Keeper of Irish Antiquities

Maeve Sikora was appointed Keeper of Irish Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland in July 2017, taking responsibility for the Museum’s archaeological collections. Maeve’s interests are in the early medieval and Viking collections and in the archaeology of death and burial in Ireland.

She has curated exhibitions including The Treasury: Celtic and Early Christian Ireland, Iconic Treasures, Ceramics and Glass from Ancient Cyprus and The Sea Stallion from Glendalough.
Maeve has published on burial archaeology, on Viking-age material and on the early medieval collections. Among her recent publications are a two-volume co-edited work on burial archaeology, Breaking ground, finding graves—reports on the excavations of burials undertaken by the National Museum of Ireland 1927-2006 and The Treasury: A guide to the exhibition.

Maeve holds a BA in Archaeology and History and an MA in Archaeology from University College Cork. She joined the Museum in 2001 as a curatorial researcher on the Unpublished Burials Project. Since 2004, as full-time Assistant Keeper in the Irish Antiquities Division, she has engaged in a wide range of curatorial tasks including fieldwork and excavation, lecturing and outreach. She has represented the Irish Antiquities Division in a number of national and international projects and committees.