Aidan O'Sullivan
@aidanosullivan.bsky.social
Head of School/Prof at UCD Archaeology; Early Medieval archaeologist; Director @experimentarchaeol.bsky.social Member Royal Irish Academy; Fellow Society of Antiquaries; Dad of boys; Dog Dad; Hurling/Camogie; IC Member; Own Opinions here
Wow!
NEW Have archaeologists identified the largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain? Survey at Brusselstown Ring, one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, found evidence for potentially hundreds of occupied roundhouses!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
November 26, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Wow!
When serious matters such as freedom, the rights of countries to exist, international law are being dealt with by hollow men whose North Star is “the art of the deal”, money and property development
"Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere."
-- Steve Witkoff, in his call to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov
Read the whole transcript of the Oct 14 call. It's amazing.
Gift link (for 7 days) ⤵️
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
-- Steve Witkoff, in his call to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov
Read the whole transcript of the Oct 14 call. It's amazing.
Gift link (for 7 days) ⤵️
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Witkoff Discusses Ukraine Plans With Key Putin Aide: Transcript
The following is a transcript of an Oct. 14 phone call lasting just over 5 minutes between Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, and Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s most senio...
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:23 PM
When serious matters such as freedom, the rights of countries to exist, international law are being dealt with by hollow men whose North Star is “the art of the deal”, money and property development
Irish early medievalists turn and look at camera…. 😎
“Eh, well … we never had a “Dark Age” in Ireland; sure we had a “Golden Age” of Saints and Scholars …”
😉
“Eh, well … we never had a “Dark Age” in Ireland; sure we had a “Golden Age” of Saints and Scholars …”
😉
In stead of sending a link to old threads every time someone uses the term "Dark Ages", I decided to put it all in an article.
Why most historians no longer use the biased misnomer “dark ages”.
Read it here:
fakehistoryhunter.net/2025/11/25/w...
or:
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/why-most-h...
Why most historians no longer use the biased misnomer “dark ages”.
Read it here:
fakehistoryhunter.net/2025/11/25/w...
or:
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/why-most-h...
Why most historians no longer use the biased misnomer “dark ages”
This is not YET another article on why calling the early middle ages the dark ages is iffy, it’s a list of sources & references. These days most historians no longer use the term “D…
fakehistoryhunter.net
November 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Irish early medievalists turn and look at camera…. 😎
“Eh, well … we never had a “Dark Age” in Ireland; sure we had a “Golden Age” of Saints and Scholars …”
😉
“Eh, well … we never had a “Dark Age” in Ireland; sure we had a “Golden Age” of Saints and Scholars …”
😉
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
Prosecutors in California used A.I. to argue that a 57-year-old man should be held without bail, his lawyers say, filing a brief that included wholesale misinterpretations of the law, as well as quotations that do not actually appear in the cited texts. nyti.ms/3M1bVye
Prosecutor Used Flawed A.I. to Keep a Man in Jail, His Lawyers Say
The case is among the first in which a prosecutor is accused of filing court papers marred by A.I.-generated mistakes.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Prosecutors in California used A.I. to argue that a 57-year-old man should be held without bail, his lawyers say, filing a brief that included wholesale misinterpretations of the law, as well as quotations that do not actually appear in the cited texts. nyti.ms/3M1bVye
Excellent library with kindly staff. I’d have usefully used 8 of these at various times in my life 🙂
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
November 25, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Excellent library with kindly staff. I’d have usefully used 8 of these at various times in my life 🙂
Two Dublin City public transport stories
1) Residents of an expensive and exclusive Dublin City Dartmouth square to oppose long-planned and approved Metro link public transport
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
1) Residents of an expensive and exclusive Dublin City Dartmouth square to oppose long-planned and approved Metro link public transport
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
Dublin’s €10 billion MetroLink to face legal challenge from group of 20 Ranelagh residents
Judicial review could delay planned 18.8km line running from Swords to Dublin Airport and through city centre
www.irishtimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Two Dublin City public transport stories
1) Residents of an expensive and exclusive Dublin City Dartmouth square to oppose long-planned and approved Metro link public transport
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
1) Residents of an expensive and exclusive Dublin City Dartmouth square to oppose long-planned and approved Metro link public transport
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
A magnificent hidden treasure of Irish legal history for a medieval Monday- the Bechbretha ('bee-judgments') of the Brehon law manuscripts composed in the seventh century (TCD MS 1316/2 page 25)
#medievalsky
#medievalsky
November 10, 2025 at 5:22 PM
A magnificent hidden treasure of Irish legal history for a medieval Monday- the Bechbretha ('bee-judgments') of the Brehon law manuscripts composed in the seventh century (TCD MS 1316/2 page 25)
#medievalsky
#medievalsky
Again, I’ll repeat.
