Emma Rothwell

For the weekend that's in it, why not read a Life of St Brigid, or, Betha Brigte. An Leabhar Breac (RIA MS 23 P 16) contains a copy of the Life on starting on p. 61. You can see the "incipit" (Latin for "beginning") outlined in red pigment here, with Brigte spilling over from one line onto another.

I genuinely switched over from my regular politics podcast this morning to listen to a true crime one about a famous murder-suicide, to "relax".

Ancient manuscript page showing a circular astronomical diagram with concentric rings and inscriptions. A rotating arm points outwards.

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS B ii 1, Astronomical tract. It is based on a medieval Latin version of a work by Messahalah, a Jew of Alexandria who wrote in Arabic c. 815. The frontispiece is an astronomical rotula with a moveable index attached, illuminated with red and yellow pigment...

Ancient illustration of a mythical figure with intricate designs on a beige background. Bold text reads "WATCH THIS SPACE...".

Hello Bluesky!

Ooh! Please add @rialibrary.bsky.social to this starter pack as we are just about to launch!

Full length photographic portrait of Maire Gill in a medieval costume

Did you know that Burns Library holds a collection of photographs and albums belonging to Irish activist, printer, and camogie player Máire Gill? They live in our Loretta Clarke Murray Collection and we’ve just digitized them! https://findingaids.bc.edu/repositories/2/resources/254/digitized

A screenshot from Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give you up music video

A screenshot from Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give you up music video

A screenshot from Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give you up music video

A photograph of the seminary gym in knives out. It has the same window.

Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.

I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.

Irish manuscripts and book conservators getting a two-page spread in @irishtimes.com 🙌 Up with that sort of thing!

This is the content I'm here for.

27th December is the feast of St John Apostle and Evangelist who is depicted here.
#StJohn
Trinity College Dublin, IE TCD MS 60; Book of Mulling (Irish picket gospel book); between c.750 CE-799 CE; Tech-Moling, County Carlow, Ireland; ff.81v-82r @tcdlibrary.bsky.social

A Christmas miracle! I have tracked down a copy of Battersby's auction catalogue for the Earl of Leitrim's library, which I will visit in @nlireland.bsky.social next year. Sometimes all you need for Christmas is to know if a particular dead guy once owned and annotated the book you are holding.

The image shows a close-up of old manuscript pages with handwritten Gaelic text in dark ink. The text is presented with a decorative capital letter.

The MS of the week is RIA MS D ii 1, the Book of Uí Mhaine.

This late 14th century manuscript contains a late Middle Irish versified form of the 17 Wonders of the Night of Christ’s Birth. This apocryphal tradition includes miracles such as fruiting vines in the middle of winter🍇

That's a very charming piece of Dublin history.

This is a young man who will live a very rich life. 🫡

"At a briefing this evening, the White House said Mr Trump does not want to execute members of Congress."

Good to have the clarity there. Everything is fine, I'm sure.

In this blog, we uncover new information about the provenance of the RIA Library's Haliday Pamphlet and Tract Collections. Charles Haliday MRIA (1789?-1866) was a 19th C book collector whose extraordinary collection of over 25,000 pamphlets is house in RIA Library. www.ria.ie/blog/notes-o...

Not up to the standard of the famous mushroom guy, but these are pretty cool in my parents' garden in Carlow.

I gladly pay for reviews of international work (film, tv, music) but domestic criticism of theatre & lit. is often worthless. Everyone knows everyone, and reviews read like they're written by the artist's mam. Why is that silly wistful Irish fairy intonation, endemic in the Abbey, never called out?

Completed his studies in Ireland's finest, most learned county! That is Carlow, to those Philistines who weren't aware. 🇲🇱

@louiseoc.bsky.social @accaccamo.bsky.social @paoloviscardi.bsky.social @cecilearchives.bsky.social @walkerabroad.bsky.social @drcathydaly.bsky.social

@nlireland.bsky.social @ciliprarebooks.bsky.social @araireland.bsky.social @opwireland.bsky.social @nmireland.bsky.social @natlibscot.bsky.social @mulibrary.bsky.social @mulibrarycat.bsky.social @ucclibrary.bsky.social @rialibrary.bsky.social @edwardworthlib.bsky.social

Come along to hear this fantastic lineup speaking about one of the most important issues facing our sector!!

An unwilling part, I'd imagine, if you could ask the reindeer.

But it's a very cool acquisition.

Cornwall and owlets, what's not to love?

A fun little piece I did on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, with some interesting snippets from the RIA collection, for your delectation!

I can only conclude that the format will be Agatha Christie-style and that one more Westlifer must die each night. Weren't there more of them??

This is how you blurb

A last visit to @nmireland.bsky.social Words on the Wave to see the third opening of the St Gall gospels. Not my boy St John, but still, not too shabby. Also revisiting a relic label we studied in my palaeography class & one of the world's most famous library catalogues. 😍 Farewell, Swiss friends!

Having a cracking day with @annewelsh.bsky.social on this training! One of the many pleasures of being the secretary of the @laibluesky.bsky.social Rare Books Group...

You've got just over an hour to get here for this!