Greatly looking forward to this @galway-geol-ass.bsky.social lecture on Tuesday 7pm. Much new data relating to the soils and sediments, especially of western Ireland, will be presented

A little bear figurine carved out of amber some 6,000 years ago 🐻❤️ A hole runs through the bear’s torso suggesting it was threaded on a cord, perhaps worn or carried as a protective charm. Found in a peat bog near Słupsk, Poland, in 1887. 📷 National Museum in Szczecin #FindsFriday #Archaeology

The N59 leads to Leenane and Killary Fjord, looking respendent on Saturday, bathed in the low mid-day sun. The historic Leenane Hotel, recently extended & renovated, nestles among trees on the southern side of the inner fjord.

Travelled N59 Westport to Leenane on Saturday morning (31st Jan) on way to Galway. I had forgotten what a wonderful route it is. Photos from towards the southern end: sheep grazing on blanket bog & beyond wood pasture; Mweelrea with its enormous cirque towering to the west. A true kaleidoscope!

This elaborate, stave-built bucket was discovered in a peat bog in Derreen, Co Clare. Made from yew wood and ornamented with three bronze hoops, it dates from the 8th/9th century AD. irisharchaeology.ie/2013/03/the-...

Ahead of tomorrow's inevitable deluge of social media imboloxology, this, by @elvabjohnston.bsky.social is the most significant piece of relevant scholarship in years. Do yourself a favour... muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

Today, St Brigid’s Day, marks three years since Ireland’s first public holiday named after a woman. It’s a chance to celebrate the vital role women play in Irish culture and history. Discover St Brigid's story on the @dib.ie https://www.dib.ie/biography/brigit-brighid-brid-bride-bridget-a0961.

Today Lá Fhéile Bhríde, we celebrate St #Bridget, whose feast day marks the beginning of spring in olden #Celtic times. Weatherwise, it was certainly spring (almost summer) in #Connemara today. Climbered to Mám Éan, a pass in the Maumturks. Here St Patrick is reputed to have spent a night

Pleased to do honours at launch of ‘Booleying in Ireland’ by Theresa McDonald. Anything you will ever wish to know re. #booleying #transhumance in Achill & beyond is here. Fruits of years of interdisciplinary research @universityofgalway.bsky.social @globalgalway.bsky.social @nmireland.bsky.social

I didn’t expect to be posting about Stonehenge now but a new paper with yet more against the case for Salisbury Plain glaciers has been published. It prompted me to look at a discussion about sarsen last year which I missed. So here’s a thread about Stonehenge megalith sources /1

#Aurora borealis over #Galway Bay about 1 h ago. To naked eye it appeared as a light grey cloud with an ethereal feel. The camera saw it rather differently. @bgs.ac.uk says it is caused by geomagnetic storm caused by arrival of a coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on 18th January!

Great looking forward to #GGA lecture by Bernd Zolischka on Thursday 7pm. The Eifel volcanic field is spectacular; easily reached but also easily missed (nr Andernach on Rhine). Ash (#tephra) deposits from Laachersee eruption ca. 12900 y ago spread far & wide; local deposits an impressive sight

Mid-Clare Way, immediately S of #Burren, weaves its way through rolling fields of pasture. Woodland copses, mature trees in hedgerows & scrub provide high diversity of habitat. A most attractive walk-way in the middle of the Banner County (next post Dysart O'Dea, end point of this New Year walk)

More than pleased that our recent #OA paper on Flora, Vegetation and Land-Use Changes on Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, appears in “Editor’s Choice Articles” www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17... As well as tracing vegetation & land-use history, it has new information on filmy fern spores, Arbutus & buckwheat

#Sunset this evening from historic Burrane graveyard, Co Clare, where Colleen Bawn is buried in grave of ancestor Peter O'Connell, compiler of early Irish dictionary. In foreground, Shannon estuary, beyond Kerry incl. Mount Brandon on Dingle peninsula & Atlantic Ocean @wildatlanticway.bsky.social

Happy New Year! At midnight on Hogmanay, the Watch Stone will move from its position guarding the approach to the Ness of Brodgar to take a drink from Stenness loch. (Or so it is said!) Wishing you all a wonderful 2026, filled with folklore, fun and many a hike to an ancient site 💚🪨🎉

A December sunset on Galway Bay. Happy Christmas 🎄

Remarkable!

Aithbhliain for shéan is fé mhaise daoibh uile. Happy New Year Earlier today in Loughshinny, nr. Skerries, Co. Dublin

Merry Christmas / Nollaig shona / & Happy New Year / Aithbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise díobh uile

#Equinox on Galway Bay, #Salthill, was special this pm. Occasionally the low winter sun broke through the low cloud; cold but relatively calm. Tide coming in, so shore birds busy making the most of opportunities presented. Brent geese attracting much attention & deservedly so

In recent years, I usually see the odd pink anemone-like female Hazel catkin before Christmas. I was surprised this week though to see so many fully open male catkins & producing lots of pollen too!!!! #wildflowerhour

Recent lecture ‘Mineral Memories’ in Aula Maxima @uniofgalway.bsky.social by Bernie Colhoun www.instagram.com/bernie.colho.... Bernie wowed us by her multifaceted artistic endeavours, portraying #landscapes, #time, #archaeology & #geology of #Ireland; making the complex appear simple & to be enjoyed

The winter sun goes down on #Galway Bay. @salthill.bsky.social @wildatlanticway.bsky.social

Linguists start compiling first ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic

Are you a #teacher looking for training opportunities in #geosciences or seeking #financial assistance for events that promote geoscience #education? Apply now for the 2026 Field School for Teachers and Geoscience Education Event! 📆 31 December 2025: egu.eu/96EKUA 📸 Ole Zeising on #imaggeo