Archaeology shows us that people have always, always modified, altered and changed things - buildings, monuments, places - for their own present needs. Prehistoric Barrows built on, medieval castles changed, late medieval sculpture slighted during Refomation
It’s what we do!!!
Archaeology shows us that people have always, always modified, altered and changed things - buildings, monuments, places - for their own present needs. Prehistoric Barrows built on, medieval castles changed, late medieval sculpture slighted during Refomation
It’s what we do!!!
'Responding to the decision, Devine, 80, said: “In principle I am opposed to changing historic artefacts to suit today’s tastes. To do so is presentism, imposing 20th-century values on those of the distant past.'
'20th-century'? Bit of an own goal Sir T.
'20th-century'? Bit of an own goal Sir T.
Historian attacks ‘ludicrous’ changes to statues with slavery links
Professor Sir Tom Devine, an emeritus professor at Edinburgh University, said he was opposed to changing artefacts to suit modern sensibilities
www.thetimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Again, I’ll repeat.
Archaeology shows us that people have always, always modified, altered and changed things - buildings, monuments, places - for their own present needs. Prehistoric Barrows built on, medieval castles changed, late medieval sculpture slighted during Refomation
It’s what we do!!!
Archaeology shows us that people have always, always modified, altered and changed things - buildings, monuments, places - for their own present needs. Prehistoric Barrows built on, medieval castles changed, late medieval sculpture slighted during Refomation
It’s what we do!!!
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
New publication alert!📝How can cultural heritage value be better integrated into peatland restoration? The authors propose a new way to assess the heritage value of 119 small mires in Exmoor. Read "Integrating Heritage Assets into Peatland Restoration" here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Integrating Heritage Assets into Peatland Restoration: Finding, Assessing and Valuing the Palaeoenvironmental Archive
Peatland restoration projects aim to improve the delivery of ecosystem services. Cultural heritage and Historic Environment assets are usually identified as co-beneficiaries of restoration but are ...
www.tandfonline.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
New publication alert!📝How can cultural heritage value be better integrated into peatland restoration? The authors propose a new way to assess the heritage value of 119 small mires in Exmoor. Read "Integrating Heritage Assets into Peatland Restoration" here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
How medieval bell ringers rang the church bells. Perhaps this is a Sanctus bell; there must’ve been an interesting pulley system given the geometry of the angle of the rope. (Stoke Dry, Rutland)
November 22, 2025 at 8:28 PM
How medieval bell ringers rang the church bells. Perhaps this is a Sanctus bell; there must’ve been an interesting pulley system given the geometry of the angle of the rope. (Stoke Dry, Rutland)
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
{New book} This invaluable reference work addresses sex, gender, & sexuality in medieval Europe and North Africa, providing an important update previous handbooks from the 1990s. Save 25% with ARC25 www.arc-humanities.org/978164189224...
November 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
{New book} This invaluable reference work addresses sex, gender, & sexuality in medieval Europe and North Africa, providing an important update previous handbooks from the 1990s. Save 25% with ARC25 www.arc-humanities.org/978164189224...
