TFW your extremely niche area of academic research is in the news! A 🧵 on some aspects of the building formerly known as the Pro-Cathedral (or the Metropolitan chapel as it was called first!) www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

It was great fun to take part in a panel discussion on the Battle of Trafalgar this week, ahead of its 220th anniversary, on Newstalk's Talking History show. I spoke in particular about the impact of the battle on Ireland and the (many) Irish in the Royal Navy. open.spotify.com/episode/6ew8...

To mark the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, J.M.W. Turner’s monumental painting of the conflict will return to public view, following more than a year in storage. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/eng...

Tickets are now available for ‘Ireland and the American Revolution: 250th Anniversary Perspectives’. The conference will take place @tlrhub.bsky.social on the 9-10 October. For booking and more information use the link below. www.eventbrite.ie/e/ireland-an...

This Fri, 26 Sept: Join @nejohnst.bsky.social, Head of Early Modern Records @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy, for "Ireland 1485–1798: colonial laboratory?" www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/whats-on/eve...

Eighteenth-Century Clickbait...

QUB History Seminar tomorrow at 4pm BST

I was delighted to present at the 35th Irish Conference of Historians @maynoothuniversity.ie @irishhistorians.bsky.social It was a pleasure to be part of a stimulating panel on inner lives in the long eighteenth century, with fascinating insights and discussion from colleagues!

I had a great day today at the 35th Irish Conference of Historians, catching up with old colleagues and meeting new ones too. An incredibly varied programme, everything from Italian futurism to ex-RIC in the Free State. Thanks to all for organising @irishhistorians.bsky.social @maynoothuniversity.ie

Nice to see my guide to the Medieval Walled Towns of Meath feature in the latest edition of the Walled Town Crier, focusing on Trim in particular. #medieval #skystorians irishwalledtownsnetwork.ie/e-zine/

Only two days left to see this fantastic exhibition! Get down to the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan on Friday or Saturday. @railwayarch.bsky.social @irishrail.bsky.social

An exhibition to mark 175 years since the railway came to Navan, Co Meath, will go on public display today.

Only a handful of tickets left for the lecture, make sure to book! #HeritageWeek2025 #skystorians

Preparing for my (& @zwhitehistory.bsky.social, @graemecallister.bsky.social, & friends!) event on 11 Oct 2025 at Apsley House in London where we'll have a #Waterloo display & talk for Black History Month about those African and Afro-Caribbean born soldiers who fought in that great battle #history

Would anyone be interested in doing a #BSECS2026 panel on Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon’ (1975)?

175 Years of Navan Railway, free exhibition at Solstice Arts Centre Navan 20th-24th August for Heritage Week. I curated this with Navan & District Historical Society. There'll be photos and original drawings on display. Book your free place for launch & lecture solsticeartscentre.ie/event/175-ye...

Happy 250th birthday to Daniel O'Connell, born #OTD in 1775. I recently wrapped up a project that included looking through a lot of his letters and what really struck me was his character; warm & affectionate with family & friends, determined & passionate with his colleagues in their campaigns. 1/2

***CALL FOR PROPOSALS*** Routledge Studies in #18thC Cultures & Societies (eds. @profelainechalus.bsky.social & Deborah Simonton) seeks proposals for book-length studies on aspects of British, European, or transnational culture and society c.1680-1850. Full details: www.bsecs.org.uk/news-and-eve...

What a show. What a band. #Oasis25

Enjoy reading about #18thc history in July! Here is a list of new #nonfiction #books about the 18th century scheduled for this month: regency-explorer.net/new-releases/ - updated! - #Regency #Napoleon #history #JaneAusten #read

I had a great time with @andnapoleon.bsky.social discussing l'Expédition d'Irlande, one of the great 'What Ifs' of #IrishHistory. #18thC #skystorians

In what may be the oldest depiction of a gun an Irish manuscript - an ink drawing of a musket on a @nlireland.bsky.social charter from 1543 from the earl of Ormond to a Martin Potercelo granting property in Kilkenny. Potercelo is described as a 'gonn-' or gonner (gunner) in the grant.

🏰 Publication day! 🏰 Delighted to see my new guide to the Medieval Walled Towns of Meath is now available to download from the @heritagecouncil.ie website. It was a fun project to work on, exploring the histories of Trim, Navan, Kells and Athboy. irishwalledtownsnetwork.ie/new-publicat...

***Engagement Officer Vacancy*** We're looking for an engagement officer to act as primary point of contact for #18thC centres across the UK, and to oversee our outreach and engagement. It's a voluntary role, but associated travel & accommodation expenses are paid... www.bsecs.org.uk/the-society/...

This visually stunning and informative book includes 115 illustrations. Here is a selection of images from The Woolwich Rotunda, courtesy of the Historic England Archive and the Royal Artillery Museum. bit.ly/HERotunda #Heritage #Architecture

It was wonderful to see friends, #HistoricEngland colleagues, stakeholders and so many others at the launch of our book on the Woolwich Rotunda earlier this week. For details, see: bsky.app/profile/livu...

