The two upcoming speakers for this year’s LCIS lecture series will be arriving at the Irish College soon! More (practical) information on both speakers and their research can be found on our website: tinyurl.com/5audtm6x. Be minded that for Dr. Patrick Doyle's lecture, preregisteration is required.

I wrote this blog piece on colonial veterans at the 1931 Colonial Exhibition. I fell down many rabbit holes while researching so I'm not sure how coherent the story is but hopefully still of use and interest. colvet.eu/exhibiting-i...

the linguistic gymnastics of partition

On Tuesday, the Israeli military invaded Birzeit University, attacking students with live ammunition. Israel's scholasticide is a core part of its attempt to obliterate the collective life of the Palestinian people. We have written to Yvette Cooper urging the British government to take action.

Solidarity with students and staff at Birzeit

Research article, 'Matters best forgotten': the Ulster Special Constabulary in 1922, by Patrick Mulroe is available through the following link: @universitypress.cambridge.org

we are back

Wilfried Nancy and Paul Tisdale sacked

Julia Hartley-Brewer: Why is colonialism bad? Me: “When Britain arrived in 1700s, India had 27% of global GDP. After 200 years of theft and millions starved to death, by 1947 India had 3% of global GDP, 90% living below the poverty line, a literacy rate of 17% and life expectancy of 27”

typical Antrim. Can't even win a coin toss

A definition that the Taoiseach committed Ireland to last year. Government statement: www.gov.ie/en/departmen...

Toppling the statues of slave owners and defacing Irish language signs are, after all, moral equivalents

Would really like someone to explain why the last part of this sentence implies that it's okay to kill the family members of republicans

no stone left unturned. or launched

If there only was a word for a governing system in which one set of laws applied to people of a specific race, and a completely different and much harsher set of laws applied to those of another race... www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

Good tidings to you

The argument that Zionism as a political project should be above critique because it is the basis for the state of Israel is deeply problematic. Did this logic apply to the USSR? Does it apply to those parties who would like to see an end to the UK? Not to mention the erasure of Palestinians...

For Jane Austen's 250th Birthday I will once again be remembering the fact that in 1916, Thomas McDonagh ended his last ever class at UCD on her by sighing 'ah lads, there's nobody like Jane'. He then went off to start a revolution.

Dustjacket

Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama. Us: Across your entire career? Reiner: In a 6 year period. Us: That sounds- Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.

It is quite striking how silent many people who tweet constantly about the past are when news such as yesterday's comes out

I would recommend anyone read the Kenova Report published today, especially ps 123-4 in context of the headlines stating there is no evidence of collusion between the British state and loyalist paramilitaries. www.psni.police.uk/sites/defaul...

Collusion is a web of acts of both commission and omission that are extremely unlikely to be actively documented by the state committing them. The kinds of headlines we are seeing in some press today rub salt in the wounds of those who suffered through collusion.

“Neither left nor right” meaning right part 146633788

We are delighted to announce that we'll be hosting the SSNCI conference in Maynooth next June. Call for papers attached. Please spread far and wide!

Bah humbug

Nodlaig shona duit...☃️In the latest UCD #CulturalHeritage blog post Archivist Kate Manning, @ucdarchives.bsky.social, takes us through a gallery of Christmas cards received by Éamon de Valera during his imprisonment in 1916 in Lewes, England. ucdculturalheritagecollections.com/2025/12/04/n...

“Nobody says the word Bastard as well as Sean Bean” said my friend showing me the old Sharpe supercut, and I thought, this man has never been to Cavan

@siobhraaiken.bsky.social's paper was excellent, as were (genuinely) all of the contributions to the conference that weren't given by me. Also an excellent location

Siobhra Aiken (QUB) leads off the afternoon session on the cultural and memory resonances of partition and the boundary commission

Happy to report that the author copies of the shelf-ready version of the book have landed on my doorstep from @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social! Feel very grateful to be with my favourite publisher 🙏 Next up is the launch in Belfast on January 29! (Deets in due course). 🤍💙

never been prouder to be from Belfast. From flying the flag known around the world as a symbol of imperial brutality to becoming a beacon-light to the oppressed

like a koi in a frozen pond like a goldfish in a bowl. I don't want to hear you cry

Required reading of the most welcome sort in IHS this morning. 'It is in the space between our divining and conjuring that the argument lies, the debate happens, history is written and the story gets its endless quality.' www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

A statement like this by the Taoiseach sustains my concerns about how ‘heritage’ in Ireland is often uncritically conceived and has not evolved by claims of positive, nationalist & shrug. The belated naming (and potential renaming) of a park is political and can change for various reasons.

I can see why An Taoiseach would conveniently ignore Herzog's role in the Nakba After all, acknowledging it might require acknowledgement of the Irish State's complicity in the destruction of Palestine Which we've been busily laundering since the late 1990s jrnl.ie/6889586

two people just had to be pulled apart on my train carriage because someone said Michael Collins was their hero

Mickey Mouse was a tout

The WINNER of the 2025 Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year is... @elainefeeney.bsky.social #APIBA #StoriesMakeUs

This was a really special event: www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

I once went to a debate between Bourdieu and Hobsbawm. Audience question about the difference between a French and a British intellectual. Bourdieu wittered on for ages. Then Hobsbawm stood up and said “There is no such thing as a British intellectual” and sat down again to much applause.

Today, I'm thankful that someone took the time to write tasting notes for Buckfast Tonic wine

Naples before Maradona seen through the eyes of a Corkonian @antonio-beeboh.bsky.social www.rte.ie/archives/exh...

I back this.

Not the ‘UK’ folks. The right to a jury trial was abolished here in the north of Ireland years ago. The imperial boomerang at work

Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”

Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