Ancient forest 🌳 in the Northern of Spain

I thanked someone working there and they were so nice about it, and even asked me to sign a few copies So you can probably get those ones at a discount now 😅

Ireland's evolving landscape the theme of #IQUA Autumn Symposium at @geolsurvie.bsky.social HQ, Beggars Bush, D4. Lectures ranged widely over time & space; many new ideas & fresh insights on the 11past, present & future at this critical juncture in Ireland's development @quaternaryirl.bsky.social

🎄 On the fifth day of #12PubsOfChristmas, we’re unwrapping Ireland’s past! Fintan O’Toole’s A History of Ireland in 100 Objects tells the story of Ireland through artefacts – from a Mesolithic fish trap to a modern AK-47. 🎁 A timeless gift for anyone curious about Ireland’s heritage.

Help us unlock the Plants of the Past, by supporting volunteers to digitise decades of paper records & inform C21st science! @biggive.bsky.social From #GivingTuesday to 9 Dec, we have £10K in matched funds to unlock: every donation, however small, will be doubled: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Just the Winter One rather than #thewinter10 in Conamara this week! Gorse / Aiteann (Ulex europaeus) can always be relied on for some flowers. #WildflowerHour

Thanks to all participants, & esp leader, @johnjfwalsh.bsky.social, & @corkgeological.bsky.social participants for helping make this a trip for the ages. Not forgetting Muintir Árann (esp Noel & Máirtín) for facilitating the group. Got there in a storm! that quickly gave way to glorious sunshine

Yesterday, mid-afternoon on the Prom, #Claddagh / #Salthill. A weather front slowly approaching from the west but all still calm in #GalwayBay; people, incl. many new comers, oblivious of approaching rain & wind. Language-wise, the Tower of Babel; diverse tongues most of which I didn't recognise

School of Law @uniofgalway.bsky.social Annual Distinguished Lecture 2025: 'The US Government’s Challenge to Universities: The Attack on University Curricula’ delivered with much eloquence & passion by Prof William Treanor, Dean of Georgetown University Law Center @georgetownlaw.bsky.social

On the prom, #Salthill, as the sun goes down on #Galway Bay

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 P 16, Leabhar Breac. Written in Irish by Murchadh Riabach Ó Cuindlis, at Cluain Lethan and Lothra (Lorrha) in Múscraige Tíre, in north Co. Tipperary, it is the largest Irish vellum manuscript by one scribe.

A wonderful little fungi family soak up the morning sunshine deep in the ancient woods at Abbeyleix House & Gardens @irishwoodlandtrust.bsky.social @claireissimo.bsky.social @charleenhurtubise.bsky.social

Sure it is a tonic for myself given the weather we are having in Ireland. At least I made it across the Irish Sea just before the present downpours. Hope the bridges of Galway survive the waters of the swollen Corrib river. 😊🤔

Monday 10 November had a fun day exploring #Herculaneum / Ercolano. A Roman town on the Bay of Naples, it was preserved for posterity by ash from #Vesuvius eruptions in 79 CE. Roman querns, charred wooden furniture, Arbutus with flowers & fruit, & the site with Vesuvius capped by a cloud in photos

Rural landscapes often look their best as here at Westonbirt, #Cotswolds. Isolated large oaks & horses give an added dimension to an idyllic English landscape. Nearby English National Arboretum, Highgrove & Tetbury with its Ormond / Irish connection

The RIA is delighted to welcome @dhkaplanoh.bsky.social past president of the @geographers.bsky.social to deliver the keynote at our panel on the importance of Geography and Geoscience education. Taking place on 19 Nov Book your tickets: www.tickettailor.com/events/royal... @geolsurvie.bsky.social

#GGA lecture this evening at 7 pm: The Ethics of Mineral Extraction by Dr Nick O'Neill. The subject matter has seldom been more topical 😳

Climbed to the crater of #Vesuvius yesterday. Amazing to see gases emerging & smell S. Unfortunately, no explanations of the complex stratigraphy. Vegetation struggling to gain a foothold on the Volcanic deposits. Panoramic views of the Bay of Naples

Tuesday, 11 Nov, 19:00 h, #GGA Zoom lecture: The Ethics of Mineral Extraction by Dr Nick O'Neill, #TCD. Earthrise (Dec 24 1968), by Bill Anders (NASA, Apollo 8), shows earth as a fragile blue marble in blackness of space. It inspired the 1st Earth Day 1970 & this lecture. www.galwaygeology.net

End July 2025 retraced my steps to #Inishturk, Co #Mayo on @wildatlanticway.bsky.social. Weather not as good as in April, but managed to get reasonable photos, according to my own lights! #Fulmars still plentiful on western cliffs; single chicks in some of nests. Inishturk awe inspiring as ever

The #ClimateEmergency and #NatureCrisis are intimately interlinked. And we can ill afford to lose these trees on these under-forested islands www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Some of the extensive remains of Roman Corbridge in Northumberland. A wonderful site with a great museum. 📸 My own. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain #Corbridge #Northumberland

#Macnas weaved its spell on the streets of #Galway last evening. An Treun – Summoning Of The Lost, a tale by Bram Stoker & featuring the haunting call of the vanished corncrake #Halloween #OícheShamhna #Samhain

Neanderthal coasteering and the first Portuguese hominin tracksites🏺🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Carlos Neto de Carvalho, @stewartfinlayson.bsky.social, @gibgerry.bsky.social, @clivefin.bsky.social et al Oldest-known hominin track sites in SW Europe and clues to hunting patterns of Neanderthals