Imagine how truly loathed Witkoff will be in generations to come… a Russian butcher’s patsy, the worst of Trumpist imperialism, a truly despicable person delivering a people into autocracy
🇺🇸‼️ Key Trump administration officials knew nothing about the peace plan, it was secretly developed only by Witkoff and Putin's envoy Dmitriev, and then shown to Trump, — Bloomberg
November 22, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Imagine how truly loathed Witkoff will be in generations to come… a Russian butcher’s patsy, the worst of Trumpist imperialism, a truly despicable person delivering a people into autocracy
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
Archaeologists reveal second-largest Roman olive oil mill in the Roman Empire.
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Archaeologists reveal second-largest Roman olive oil mill in the Roman Empire
Ca' Foscari University of Venice is co-directing a major international archaeological mission in the Kasserine region of Tunisia. The excavations, focused on the area of ancient Roman Cillium, on the ...
phys.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Archaeologists reveal second-largest Roman olive oil mill in the Roman Empire.
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
The Shackleton Polar Museum in Athy is amazing!!! Superb architectural design, exhibits, recreations, movies - the reconstruction of the James Caird rescue voyage alone is terrific - one of the best museums I’ve been in. Get to Athy, Co Kildare, Ireland!!!
November 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
The Shackleton Polar Museum in Athy is amazing!!! Superb architectural design, exhibits, recreations, movies - the reconstruction of the James Caird rescue voyage alone is terrific - one of the best museums I’ve been in. Get to Athy, Co Kildare, Ireland!!!
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
Utter madness. No direct reference to fossil fuels in the draft #COP30 agreement 🤯
The 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists have done their job.
We now need a major nation to honestly confront the crisis, break Big Oil’s deadly grip on our politics - and show what’s possible. #NEB2025
www.nebriefing.org
The 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists have done their job.
We now need a major nation to honestly confront the crisis, break Big Oil’s deadly grip on our politics - and show what’s possible. #NEB2025
www.nebriefing.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Utter madness. No direct reference to fossil fuels in the draft #COP30 agreement 🤯
The 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists have done their job.
We now need a major nation to honestly confront the crisis, break Big Oil’s deadly grip on our politics - and show what’s possible. #NEB2025
www.nebriefing.org
The 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists have done their job.
We now need a major nation to honestly confront the crisis, break Big Oil’s deadly grip on our politics - and show what’s possible. #NEB2025
www.nebriefing.org
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
Here is my read of the "peace plan" and how Kirill Dmitriev played the American media to force this thing into being -- with an incompetent White House scrambling to make it seem like this was somehow coordinated and well-planned. open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...
“He Must Have Got This From K.”
How a Russian operative used the American media to force a risible “peace deal” into existence
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Here is my read of the "peace plan" and how Kirill Dmitriev played the American media to force this thing into being -- with an incompetent White House scrambling to make it seem like this was somehow coordinated and well-planned. open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.”
“Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” #CityMakingMath
Some costs aren’t costs.
“Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” #CityMakingMath
Some costs aren’t costs.
One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss
Copenhagen, the bicycle-friendliest place on the planet, publishes a biannual Bicycle Account, and buried in its pages is a rather astonishing fact.
grist.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:40 AM
“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.”
“Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” #CityMakingMath
Some costs aren’t costs.
“Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” #CityMakingMath
Some costs aren’t costs.
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
How have books shaped the way we think? In January Anna Somfai will teach an online short course on books about science and philosophy in the Middle Ages. Book now 👇 #MedievalSky @ies-sas.bsky.social @warburginstitute.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social palaeography.uk/study/short-...