Great to see a new publication by @livunipress.bsky.social on the Woolwich Rotunda by @emilyvcole.bsky.social Sarah Newsome and Verena McCraig. It's a fascinating structure, both for its ballroom origins and its use as an artillery museum. liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

I wrote something new for History Respawned today. It's a review of a new book about Red Dead, but it's really about academic writing and historical game studies as a field. Please read, but also know, I really really really really REALLY didn't want to write this review.

WW1 forts on the Italian Front were as useless as the ones on the Western and Eastern Fronts. This was Fort Zacarana (Austrian) near Passo Tonale. It survived a month before being reduced to rubble.

This is, incidentally, exactly why you should be very sceptical of most war memoirs that weren’t written shortly after the war in question (and even then memory can prove surprisingly malleable even unconsciously)

Back on the @napoleonicquarterly.com podcast this week, talking about Robert Emmet's attempted rising in 1803, his doomed love affair with Sarah Curran, and his legacy to Irish revolutionaries ever since. #IrishHistory #NapoleonicHistory open.spotify.com/episode/1WHb...

#OnThisDay 15 July 1815 7am Napoleon Bonaparte aboard HMS Bellerophon (a 3rd Rate & 74 guns) & surrendered for his 2nd & final time, having fled Paris. On deck, he announced in French "I am come to throw myself on the protection of your Prince and your laws."

The #BastilleDay edit:

On this day in 1798: Last stand of the Wexford & Wicklow United Irishmen. The rebels had marched through Leinster for 23 days since defeat at Vinegar Hill. They were eventually brought to battle by government forces at Knightstown Bog, Wilkinstown, Co. Meath. 1/3 #18thC #IrishHistory

Parents insist their kids go to college to get business degrees. Administrators respond by defunding the humanities and social sciences, while hiring business profs at ~2X what historians get paid. Meanwhile, businesses say over and over that they want to hire humanities and social science majors.

On this day in 1798, the United Irishmen of Wexford and Wicklow, retreating from their defeat at #VinegarHill on 21 June, attempted to cross the Boyne into Meath at Leinster Bridge, Clonard. The rebels were repulsed by a stout defence of the crossing by local yeomanry and loyalists. #18thC 1/6

War Walks, alongside Two Men in a Trench with @tonypollard.bsky.social, are two of the main reasons I became a military historian.

On this day in 1798 the United Irishmen of Wexford were decisively defeated at Vinegar Hill by a large government army. A short 🧵on the Donegal Militia in the battle. #18thC #IrishHistory 1/8

🚨 With #Waterloo 210 yesterday, don’t forget recent #napoleonic eps: 13. Re-evaluating the 🇳🇱 🇧🇪 Comtingent at Quatre-Bras with Andre Dellevoet 14. The 🇫🇷 Napoleonic Armies with @graemecallister.bsky.social 15. The 🇬🇧 Napoleonic Staff College with @1815fletcher.bsky.social 👉 bit.ly/43uWDsj

OTD 1815 Napoleon defeated by allied army under Wellington. Today the battlefield aids veteran recovery through the work of Waterloo Uncovered in a project which has added to understanding of the battle & its aftermath. Excavation of a horse killed by a cannon ball at Mont St Jean from last year.

"Billy Pitt had them built, Buck Mulligan said, when the French were on the sea." Joyce's Ulysses opens at the Martello tower at Sandycove. Tower No. 11 South, built in 1804 as one of 29 towers defending Dublin bay. 1/2 #Bloomsday

Hugely long shot but if there are any experts here in the geography of late 18th-century Vienna, please get in touch! I am trying to roughly locate an address but I only have a few details and maps are proving a bit gnarly for a total outsider 🙃 #18c #vienna

My first article for the @erc.europa.eu funded COLVET project has been published Open Access in @conteurohistory.bsky.social. It explores how the Greater War concept might facilitate better engagement with colonial experiences of conflict in the early 20th century www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

William Burton Conyngham, colonel of the Donegal Militia, died #OTD in 1796. William was a very interesting figure involved in politics, economics, the military & the arts, including a founding member of the @ria.ie #18thC #IrishHistory

Essential holiday reading.

How did the American War of Independence affect life in Britain and Ireland? Learn about the political debates, riots and invasion threats that brought a transatlantic revolution uncomfortably close to home. youtu.be/aYoZC4IufDM?...

On this day in 1798, the Battle of Tara. Having gathered at the ancient & symbolic Hill of Tara in the preceding days, the United Irishmen and Defenders of Meath (including two of my ancestors) were finally defeated when government forces attacked the camp that evening. #18thC #IrishHistory 1/8

On this day in 1455 the War of the Roses began with the First Battle of St Albans. King Henry VI and his army held the town centre, and the Duke of York's army attacked from the east. Fierce fight took place here on Sopwell Lane, the Yorkists attack here led by the Earl of Salisbury. 1/6

It doesn't happen too often, but Irish #medieval history is straying into current affairs. Having said that, historians have been reassessing the Norman invasion for decades now. Something tells me it won't be a simple celebration. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...