Carol Maddock
LightNews LightNews
banner
carolmaddock.bsky.social
Carol Maddock
@carolmaddock.bsky.social
650 followers 610 following 610 posts
Recovering librarian. Herons. An occasional egret.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Carol Maddock
nlireland.bsky.social
📣 We’re #hiring! AK1 Photographic Collections 📸

The National Library of Ireland is recruiting an Assistant Keeper Grade 1 to help care for and develop our Photographic Collections.

🗓️ #Apply by 3pm, 27 Feb 2026 via our website: https://www.nli.ie/about-us/working-national-library-ireland
We're hiring text poster with a photograph of a man looking at negatives
February 4, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
ciaraioch.bsky.social
For the uninitiated, these are Irish Throwing Stars, an ancient weapon wielded by St. Brigid during the 1916 Rising, striking fear into the hearts of the British, and responsible for the eventual smiting of both Cromwell and Thatcher.
A pair of St. Brigid's crosses on a countertop, next to a mug. #SpéirGorm #SpéirGhorm #Ireland
February 1, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
The story starts in 1920 on a day of murder in Dublin. A British spy is exposed and has to escape before she's caught. As the violence of the War of Independence peaks, one veteran rebel leader is asking himself how long he can go on.

#SpéirGhorm #SpeirGorm #IrishHistory #SteelPlateSubversive
A promotional image for the book, Steel-Plate Subversive based on the front cover. The background is the surface of the sea at night, the view is from above, looking down at the deck of a small, steel-grey submarine, cutting diagonally across the lower half of the frame. The hatch in the low-profile turret is open. A bearded white man in a green woollen jumper and brown flat cap is standing waist-deep in the open hatch, holding up a Thompson submachine gun. He’s lit from below by the red light inside the submarine. The title is in orange below the hatch, and my name is in white below that. In the top half, against the dark water, the text reads: ‘Dublin City was a bomb waiting to go off.'
January 30, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
klillington.bsky.social
I just lost my source of hay due to weather issues for my supplying farmer who cannot turn out his livestock-- if anyone knows of any farmer supplying good round and/or square bales in areas surrounding Dublin, ideally who delivers, please DM!
January 29, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
flickrfdn.bsky.social
"This is one of the last three intact windmills in Ireland of a type known as a Tower Mill... built by Nicholes Moran in 1846 and was re-thatched in 1908. Used up till 1936, it was re-constructed in 1952."

Context for a windmill pic from the Natl Library of Ireland.

www.flickr.com/photos/nlire...
What did the Normans ever do for us?
Apparently they gave us a lovely Windmill in Tacumshane in County Wexford. Today's image is from the wonderful Irish Tourist Association collection. At a time when local and folk history is more value...
www.flickr.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
I've never understood how nobody has ever written a novel about this before, but there was a brief time when the *Irish republican movement* possessed the first fully functional submarine.

Yes, you heard that right.

A short thread . . . 1/

#SpeirGorm #JohnPhilipHolland #Submarine
The full cover, back and front, of my novel, Steel-Plate Subversive. Overall, it’s a deep blue and sea green, the colour of sea at night. On the front, the view is from above, looking down at the deck of a small, steel-grey submarine at night. The hatch in the low-profile turret is open. A bearded white man in a green woollen jumper and brown flat cap is in the open hatch, holding a Thompson submachine gun. He’s lit from below by the red light inside the submarine. The title is vertical, in orange, down the left side, and the tagline is in white, much smaller to the right: ‘Irish revolutionaries, British spies, German mercenaries, and a submarine that shouldn't exist.’ My name is in white at the bottom. The back cover shows the same submarine in the harbour of a small town at night, racing away at speed. The blurb reads: There's something out there in the water. A shaky truce has been established in Ireland's War of Independence. In 1921, as negotiations begin in London to finally free the Irish from British control, a young intelligence agent named Esther Sinclair discovers that a nightmarish weapon has gone missing in France. Akiko Regan and her cousin Liam O'Leary have made their own discovery: Akiko's father, Michael, is the leader of the mysterious rebel group known as the Selkies. Michael is an engineer who trained under the famous John Philip Holland in New Jersey. At the start of the century, Holland's designs had established the submarine fleets of five nations. But the Irishman's very first submarines were built for the Irish republican movement. The Royal Navy have no idea that a Holland vessel has heen operating in the Irish Sea. Michael had hoped to shield Akiko and Liam from the ongoing violence. Now, however, the family find themselves drawn into a crisis that threatens not just their lives but the future of their country. There’s an Arts Council of Ireland logo across from the barcode, to acknowledge funding for the writing of the book.
January 28, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
dib.ie
'All the best spies eat at Gaj's'.
B. #OTD 1919, Margaret Gaj’s eatery in the heart of 'Baggatonia' welcomed a diverse clientele. Garda special branch often dropped in to check who was there, leading the restaurant to advertise 'All the best spies eat at Gaj's'. www.dib.ie/biography/ga... #DIBLives
January 28, 2026 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
brianbilston.bsky.social
Annual reminder of how many days there are in each month.
Mnemonic   Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. Unless a leap year is its fate, February hath twenty-eight. All the rest hath three days more, excepting January, which hath six thousand, one hundred and eighty-four. Brian Bilston
January 23, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
electionlit.bsky.social
Should anyone want an exhibit or talk over the coming months, do get in touch. I'm currently putting together a presentation on 100 years of Fianna Fáil, focusing on material produced by the party, should you be interested. Thanks Alan
January 22, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
aslibraries.bsky.social
Don't miss our FREE online AGM Event on 3rd February at 7pm! Enjoy a talk from @poetryireland.bsky.social Librarian Dr Orla Fitzpatrick ‘Special Librarian and academic: is it possible to be both?’ and get up to date on #ASL2026 and more. aslibraries.ie/2026/01/15/a...
AGM Academic & Special Libraries. Guest speaker: Orla Fitzpatrick, Poetry Ireland. Special Librarian and academic: is it possible to be both? Tuesday, 3rd February, online via zoom @ 7pm. Registration and more info: www.aslibraries.ie.
January 22, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
grahamartwork.bsky.social
This year why don't you give your special someone an art print of the dismembered corpse of Saint Valentine ❤️