Medieval Philosophical and Scientific Manuscripts – an online short course taught by Anna Somfai
This course will run online from 14:00-17:00: Monday 26 January – Thursday 29 January 2026. The course explores medieval Western philosophical and scientific manuscripts produced over the spa…
palaeography.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:39 AM
How have books shaped the way we think? In January Anna Somfai will teach an online short course on books about science and philosophy in the Middle Ages. Book now 👇 #MedievalSky @ies-sas.bsky.social @warburginstitute.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social palaeography.uk/study/short-...
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
Some cautiously positive news from France, but systemic pesticides (like neonics) can persist in the soil for years, so it's early days yet.
Worth taking a moment to read this article in full 👇
#neonicotinoids #birds #insects #pesticides
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Worth taking a moment to read this article in full 👇
#neonicotinoids #birds #insects #pesticides
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
France’s birds start to show signs of recovery after bee-harming pesticide ban
Analysis shows small hike in populations of insect-eating species after 2018 ruling, but full recovery may take decades
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Some cautiously positive news from France, but systemic pesticides (like neonics) can persist in the soil for years, so it's early days yet.
Worth taking a moment to read this article in full 👇
#neonicotinoids #birds #insects #pesticides
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Worth taking a moment to read this article in full 👇
#neonicotinoids #birds #insects #pesticides
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Grand. Sorted as an archaeologist
November 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Grand. Sorted as an archaeologist
This is a great idea. We should thinking of Third Level education as an all-island practice, in research, teaching and public engagement
(Lots of aspects of the island does; Irish archaeology does, the RIA does, rugby does, GAA does, etc, etc).
(Lots of aspects of the island does; Irish archaeology does, the RIA does, rugby does, GAA does, etc, etc).
My first academic job was in DKIT, and I had a great time working there - this seems like a really exciting move for them.
Ireland is getting its first cross-border college as Queen's and DkIT partner up
Dundalk Institute of Technology will be established as a university college of Queen’s University Belfast.
www.thejournal.ie
November 19, 2025 at 8:46 AM
This is a great idea. We should thinking of Third Level education as an all-island practice, in research, teaching and public engagement
(Lots of aspects of the island does; Irish archaeology does, the RIA does, rugby does, GAA does, etc, etc).
(Lots of aspects of the island does; Irish archaeology does, the RIA does, rugby does, GAA does, etc, etc).
Reposted by Aidan O'Sullivan
In Memory of Jamal Khashoggi 🙏🕊️ 2018 #Khashoggi
October 2, 2025 at 10:30 PM
In Memory of Jamal Khashoggi 🙏🕊️ 2018 #Khashoggi
This one doesn’t need commentary
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
This one doesn’t need commentary
Siri, give me the words “craven” and “journalists” in a sentence
Such as when a US President tramples all over the First Amendment and the other journalists don’t say “Stick it up your backside you demented, orange, misogynistic excuse for a human being”
Such as when a US President tramples all over the First Amendment and the other journalists don’t say “Stick it up your backside you demented, orange, misogynistic excuse for a human being”
Trump in response to an Epstein question: "ABC, your company, your crappy company is one of the perpetrators. I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should take a look at that."
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Siri, give me the words “craven” and “journalists” in a sentence
Such as when a US President tramples all over the First Amendment and the other journalists don’t say “Stick it up your backside you demented, orange, misogynistic excuse for a human being”
Such as when a US President tramples all over the First Amendment and the other journalists don’t say “Stick it up your backside you demented, orange, misogynistic excuse for a human being”
This is the first time I’ve been daunted by Irish
I don’t know how I’m going to learn the past habitual - it’s a whole new set of Irish words I’ve never seen before … 😳
I don’t know how I’m going to learn the past habitual - it’s a whole new set of Irish words I’ve never seen before … 😳
November 18, 2025 at 6:09 PM
This is the first time I’ve been daunted by Irish
I don’t know how I’m going to learn the past habitual - it’s a whole new set of Irish words I’ve never seen before … 😳
I don’t know how I’m going to learn the past habitual - it’s a whole new set of Irish words I’ve never seen before … 😳