If, like me, you did NOT get the ONE thing you wanted from Santy (a 95-year-old bachelor farmer with plenty land and a bad cough), treat yourself to a print from an Irish doodler instead - big discounts across the shop, including on bundles, so go on. Go on go on go ON. www.ciaraioch.com/artprints

🎄 Volume 41 ⛄ – Ryan and Foote solve a decades old mystery: Matched images of a lone Killer Whale in the Foyle Estuary in 1977 gives clues to its origins and fate. Subscription details visit: irishnaturalistsjournal.org 🎁 #IrishNaturalistsJournal #HappyChristmas #Zoology #Orca #Orca #KillerWhale

Volume 41 – Adriano Pittini reveals a specimen of Merocanites subapplanatus, an extinct ammonoid cephalopod from the Carboniferous of Co. Dublin. For subscription details visit: irishnaturalistsjournal.org #IrishNaturalistsJournal #Zoology #fossil #cephalopod

Wishing ye all a most peaceful and magical Christmas 🎄 ✨️ thanks to each and every one of ye for all of the likes and lovely comments throughout the year. With love and gratitude ❤️ a little Reindeer lichen tree for ye all nestled in the bog carpet ✨️

Ireland has gone 10 years with the freedom to change gender and... society did not collapse. No scandals have erupted. No vile criminal behaviour has resulted. Just 300+ people per year having the right to become themselves. #SpeirGorm

🎄 Christmas came early to the education team at the Dead Zoo Lab! Huge thanks to @opwireland.bsky.social in Dromahair and apprentices Eamonn Kelly & Shane Gallagher for donating bird & animal boxes. These will help us all learn about sharing space with nature! 🌿 👉 www.museum.ie/en-IE/News/W...

Looking for a PhD in palaeontology or associated fields? Just a heads up that we have a list of opportunities on the @thepalass.bsky.social website: palass.org/phd-opportun... ⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky (If you're advertising one, you can add it to our listings too: palass.org/form/webform... )

This is a great book, well done You may wish to note the above

We have reached the time of year when everyone knows the date but not their velocity. Scientists call this the Quantum of Solstice.

Great piece on the work by the passionate scientist @darrenreidy.bsky.social to save the seed from Ireland’s endangered plants. “Noah’s Ark for plants: The man in charge of logging every native seed in Ireland” #botany #conservation #biodiversity #SpeirGorm jrnl.ie/6910184

Volume 41 – Eamonn O’Donnell reports Chrysocharis purpurea, a sawfly parasitoid new to Ireland. For subscription details visit: irishnaturalistsjournal.org #IrishNaturalistsJournal #Zoology #Wasps

Volume 41 – Aidan O’Hanlon explores Irish exotic ants: a checklist, and a historical first interception of the New York Carpenter Ant (Camponotus novaeboracensis) in Dublin . For subscription details visit: irishnaturalistsjournal.org #IrishNaturalistsJournal #Zoology #Ants

Volume 41 – Power and Hamilton report the discovery of Notoxus monoceros an ant-like flower beetle new to Ireland, from Co. Kerry. For subscription details visit: irishnaturalistsjournal.org #IrishNaturalistsJournal #Zoology #Beetles

Volume 41 – Gammell and O’Brien report the First record of the Thrift Clearwing moth (Pyropteron muscaeformis) from Co. Galway. For subscription details visit: irishnaturalistsjournal.org #IrishNaturalistsJournal #Zoology #Moths

INJ Volume 42 will be with the printers this week, subscribe now to be on the list for your copy

Recognise this mystery skull? Let me know what you think - and why?

Meteorites can hit the Moon, this one seen from an Irish observatory is small but some have ejected lunar rock that can then travel to Earth - there’s a piece of this in the National Museum of Ireland www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collec...

BirdWatch Ireland is hiring a Marine Advocacy and Campaigns Officer to help secure a better future for Ireland's seabirds. Deadline 5pm Jan 7th 2026 for applications and cover letter. Full details including job description is here birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved... (pic Brenda Sheridan)

Una Watters (Irish, 1918–1965) "Girl Going by Trinity in the Rain", 1959. Oil on Canvas, 61 × 81 cm. National Gallery of Ireland. #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt

New open-access article on how the Changing Face of Science exhibitions exemplify ways that natural history museums can navigate the intersection between science and social issues.

This is a wonderful project from @hometreecharity.bsky.social for the restoration of upland native oak forests www.independent.ie/regionals/ke...

I've decided to conquer the lucrative Christmas cracker joke market. Why was the baby Jesus so ripped? Because he drank all the whey in a manger.

