.
Finan is an active field archaeologist, with experience in local St. Louis archaeology, medieval Wales, and medieval Ireland. As a student he excavated at Cosmeston Medieval Village near Penarth, Wales, and the early Christian hermitage at Illanloughan, County Kerry, Ireland. He has directed several research excavations in north County Roscommon, including the medieval church complex at Kilteasheen, near Knockvicar, Roscommon, the Rockingham moated site near Lough Key, and most recently the Rock of Lough Key.
He is a founding member of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies.

Writing

His research focuses on the interdisciplinary connections between such disparate fields as history, archaeology, and literature, and how these disciplines together can gain a better understanding of the past.

Books

Landscape and History on the Irish Frontier: The Kings Cantreds in the Thirteenth Century Archaeology, People, and Landscapes: Essays in Honor of Jenna Higgins Medieval Lough Cé: History, Archaeology, Landscape A Nation in Medieval Ireland? Perspectives on Gaelic National Identity, 1200-1400

Select scholarly articles

  • "Medieval Moated Sites in County Roscommon, Ireland:  A Statistical Approach,"  Chateau Gaillard:  Etudes de Castellogie Medievale, Aarhus
  • "The medieval bishops of Elphin and the lost church at Kilteasheen," in Princes, Prelates, and Poets in Medieval Ireland:  Essays in Honour of Katharine Simms
  • "Castle Reconstruction using 3D Computer Technology," Chateau Gaillard: Etudes de Catellogie Medievale, Rindern
  • "Bioarchaeology of a medieval Irish ecclesiastical settlement," American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 135
  • "Violence in Thirteenth Century Ireland," Eolas:  The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies, 86-97
  • "O'Conor Grand Strategy and the Connacht Chronicle in the Thirteenth Century," in ''Medieval Lough Cé: History, Archaeology, Landscape''