Dr Laura Watson

Wish I could go to this concert! Friends in London, check it out. #InaBoyle #womencomposers #spéirghorm

Yes! Been sharing a few eith my musicology students - The Stolen Child and the Walter de la Mare settings.

Just finished Sara Baume's Seven Steeples. One of the most memorable books I've read in years. Stunning writing. #spéirghorm

Ina Boyle - a brilliant 20th-century Irish composer. #womencomposers #speirghorm

Why are so many academics in the Epstein files? It’s not just about money | Christopher Marquis In a university ecosystem that breeds hunger for status, Epstein made scholars feel like celebrities

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Something here for senior academics and university bureaucrats to reflect on.

The year of the flood.

The Republic of Ireland Must Boycott the Israel Games - REBEL On Thursday the Republic of Ireland football team drew Israel in the…

rebelnews.ie/2026/02/16/t... #speirghorm #bds

A $50,000 Watch and Friendly Notes: One College Leader’s Ties to Epstein

Hard to overstate the extent to which Leon Botstein’s personal scorn for feminist anti-rape politics permeated Bard College’s culture while I was there. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

Documents from newly released files indicate that @bardcollege.bsky.social president Leon Botstein visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island in 2012. Botstein admits that he was in the Caribbean but claims he does not remember whether he visited Epstein’s island. www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

Musicologist Leon Botstein in the Epstein files. Disgusting.

Leon Botstein received $150,000 from Jeffrey Epstein Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, personally received a gift of $150,000 in 2016 from Jeffrey Epstein, the late, disgraced billionaire convicted in 2008 of sexually abusing children. The N...

this is all known already, but seeing the sheer amount of desperate "leon botstein is trying to contact you" notes in these emails is wild www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

So the Epstein scandal is about politics? Silly me for thinking it’s about the mass abuse of women and girls | Marina Hyde Obsessing over individual players and political chaos leaves less time to focus on the misogyny. And that’s for the best, isn’t it guys, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

Spot on.

So the Epstein scandal is about politics? Silly me for thinking it’s about the mass abuse of women and girls | Marina Hyde www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Newly released files shed new light on Chomsky and Epstein relationship Latest communications undermine Chomsky’s earlier claims that he primarily had financial dealings with Epstein

Chomsky on friendly terms with Woody Allen and Steve Bannon as well as Epstein. Also insinuated that abused women were 'hysterical.' Grotesque.

Newly released files shed new light on Chomsky and Epstein relationship: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Message from the Editor: it’s the way we say it IT Sunday: We’re making changes to our stylebook - an in-house bible that codifies our style, spelling and grammar conventions

What does the @irishtimes.com style guide says about omitting full stops from last sentences in a subheading? E.g. see the text preceding the body of the article. I find it jarring. Not just the Irish Times doing this either.

www.irishtimes.com/media/2026/0...

Excerpt of a review of the book Women and Music in Ireland, published in Music and Letters.

Two good things in one day! Just been alerted to another very recent and generous review of Women and Music in Ireland, this time by Denise Neary, published in Music and Letters.
academic-oup-com.may.idm.oclc.org/.../4/672/82... #musicology #womeninmusic #speirghorm @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social

Excerpt of 2026 review of the book Women and Music in Ireland.

Another nice review of Women and Music in Ireland. Review by Anne-Marie O'Farrell just published in the JSMI, Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland. jsmi.musicologyireland.ie/index.php/jo... #womeninmusic #musicology #speirghorm #rhodacoghill

Hello, #spéirghorm #speirghorm #speirgorm. I'm looking to talk to anyone involved in the Voices for Choice choir in 2017/18. Any contacts would be appreciated. Go raibh maith agat. #Repeal

Do I just give up on essays as a tool for assessing very large undergraduate classes and go back to written exams? I hate what AI is doing to education, to basic intellectual curiosity, to the ability to read or listen to music.

Why are Irish universities still posting on X? While individuals might need to use the site to maintain personal networks, surely the same cannot be said for public institutions. The continued use of official accounts on X arguably lends a veneer of respectability to a platform that actively harms.

RTÉ to mark 100 years of Irish radio with GPO broadcasts RTÉ radio will mark 100 years of public service broadcasting in Ireland with a series of broadcasts from the GPO.

@rteradio1.bsky.social celebrating 100 years of Irish radio. Hope the musician #RhodaCoghill will be acknowledged? She was Station Accompanist at Radio Éireann & RTÉ for 30 years. Also performed on the station in its earliest 2RN days. #speirghorm
www.rte.ie/news/2026/01...

Melbourne has ruined me for coffee. Best I've ever tasted and the stuff I used to love at home now tastes like coffee-flavoured water.

From my experience over the last couple of weeks, Australia, especially Melbourne, seems much more affordable and liveable than Ireland. The supermarket and eating out cost way less than at home and the quality of food is superb. Public transport is excellent too. Can see why people stay here.

Coffee with the locals in Sydney

Currently jetlagged in Melbourne, Australia but loving the culture, Christmas sun, friendly people, and some of the tastiest food and coffee I've ever had. And thrilled to see my youngest sister again 💗

Really enjoyed speaking at the Marxism Festival 2025, at UCD, on Sunday. I discussed Sinéad O'Connor and feminism in Irish music, with a lovely audience. #SinéadOConnor

All welcome to my talk on feminism and music in Ireland, at the Marxism Festival in UCD tomorrow afternoon. It'll be way less stressful than watching Ireland play Hungary!

A single shell, fired by the IDF at a fertility clinic: peace prize recipient explains what lies behind her genocide finding Former UN inquiry chair Navi Pillay says ‘what’s so unusual about this genocide’ is that ‘we are all witnesses to it’

The destruction of fertility clinics in Gaza has to be one of the IDF's most egregious acts of genocide. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

So much talk about spoiled votes, but virtually zero about the 900,000+ Irish citizens who voted for Connolly and the 15,000 volunteers who campaigned for her - nothing about what they want and represent and hope for.
No, Irish media and politics insist you engage with those who can't be bothered.

Saying that it's "too hard" to get on the Irish president ballot when an independent woman got the entire Irish left to back her, got the biggest vote ever and beat two historically dominant parties is not just wrong - it is breathtakingly offensive and outrageously dishonest.
#Aras25 #Speirgorm

Get out and vote if you've yet to do so. Voting rights were hard won for ordinary people, especially women. #ConnollyforPresident #CatherineConnolly #Aras25 #Áras25