28 Mar 1627: The first dateable manuscript penned #otd by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, #Franciscan friar, scribe, historian, lexicographer & one compiler of the Annals of the Four Masters (His signature from @ucdarchives.bsky.social )

24 Mar ?654: d. St. Caimín, founder of Inis Celtra monastery on the #Shannon. Here is the wonderful later psalter named after him, UCD-OFM Ms A1 from @ucdarchives.bsky.social

Meet the Bart Simpson of 16th century Ireland 😈 An Ceithearnach Caoilriabhach was a rule-breaking trickster in Early Modern Irish culture, a disruptive figure who left chaos in his wake, writes Dr Brianán Ní Bhuachalla @ceilteachomn.bsky.social www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spo...

Sproingggggg! A bunny hops in the bottom margin of f. 311r, Ms. Codex 724, a 13th century illuminated Bible #DrolleryDonnerstag #medievalsky 🔗: https://bit.ly/3HKjIyM

The feast day of St Patrick is tomorrow. He shares his day with St Failtigern, a holy woman, now obscure, whose name is recorded in Félire Óenguso/Martyrology of Óengus, UCD-OFM MS A7, f 13r, C15th. H/T @elvabjohnston.bsky.social

Ní inniu 👀

‘An Lon Dubh’ an téama do Chomhdháil Choláiste na Tríonóide 2026. ‘The Blackbird’ is this year’s theme for Comhdháil Choláiste na Tríonóide. ar an 15/05/2026, clár, eolas, agus clárú (saor in aisce) anseo: www.tcd.ie/Irish/gaeilg...

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 E 25, Lebor na hUidre / The Book of the Dun Cow. This 12th century manuscript is best known for containing the oldest extant version of the Táin Bó Cuailgne, or the Cattle Raid of Cooley, a renowned Irish epic.

"A spindle-whorl for a spindle-whorl", as the Old Testament says (vaguely remembered). Here's one from Orkney for Women's Day, in Sc. Gaelic & ogham script (Buckquoy, S-ORK-005). It probably reads BENDDACTANIML "a blessing, soul of L". 🔗: ogham.celt.dias.ie/S-ORK-005 📷: @3dgroovanstones.bsky.social

In honor of St. David's Day, the story of St. Patrick being kicked out of Wales by an angel in order to make way for the Welsh saint: #DyddGŵylDewi 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (1/9)

Welsh Grammar This manuscript was written in the early 17th century. It was probably owned by Iolo Morgannwg as it contains notes in his hand. It is a copy of the grammar used by the poets in the 16th century, although not an exact copy. Date: 17th century BMSS/2 www.jstor.org/stable/commu...

Beware the hare with the thousand yard stare - 14th century, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 8, f. 304r

it’s incredible I manage to get anything done at home with this one around

Love the glimpse into the beautiful mind that notated this used copy of Moby Dick I got

Famously, this inscribed stone not only bears a runic inscription, but it is also the only runic-og(h)am biscriptal stone in Ireland (more at O3D: ogham.celt.dias.ie/I-CLA-004). Contrary to a widespread belief, the ogham inscription does NOT contain the Norse name TORQRIM (Thórgrímr).

Meet the Bart Simpson of 16th century Ireland. Brianán Ní Bhuachalla @maynoothuniversity.ie @researchireland.ie tells the story of An Ceithearnach Caoilriabhach, a rule-breaking trickster in Early Irish Modern culture who caused chaos wherever he went www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Hugely looking forward to hosting this one-day symposium on 'Medical Learning in the Medieval Gaelic World' as part of the @researchireland.ie LEIGHEAS project @maynoothuniversity.ie - join us @ceilteachomn.bsky.social @muahi.bsky.social on Thursday 12th March!

poster, creative computing, magazine (1978) archive.org/details/crea...

The program of the Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics 2026 (6-17 July) is now online! www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/education... Hopefully, there will be some courses of your liking! (Hittite perhaps?) The application form will be online soon, too, so keep an eye out for it.

An chéad léacht i sraith léachtaí an earraigh The first lecture in our spring series Pádraic Moran (Gaillimh/Galway) Sun, moon and stars in the Reichenauer Schulheft 5pm, 19 Feabhra/February DIAS, 10 Burlington Road www.dias.ie/celt/ @dias.ie

a day late but it’s always fun to make St. Brigit’s crosses :)

Lá ‘le Bríde sona dhaoibh ! Very lovely to see my whole feed celebrating and discussing Brigit today.

For St Brigit’s Day, there’s a feast of writings for you by Maynooth scholars such as @niamhwycherley.bsky.social @davidstifter.bsky.social amongst others, and by UCD Early Irish historian @elvabjohnston.bsky.social Here’s her fascinating paper muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

Ottid eiry ar warthaw reo. gosguipid g[u]int blaen guit tev. kadir yscuid ar yscuit glev. Snow falls atop ice wind sweeps the tips of sturdy trees powerful a shield on the shoulder of the brave "Llym awel", NLW Peniarth MS 1 (The Black Book of Carmarthen, mid. 13th century)

Tá áthas orm a bheith páirteach sa Chomhdháil Aiteach a reáchtálfar in @ucdscoilglcb.bsky.social sa Mheitheamh. Seo an chéad chomhdháil da leithéid ina dtabharfar le chéile an taighde faoin aiteacht agus na healaíona aiteacha sa Ghaeilge. Gach eolas sa ghairm ar pháipéir.

