Without properly thinking it through, someone accidentally let us hire Bru, a 90 bed city centre hostel, colonised for the night by renegade archaeologists dressed to the nines and hell-bent on personal destruction.

The occasion? Several hundred European archaeologists landing in town as Cork played host to the EAA conference. The idea? Viva Las Vegas! We transformed the hostel for one night into a glitzy casino, seedy Vegas motel and soul food kitchen, all sound-tracked by three rooms of music playing the best of soul, funk, groove, hip-hop, disco, breaks, electro and whatever else is cool but unclassifiable. An army of Djs too numerous to mention, and how many parties have you been to recently who can boast their own resident chef.

It’s a fact. Archaeologists have always had a passion for fassion and the dress code is unequivacal: dress to excess or come in character. Gangster chic, Elvis impersonator or washed-up divorcee blowing her alimony on one dollar slot machines…