Buy her wonderful art built on skill and wit, or she may haunt you and lay baited traps under a full moon in the depths of Kerry, and then you’ll have to pay anyway to escape

6-week book illustration course! Starts January! In Dublin! Taught by a guy who's been doing it for over 30 years! Shit, I am that old! Exploring communication through drawing – only basic drawing skills required. #SpéirGhorm #SpeirGorm #Art #Illustration irishwriterscentre.ie/courses/book...

🎄 Christmas magic awaits at the National Museum of Ireland! Discover festive traditions, family activities, and seasonal stories across our museums. Plan your visit: www.museum.ie/en-IE/News/C... #ChristmasAtTheMuseum

A #Megaloceros named Nigel, whatever next? #Pleistocene #deer

A new report has found that 90% of Ireland's EU-protected habitats are in 'unfavourable’ conservation status, with 51% showing deteriorating trends across their national ranges.

I love this by @ciaraioch.bsky.social, I have a print right next to my desk!

Minister Christopher O’Sullivan with @paoloviscardi.bsky.social and Darwin insects behind the scenes at the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History @nmireland.bsky.social today #CharlesDarwin #entomology

Funding announced to allow researchers to uncover how market-driven cattle farming emerged, powered the rise of urban centres and trade, and reshaped rural societies and environments. Will use archaeology, science and history to understand how it shaped Europe

Stunning photos of tiny treasures of Irish wildlife, please follow and there’s a book too

I've decided to make a series of paintings of conservation success stories, starting with this here żubr/ wisent/ European bison. They were almost driven to extinction in the early XX century, and the current population is descended from about 17 animals, thanks to the efforts of prof. Jan Sztolcman

2025 marked the anniversaries of the opening (1895) & closing (1935) of the Galway-Clifden railway. Arthur J. Balfour's album documents the railway's construction. The Balfour album is fully digitised: digital.library.universityofgalway.ie/p/ms/categor... #EYAAnniversaries #ExploreYourArchive

Peter Donnelly at the Dead Zoo Lab exhibition reading from his latest book ‘The Great Discovery’ where Nigel (!) the pug digs up a bone in a Dublin garden that end up in the museum. Available for Christmas at @halfwayupbooks.bsky.social and all great bookshops #DeadZooLab @nmireland.bsky.social

The National Biodiversity Data Centre (Waterford, Ireland) is seeking to appoint four Pollinator Officers: Communities, Local Authorities , Business , and Farmland #biodiversityjobs biodiversityireland.ie

📌 ciaraioch.com is now taking Christmas orders for prints, cards, and vouchers - each archival-quality print on heavy art paper is made in Ireland, ships internationally in eco-friendly packaging with discount tracked postage, and comes with a FREE card and treats for every customer 🎁 #SpéirGorm

Curatorial job with significant geological and palaeontological collections at Warwick Museums. www.wmjobs.co.uk/job/250490/c...

⏳ Only 2 days left! Don’t miss Late Night Opening: In Conversation – Curating Change in a Changing Museum this Thursday, 4th December at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks. An exclusive after-hours event exploring how museums adapt in a changing world. www.eventbrite.ie/e/late-night...

Outstanding animal art, definitely worth a follow

Extinct in Ireland for 3,000 years but Brown Bears are back in Co Mayo! New exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life @nmireland.bsky.social where an #Eton graduate and convicted murderer once lived who chained his father to a bear www.independent.ie/regionals/ma...

Get ready for the Irish Garden Bird Survey, which kicks off on Monday 1st December! We need records from as many gardens across Ireland as possible, so please spread the word! birdwatchireland.ie/irish-garden...

Finally the research has been published to prove that wild cat (Felis silvestris) lived in Ireland 5,500 years ago. Many claims over the years but the backup genetics was needed and a good number of bones have been recovered to provide enough material www.rte.ie/news/munster...

www.museum.ie/en-IE/About/... AKII role @nmireland.bsky.social - Antiquities Division with a focus on Dublin Excavations - Viking Dublin.

subscriptions >>> shop.viz.co.uk/viz350bs

Happy Origin Day! Published OTD in 1859

Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.

One of the reasons you open the bonnet and can’t see the engine is wildlife chewing through cables, so they have enclosures now. Not sure how we can deter the gulls however

Ireland’s first stranded #narwhal washes up on Donegal beach www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Hey Bluesky arts/music folks in Ireland! At New Music Dublin we are looking to fill a new role: part-time general manager, working closely with our festival director and producer (& board). Role to commence in Jan. Detailed info here: www.newmusicdublin.ie/job-opportun... #SpeirGorm

Moss sporophytes on a mossy trunk deep in the ancient woodlands of Abbeyleix House & Gardens ❤️ @irishwoodlandtrust.bsky.social @claireissimo.bsky.social @anthologyireland.bsky.social