Thomas Finan, assistant history professor and director  of the International Studies Program at Saint Louis University, presented his book, “Medieval Lough Ce: History, Archeology and Landscape,” to the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, last July.

Finan’s book highlights a part of Ireland that has only recently been discovered as one of the country’s historically rich areas. President McAleese praised Finan for researching a region of Ireland that has not been widely explored since the 13th century. Since 2002, Finan has served as director of the Kilteasheen Archeology Project in County Roscommon, Ireland.

The project aimed to excavate a medieval estate, including a cemetery and a hall house from the 13th century. The program has injected nearly $300,000 into Kilteasheen over an eight year span.

The funds have gone to the local government and have provided student housing, transportation and food to the local economy.  While working on the project, Finan and his team introduced students to a part of Ireland rarely visited by tourists. SLU played a significant role in the development of Finan’s book, “Medieval Lough Ce: History, Archeology and Landscape.”

“The book that was presented to President McAleese was funded through a Summer Research Grant by the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and that I could not likely have completed it without the support given by SLU,”  Finan said.

While Finan works on the projects in Ireland, he continues to contribute to the SLU community.  While teaching history at the University, he also heads the International Studies program, which he said has made great strides and phenomenal growth in the past six years.

“Our staffing has grown to meet the demand presented by our 180 to 200 [students], which is up from around 120-140 when I took over,” Finan said.

Finan said he has always been interested in the medieval history.

Finan’s expertise landed him an appearance on the History Channel series titled “Clash of the Gods,” where he discussed early middle-age Western European history, literature and archaeology.

Finan said he enjoys expanding his horizons and experiencing the world through different perspectives. This is one of the reasons he said he wanted to incorporate international studies into his career path.

Finan said that he enjoys watching students go abroad so they can have some of the same experiences he has had overseas. Finan has had many rewarding experiences at the University, but one experience stands out from all the rest.

“Last year was the first group of students to graduate from SLU that I have known since they were freshman,” Finan said. “It is very strange not seeing some of them on campus, but watching them grow and develop intellectually has been more than rewarding.”