Here's your daily dose of weirdness for today!

Seventeenth-century squirrel, looks like it’s eating a little nut. On an embroidered binding from a 1641 psalter, SSS.34.27 @theul.bsky.social. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekBforBooks 📷 #photography

“Paws on Parchment” - this exhibition looks amazing as do the visiting kittens. (Image below of four foster kittens who visited the exhibition at the Walters Museum shortly after it opened). www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a... #medievalsky

Some good news, though, if anyone has mislaid medieval Britain.

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

Let's focus on the detail of the text walking mesenger: first up, he is a "Postbott" (German for postal messenger). In short he is a "Bott" (or "Pott"), ein Bote. And the thing positioned before him is a German "S". So this reads as "S pott" meaning "Spott": mockery.

#HappyBirthdayTolkien According to Ryszard Derdziński, the surname "Tolkien" is probably Low Prussian meaning "son of Tolk", ultimately from Slavic *tъlkъ Slavic *tъlkъ from PIE *tlkʷ-: "talk". The form *tlokʷ- also survives in Latin "loquor", as in "loquacious", "eloquent", "locution", etc.

New insights from archaeology, genetics and early inscriptions are helping to uncover the story of Celtic languages in Britain and Ireland.

As medieval Christmastime adventures go, Gawain & the Green Knight may be the most famous. But I submit that the most amusing is Taliesin winning a bardic contest at the court of Maelgwn Gwynedd by getting other poets to go before the king, put their fingers to their lips, & babble: ‘Blerum blerum’

‘hart y uart y uvrt nadolyc’ ‘beautiful to a bard his Christmas table’ Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr (fl. 1155-1200) in his elegy for Owain Gwynedd (d. 1170) 🎄

The MS of the Week is on display in the Reading Room of the Library this week from 10.00-13.00 & 14.00-16.30 Monday & Tuesday & until 12 noon on Wednesday. No appointment or reader’s ticket is required to view. For more information about upcoming closures, visit www.ria.ie/library.

🌲2️⃣0️⃣🎁 Cisalpine Celtic literacy Dr Corinna Salomon (Vienna) is an expert on ancient, pre-Roman writing systems in northern Italy (e.g., www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLwT...). She investigated the origin of the runes and contributed to Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum (tir.univie.ac.at/wiki/). 📖

2 scoláireacht ar fáil i Scoil an Léinn Cheiltigh 2 scholarships available in the School of Celtic Studies Sprioc: 5 Eanáir 2026 Deadline: 5 January 2026 www.dias.ie/2025/12/05/v... @dias.ie

It's time! Behold the Christmas hedgehog! From Verdun, Bibl. mun., ms. 0107, f. 008. Our thanks as always to @etreharne.bsky.social who found her.

'Is acher in gaíth in-nocht...' in Scots: The wind is snell the nicht, It forfluther’s the sea’s white hair. A dreid-na the rinnin o the Sheuch By fell kemps frae Noroway. [Old Irish isn't one of my languages but pleased with forfluther for fo-fúasna.] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_ache...

hremn, m.n: raven. (H’REH-mun / ˈhrɛ-mən) Image: Psalter of Isabelle of France; England (York), 1303-1308; Munich, @bsbmuenchen.bsky.social Cod.gall. 16, f. 52r. #OldEnglish #WOTD

Calendrier l'avent d'enluminures médiévales #calavhist, jour 12 ! Un magnifique dragon bleu pour mettre de la couleur dans votre week-end ! Harley 1662 f. 104, manuscrit copié vers 1470

Today’s the final day to submit your abstracts!

Stop press! I have a new entry in the “worst medieval attempt to draw an elephant” competition! 🐘

'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.' Photograph by Daniel Ibanez

#EpigraphyTuesday This small vase, inscribed with the twenty-six letters of the #Etruscan alphabet, may have been a container for ink. The head acts as a stopper and could be attached to the bird’s body by a cord. The missing tail no doubt curved downward to form a third foot.

Linguists start compiling first ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic

Calendrier l'avent d'enluminures médiévales #calavhist, jour 7 ! Jonas avalé par la baleine... Bible Porta, enluminée vers 1275, Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire, Lausanne, f. 351

This is the feast of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, d. 397. 🕯️ BNF lat. 1732 is an early-8th-c. Uncial MS of several of his works. The headings to the various items have lovely colors and some fun beasties. The Uncial is very mannered: look at the loops on those As! #medievalsky

Students and staff at Trinity College Dublin have produced the world's first film in the ancient - and dead - Sumerian language