On writing.ie - Making the move from non-fiction to fiction. The joy of making stuff up. www.writing.ie/interviews/t...

Not just any red branch… the one worth reading. Today’s the day, my debut novel The Red Branch hits the shelves.

So long and thanks for all the sacks. mylesdungan.substack.com/p/ireland-an...

The new episode of Transatlantic is live! Fin and I explore the Gilded Age American heriesses who married into Victorian Ireland, and the legacy these women left behind in some of Ireland's most famous country houses and National Parks: shows.acast.com/transatlanti...

Dublin is a Viking city. We’re about to find out if that’s still true.

The Irish duo beat Justin Thomas and Cameron Young in an epic fourball tussle, enduring spiteful personal abuse from the crowd. The42.ie/6829434

Will President Trump be visiting Bethpage today?

On the subject of Wounded Knee, @irishacw.bsky.social wrote some time ago about Irish service in the American military in such cases, and how the subject needs more thought and study. irishamericancivilwar.com/2013/10/27/w...

Just posted this on Substack if anyone is interested in British espionage operations against Irish nationalists in the 1880s.

They say never work with kids or animals. I’d add nieces to that list...

If you fancy a shot at 'The Traitors Ireland' next year check out this guy first.

Coming this October from @ucdpress.bsky.social and historian and author Owen O'Shea The first ever county-based study of Civil War politics in Ireland How and why did the Civil War shape politics and elections in Kerry in the decade after 1923? Pre-order now: shorturl.at/56pZE

The Embarcadero in the 1880s was San Francisco’s lifeline: ships, cargo, immigrants, and no shortage of thieves, sailors & gamblers. A short walk from the Barbary Coast, it was the city’s front door to the world.

I will be at Antonia's Bookstore, Trim, Co. Meath signing copies fo my new novel, The Red Branch, on Saturday 4th October from 3pm. Come along, say hello and let me scribble in your book.

THE BAREKNUCKLE POLICE CHIEF AND HIS INTELLECTUAL ALLY The crowbar versus the mug shot in 19th century San Francisco. open.substack.com/pub/mylesdun...

What was North Beach like in the 1880s? Think saloons, boarding houses, and the clash of immigrant culturesm Italian, Irish, Chinese, all packed against the bay. A different skyline to today.

San Francisco, where The Red Branch is set in 1883, and where I’ll be talking about it in October. Join me at the Mechanics’ Institute Library: https://loom.ly/IkSzHDc

I may have taken liberties in The Red Branch by cramming a few 1883 San Francisco eccentrics into the story. Not sorry. Read more on my Substack: https://loom.ly/LuIQ5l8

Finally caught up with @mcculld.bsky.social terrific Dev:Rule. More than maintained the standard of Dev:Rise. Really loved the 1973 Wizard of Oz moment.

Research for The Red Branch took me down two essential rabbit holes: Doris Muscatine’s Old San Francisco and Herbert Asbury’s The Barbary Coast. Between them you get grandeur, grifters, and plenty of fog.

The body in the Bay. 'The Red Branch', page one. mylesdungan.com/2025/09/09/t...

Darker evenings? All the better excuse to bury yourself in a good book. I can even recommend one…

The History Show on RTÉ Radio 1 is back today at 6.00 with a special programme on the Imirce emigration project at Galway University. Hundreds of witness statements from the Irish diaspora. imirce.universityofgalway.ie/p/ms?pageTit...

In the 1880s, San Francisco unknowingly armed Irish rebels with dynamite. Their target? London. That’s where The Red Branch begins.

Finally got a chance to watch @mcculld.bsky.social wonderful Dev:Rise. Learned so much. Looking forward to Dev:Rule - the doc, not the reality. Saw him and JFK in Dublin as a very small child.

Robert Emmet Orpen isn’t a hero. He’s Irish, stubborn, expendable — and sent 6,000 miles west to infiltrate the Fenians. His cover is blown before he even sees a cable car. He's the man at the centre of my new book, The Red Branch.

I’ve finally joined Instagram (late to the party, I know). If you’d like to follow along for book news, history rabbit holes, and the occasional digression, you can find me here > https://loom.ly/SNxhgs4

ABANDONING THE COMFORT ZONE open.substack.com/pub/mylesdun...

My new novel The Red Branch arrives 30 September. San Francisco, 1880s. Dynamite. Betrayal. A mission that can’t succeed. The fuse is lit.

Mountains of research magnificently distilled into @mylesdungan.bsky.social's Land Is All That Matters (@headofzeus.bsky.social), the violent 'Three-Hundred Year War' over soil and Ireland's sense of itself told with illuminating, entertaining clarity.

Thanks to Civil War Books & Authors for this generous and detailed review of my new book "Green & Blue" - it provides a great overview of the main themes and arguments! cwba.blogspot.com/2025/07/revi...

I don't know why anyone determined to buy a book online in Ireland wouldn't get it from this place, genuinely.

Great few days at the Hinterland Book Festival. Speaking about #DillonRediscovered & interviewing Kevin Barry about ‘The Heart in Winter’ & ‘The Cave’, and Grainne Hurley about her book on Mary Lavin & The New Yorker. Congrats to @mylesdungan.bsky.social & his colleagues. @dublincityuni.bsky.social

First census of the Irish Free State to be digitised and released in April next year. Most anticipated! www.rte.ie/news/politic...

Re the Qatari 747. Apparently the previous value record for an interstate gift is held by Greece, for an equestrian object donated to Troy.

Spike Island - really well worth a visit. Fascinating history, really well presented.

Has Cardinal Prevost made a point just by being a Leo? mylesdungan.substack.com/p/leo-whats-...

Canadian PM @mark-carney.bsky.social grandfather in his Irish police uniform. He was Garda #87. Unearthed by incomparable Irish police historian Jim Herlihy. Not sure why he has a weapon though, I thought uniformed Gardai were unarmed even in the 1920’s (after a threatened mutiny).

I really hope the election of an American Pope doesn’t upstage the White House announcement of ‘concepts of a plan’ for a tariff deal with the UK.

FFS I’m older than the Pope!

"Bookstores always remind me that there are good things in this world." 🖊️ Vincent Van Gogh

DID THE SISTINE CHAPEL EVER HAVE A GLASS CEILING? The legend of Pope Joan. open.substack.com/pub/mylesdun...

So Sovereignty beat Journalism in the Kentucky Derby. Seems like an apt metaphor for our Times.

I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too? my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr... @uplift-ireland.bsky.social

Launch of 'Gatsby: Death of an Irishman' at the wonderful Royal Irish Academy (@ria.ie). Thanks to Ronan McGreevy for launching the book and to everyone in @eastwoodbooks.bsky.social for their hard work Not sure where my smile went in the photos! #gatsby100 #thegreatgatsby #fscottfitzgerald

Machiavelli: ‘A Prince who is not wise cannot be well advised.’

Discussing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s brilliant but turbulent life and the genesis of Jay Gatsby, his most iconic character, with @johnleemedia.bsky.social and @nuttyinnyc.com #fscottfitzgerald #thegreatgatsby #gatsby100

So, if Trump can run for a third term does that mean we could see Obama v Trump in 2028? Now THAT would be fun.

50% tariffs on mighty Lesotho means American billionaires will be paying 50% more for their diamonds. Really gonna need those tax cuts soon.