The excavations were part of a larger ‘Discovering Saint Aidan’s Monastery’ project that was established as a partnership between ourselves, the local community and Wexford County Council. The initial excavations were partly funded by the Rediscovering Ancient Connections: The Saints project, an ‘inter-reg’ cross-border arts and heritage project linking north Pembrokeshire and north Wexford. This funding allowed the project to greatly increase its public outreach and community engagement, facilitating events such as open-days, children camps, lecture-series, community and school workshops, immersive community excavations, vlogging and blogging etc. The St Marys excavation were a highlight of the project, but the project was diverse also extending to geophysical surveys and community excavations at Clone (2.25km from Ferns), extensive geophysical surveys throughout Ferns itself and 3D lidar scanning on Ferns Castle, St Mary’s and St Edan’s Cathedral.