Mary Breen

24 Jan 1679: Narcissus Marsh, future Archbishop of #Dublin & founder of
@MarshsLibrary
, Ireland's first public library, is sworn Provost of Trinity College #Dublin #otd

How the new Irish Free State counted the population in 1926 The first major administrative act by an independent Irish government, what was involved in compiling the census 100 years ago?

How the new Irish Free State counted the population in 1926: www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry review – a dazzling puzzle-box of a debut The plight of a reluctant medieval king is glimpsed through scattered pieces of the past, in an ingenious novel that asks how much we can really know about history

"His growing misery is that of someone raised as a subject who has objecthood forced upon him, ... More widely, the novel asks us to admit that we can know almost nothing about history, or even about the lives of people with whom we live contemporaneously."

#MedievalSky 📚

Bright pink background with bold red text reading “A Feminist Platform?”

Photograph of an old wooden lectern against a bright pink background. The top beam is engraved with the words “Votes for Women.”

Photograph of the “Votes for Women” wooden lectern against a bright pink background with white overlay text explaining that it was used by the Irish Women’s Franchise League as they travelled across Ireland in the early 20th century campaigning for women’s suffrage.

This lectern travelled across Ireland in the early 1900s, used by the Irish Women’s Franchise League as they campaigned for the right to vote.
Portable lecterns like this helped speakers rise above crowds—this one even bears a plaque reading “Votes for women.”
🔗 www.museum.ie/en-ie/collec...

Diarmaid Ferriter: Here’s one thing to look forward to this year – the release of the 1926 Census Opening of this material will facilitate much research, and for many the chance to place our own family story in context

Here’s one thing to look forward to this year: the release of the 1926 census - really looking forward to exploring the census when it comes online - how and where will many of my Cumann na mBan women appear, I wonder? #exploreyourachives #speirgorm

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

Joyce- happy days indeed! Wishing you, Tom and the girls a very Happy 2026. May we see your name in print again!

The Wolfson History Prize - Celebrating Outstanding History The Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually to promote and recognise outstanding history written for a general audience.

Graduate of the American Studies programme that the University of Nottingham wishes to close wins 2025 Wolfson History Prize for Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

History, it's a long game. Divest in haste, repent for the longue durée.

The cover and contents page of The Journal of Irish Archaeology Vol.34, 2025.

Delighted that our co-authored paper on Woodstown is in good company in the new Journal of Irish Archaeology! Thanks to Dr Kerri Cleary, Wordwell & @iaiarchaeo.bsky.social

It details what the recent geophysical surveys have revealed about Woodstown ... including *spoiler alert* 61 structures!

Jane Ohlmeyer delivers the Society's 2025 Anniversary Lecture - RHS On 21 November, the Society was delighted to welcome Professor Jane Ohlmeyer to give the 2025 RHS Anniversary Lecture: ‘Visible | Invisible: Voices of Women in Early Modern Ireland’. Jane's lecture in...

Our great thanks to Jane Ohlmeyer who gave the Society's 2025 Anniversary Lecture on Friday evening.

Jane's lecture, 'Visible | Invisible: Voices of Women in Early Modern Ireland', charted new work to recover the lives of Irish women, c.1550-1700 bit.ly/43NZXhv. Video to follow soon #Skystorians

St John Henry Newman, declared Doctor of the Church 1 Nov 2025.

Founder of the Catholic University at Dublin, 1854. Quasi-ancestor institution of today’s University College #Dublin. Newman was canonised on 13 Oct 2019.

Gone way too soon. May he rest in peace. suaimhneas síoraí dá anam.

Postscript by Seamus Heaney who died twelve years ago today

LBC Charts/53: Admiralty Chart 2046: Waterford Harbour, from Dunmore Bay to Passage (1881). From private collections of admiralty and earlier charts of Ireland, digitised by Leslie Brown, 2008-16.

#FiantFriday in 1587 Waterford: 'Forasmuch as foreign invasion may be doubted from beyond seas, and if any such happen their landing-place likely to be at the haven of Waterford; the commissioners are to view and muster the able men in the city...'

View it here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/VRTI-Fi...

May your wonderful boy improve by the hour.

This guy looks very like the tabby.

I'm reading @drjoannepaul.bsky.social's new book on Thomas More and I was really struck by this line: "Those who are willing to destroy anyone who stands in opposition to their will...rule today as they did 500 years ago...The unconstrained power of petty, insecure men remains deeply dangerous."

#madleen #greta
#guard #Sunday #protests #art #la #ice #civil

G, by Zaffar Kunial

"I am hesitant to comment broadly on what it’s like for scientists now in America because I have only limited information about what is going on outside of this detention center. What I do know is that my colleagues, many of whom are, like me, foreign scientists, are terrified"

Look in the top right-hand corner!
We have several copies of Paolo Sarpi's 'History of the Council of Trent' from 1619, but this one was owned by a certain Jonathan Swift who wrote his name on the title page.

Chemist shop with lots of medicine in cabinets

Photographed #OnThisDay 7 February 1907: Jones' #Chemist shop on the Quay, Waterford. Purveyors of Blood Mixture, Hydrochloric Acid, Bay Rum, Jewsbury & Brown's Oriental Toothpaste, Tablets of Compressed Drugs, and more...https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000591910.

Cross cat glares at owner whilst standing threateningly with front paws on top of tv.

I recognise that look! In this case it is intended to make owner feel guilty for watching tv after cat appointed bed time has passed.

I’ve made the leap and reached for the sky so looking forward to meeting old friends, followers and followees. More about prehistoric gold and archaeology to come like the Shannongrove gorget from Co. Limerick

The February 2025 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) contains 3736 new records. The image is decorative.

The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) has been updated with 3,736 new records. About the BBIH: https://buff.ly/3L7a33B

Best spot in the house!

The ruin of a medieval stone castle tower, lightly shrouded with ivy

Are you looking to get out to stretch the legs after the recent cold snap?

The Anne Valley of County Waterford combines lovely scenery with fascinating monuments, like the ruin of Dunhill Castle.

Stained glass portrait of Henry VIII, Cardiff Castle. Source: Flickr, Leo Reynolds. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Have you browsed through our newest gold seam yet? The Fiants of Tudor Monarchs are all here, organised by reign:

virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams/f...

Blue plaques on the side of a building in Waterford. It reads Raymond T Chandler. Crime Writer. 1888-1959, Creator of Fictional Detective Philip Marlowe, resided with his uncle in this house in his childhood.

I knew about the plaque for Frederick Douglass, but I never knew there was one for Raymond Chandler.

Waterford is such a cool city.

Tramore this morning.