Available now in my print shop!
grahamartwork.bigcartel.com/product/sain...
January 21, 2026 at 11:53 AM
carolmaddock.bsky.social
Serendipity.
January 20, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
michealwalsh.bsky.social
Every cloud has a silver lining, or gold. Way too rough to swim at the Vico Baths so came to Colliemore Harbour expecting shelter to no avail.
Compensation was this beautiful sunrise.
January 20, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
brianbilston.bsky.social
Here’s a short poem about the power of poetry to change the world.
The Power of Poetry   with things falling apart and anarchy let loose,   it was only poetry, he found, which had any use,   so he reached for his copy   of The Complete Works of Yeats   and bludgeoned the President of the United States Brian Bilston
January 18, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
eolai.bsky.social
A #painting called "Seated Men" which was the first I did in a series of paintings of men in conversation. It was subsequently used as the cover for a book of Irish short stories published for the benefit of the Haiti earthquake relief. #art #SpeirGhorm
Portrait format in acrylics on mat board. Abstracted impressionistic very loose rendition of two men wearing caps and jackets sitting on a bench turned to each other in conversation. The men and the horizontal beams of the bench are in hues of blues and greens. There are no facial features, and in the case of the man on the right virtually no face at all as we see through to the background colour. The background is a painterly pale pink for the top two-thirds, and a loosely dry-brushed bold orange for the bottom third behind their feet, lower legs, and legs of the bench. I took the photograph of the painting before I added my signature.
January 16, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
niamhroisin.bsky.social
Hello historians - there is a specific purpose role now advertised in UL’s history department - Title of Post: Assistant Professor in Irish History (specialism History of the Family) - all details are over on UL vacancies! Do share! #jobsky #skystorians #speirgorm #speirghorm
January 16, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
dublininquirer.com
"The idea for this cover was an ode to the post workers, couriers and delivery drivers who just (literally) carried the Christmas season on their backs," writes @selkies.bsky.social, about the image she made for the cover of our most recent print edition. www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-...
An illustration showing couriers and posal carriers delivering on a Dublin Street.
January 14, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
ciaraioch.bsky.social
Once again failing to find sufficiently powerful thermal bras for this weather, and once again putting forward this prototype
Cartoon of a torso with woolly hats in the place of bra cups. I am the Leonardo of my generation, a renaissance woman.
January 5, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
breakfield01.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
mooseallain.bsky.social
Cartoon of an angry-looking man with thin legs standing ankle deep in water, holding a daggers in front of his nose so it looks like a beak. Caption: We can be herons Just for one day Yes, he looks a bit like a heron.
December 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
hansmollman.bsky.social
My plans for Christmas? I want to push my body to the very brink of Gout and then at the last minute pull myself back
December 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
seamas.bsky.social
Every time I'm in a restaurant I remember Kevin McAleer's reply to a waiter who told him the Soup Of The Day.

"Where there any other contenders?"
"Um, no?"
"A hollow victory, then".
December 19, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
tuairisc.bsky.social
Cad atá i ndán d’fhear nó bean an phoist?
Cad atá i ndán d’fhear nó bean an phoist?
An Danmhairg an chéad tír a chuir deireadh le seirbhís poist. An mbeidh aiféala orthu?
tuairisc.ie
December 19, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
orkneylibrary.bsky.social
We don't need an elf on the shelf because we've got a
A book by Harold Pinter sitting on a printer
December 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Carol Maddock
orkneylibrary.bsky.social
You've heard of Elf on the Shelf but how about
A book about Dolly Parton on a blue book trolley. It's Dolly on a trolley.
December 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM