Elizabeth Boyle
@thecelticist.bsky.social
Historian/writer • @maynoothuniversity.ie • executive committee @mediumaevum.bsky.social • board member @dublinnorthwest.bsky.social • Fierce Appetites (Penguin, 2022) • rep'd by Robert Caskie • extreme metal fan • she/her
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Oh hell, Jimmy Cliff has passed. I can’t overstate how important this man was to much of the music I love, both with his own work and with his influence. Without him, the soundtrack of my life would be much less joyous. Rest in power.
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
Star of The Harder They Come had hits including You Can Get It If You Really Want and I Can See Clearly Now
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Oh hell, Jimmy Cliff has passed. I can’t overstate how important this man was to much of the music I love, both with his own work and with his influence. Without him, the soundtrack of my life would be much less joyous. Rest in power.
"Tartu University is analysing other historic artefacts ... including an 800-year-old cross depicting genitalia that makes a sound when worn.
The metal cross has a hinged piece in the shape of a vulva that covers and knocks against an engraved penis design when moved around." #MedievalSky
The metal cross has a hinged piece in the shape of a vulva that covers and knocks against an engraved penis design when moved around." #MedievalSky
DNA reveals stone age teenager as chewer of 10,500-year-old ‘gum’
The prehistoric birch tar found in Estonia contained traces of saliva that were analysed by genetics experts
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:21 AM
"Tartu University is analysing other historic artefacts ... including an 800-year-old cross depicting genitalia that makes a sound when worn.
The metal cross has a hinged piece in the shape of a vulva that covers and knocks against an engraved penis design when moved around." #MedievalSky
The metal cross has a hinged piece in the shape of a vulva that covers and knocks against an engraved penis design when moved around." #MedievalSky
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
The Guardian’s investigation into the Free Birth Society is a clear example of a closed, high-risk counterpublic. It can be examined directly through the lens of disordered discourse described in my work.
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
November 22, 2025 at 11:53 AM
The Guardian’s investigation into the Free Birth Society is a clear example of a closed, high-risk counterpublic. It can be examined directly through the lens of disordered discourse described in my work.
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
@dublin2029.bsky.social interesting essay
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
@dublin2029.bsky.social interesting essay
CW: child loss
This is horrific but utterly vital investigative journalism. So many layers - the brainwashing power of social media; the transition from feminist to tradwife via flat-earthism; the distrust of life-saving medicine - but at the heart of this is avoidable tragedy & unfathomable grief.
This is horrific but utterly vital investigative journalism. So many layers - the brainwashing power of social media; the transition from feminist to tradwife via flat-earthism; the distrust of life-saving medicine - but at the heart of this is avoidable tragedy & unfathomable grief.
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:25 AM
CW: child loss
This is horrific but utterly vital investigative journalism. So many layers - the brainwashing power of social media; the transition from feminist to tradwife via flat-earthism; the distrust of life-saving medicine - but at the heart of this is avoidable tragedy & unfathomable grief.
This is horrific but utterly vital investigative journalism. So many layers - the brainwashing power of social media; the transition from feminist to tradwife via flat-earthism; the distrust of life-saving medicine - but at the heart of this is avoidable tragedy & unfathomable grief.
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
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 Elizabeth Boyle
Glad to have written the opening chapter of this important volume. Nice to be asked to write something so close to home, the typos notwithstanding!
November 21, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Glad to have written the opening chapter of this important volume. Nice to be asked to write something so close to home, the typos notwithstanding!
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
It’s also the 83rd anniversary of this diary entry from James Lees-Milne about a feeling many of us recognise. (And I think we can all agree it’s better the other way round – when you get fuck all done, but don’t care)
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 AM
It’s also the 83rd anniversary of this diary entry from James Lees-Milne about a feeling many of us recognise. (And I think we can all agree it’s better the other way round – when you get fuck all done, but don’t care)
"It’s now so successful that it is redefining what “Irish music” even is, as doors open to musicians once left out of the country’s cultural conversation."
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
‘We’ve got to release the dead hand of the past’: how Ireland created the world’s best alternative music scene
Irish indie acts used to be ignored, even on Irish radio. But songs confronting the Troubles, poverty and oppression are now going global – and changing how Ireland sees itself
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:13 AM
"It’s now so successful that it is redefining what “Irish music” even is, as doors open to musicians once left out of the country’s cultural conversation."
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Bígí linn | Join us for the next Early Irish & Celtic Studies research seminar. Thursday 27 November at 17:00, Room 2.31 IONTAS.
*Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments*
Dr Riona Doolan (Maynooth University)
Fáilte roimh chách!
*Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments*
Dr Riona Doolan (Maynooth University)
Fáilte roimh chách!
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Bígí linn | Join us for the next Early Irish & Celtic Studies research seminar. Thursday 27 November at 17:00, Room 2.31 IONTAS.
*Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments*
Dr Riona Doolan (Maynooth University)
Fáilte roimh chách!
*Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments*
Dr Riona Doolan (Maynooth University)
Fáilte roimh chách!
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Lecture alert @celticuu.bsky.social!
🗓️ Seán Ó Hoireabhard (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social): Is the Irish Book of Rights a useable medieval source?
📍 Utrecht (Utrecht University Centre for Medieval Studies), Thursday 11 December
🔗 www.uu.nl/en/events/le...
🗓️ Seán Ó Hoireabhard (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social): Is the Irish Book of Rights a useable medieval source?
📍 Utrecht (Utrecht University Centre for Medieval Studies), Thursday 11 December
🔗 www.uu.nl/en/events/le...
Lecture Seán Ó Hoireabhard: Is the Irish Book of Rights a useable medieval source?
Seán Ó Hoireabhard discusses whether the medieval Irish Lebor na Cert ‘The Book of Rights’, with its many flaws, can be regarded as a reliable historical source.
www.uu.nl
November 20, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Lecture alert @celticuu.bsky.social!
🗓️ Seán Ó Hoireabhard (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social): Is the Irish Book of Rights a useable medieval source?
📍 Utrecht (Utrecht University Centre for Medieval Studies), Thursday 11 December
🔗 www.uu.nl/en/events/le...
🗓️ Seán Ó Hoireabhard (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social): Is the Irish Book of Rights a useable medieval source?
📍 Utrecht (Utrecht University Centre for Medieval Studies), Thursday 11 December
🔗 www.uu.nl/en/events/le...
'“Migration has always been a survival strategy for humanity,” says Bersoza.'
www.thejournal.ie/mexico-city-...
www.thejournal.ie/mexico-city-...
'We live in limbo': Venezuelan migrants seeking safety at Irish-supported shelter in Mexico
The Cafémin migrant shelter is supported by UNHCR and the Irish embassy in Mexico City.
www.thejournal.ie
November 20, 2025 at 5:44 PM
'“Migration has always been a survival strategy for humanity,” says Bersoza.'
www.thejournal.ie/mexico-city-...
www.thejournal.ie/mexico-city-...
"He understands, as Mexicans do, that it is a miracle that the country exists at all, especially when one considers that the very diverse people who have called Mexico home have coexisted there for five centuries ... We have also tolerated 200 years of relentless U.S. bullying."
It’s a Miracle That Mexico Exists at All
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:27 AM
"He understands, as Mexicans do, that it is a miracle that the country exists at all, especially when one considers that the very diverse people who have called Mexico home have coexisted there for five centuries ... We have also tolerated 200 years of relentless U.S. bullying."
'Ravn began as a poet, and even in English this lineage is clear. Her work asserts that knowledge inheres in objects, comprehension through smell and taste and blood and guts; through metaphor. “How do I know this?” demands the wax child, at one point. “It is like a gash in me to know it.”'
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn review – a visceral tale of witchcraft
The author of The Employees goes back to 17th-century Denmark for an intensely poetic portrait of everyday sorcery and female solidarity
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
'Ravn began as a poet, and even in English this lineage is clear. Her work asserts that knowledge inheres in objects, comprehension through smell and taste and blood and guts; through metaphor. “How do I know this?” demands the wax child, at one point. “It is like a gash in me to know it.”'
"It was 1968 and the Irish labourer had barely a pound to his name but he believed that if he stayed underground in a coffin longer than anyone else the world would remember his name."
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Incredible story of Irish labourer buried alive in coffin for 61 days told in new documentary
Mick Meaney made global headlines when he beat world record in 1968, but returned to Ireland penniless
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
"It was 1968 and the Irish labourer had barely a pound to his name but he believed that if he stayed underground in a coffin longer than anyone else the world would remember his name."
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
#Spéirghorm
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
"... it’s easy to assume today’s pagan revival is linked to nationalism and Sweden’s new anti-immigration sentiment, & it’s impossible to know how many heathens hold such sympathies. Officially, Forn Sed is openly antiracist ..."
Something for #MedievalSky & those interested in modern medievalisms.
Something for #MedievalSky & those interested in modern medievalisms.
Here in Sweden, the Vikings are back. And this time they’re searching for stability in a chaotic age | Siri Christiansen
I joined a ‘sacrifice’ ritual outside Stockholm – and found that the revival of Norse paganism reflects broader battles over identity and climate anxiety, says investigative journalist Siri Christians...
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:47 PM
"... it’s easy to assume today’s pagan revival is linked to nationalism and Sweden’s new anti-immigration sentiment, & it’s impossible to know how many heathens hold such sympathies. Officially, Forn Sed is openly antiracist ..."
Something for #MedievalSky & those interested in modern medievalisms.
Something for #MedievalSky & those interested in modern medievalisms.
'... he used to borrow books from the library to read while he was waiting for orders to come through. “My favourite author is Dostoevsky, who I call the ‘magician of writing’. ... but I don’t read any more because I’m too tired. This work has just drained everything out of me.”'
Life as a food delivery worker: ‘Sometimes men open the door naked’
To earn a living as a delivery rider, some work 10-12 hour days, contending with low pay, exhaustion, accidents, injuries and harassment. Is this a new form of modern slavery?
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:23 AM
'... he used to borrow books from the library to read while he was waiting for orders to come through. “My favourite author is Dostoevsky, who I call the ‘magician of writing’. ... but I don’t read any more because I’m too tired. This work has just drained everything out of me.”'
Yesterday I was at the Tionól, the annual conference of @scs-dias.bsky.social. The final 2 papers happened to be by 2 of my favourite scholars of medieval Ireland - @dhaydenceltic.bsky.social on Cath Maige Tuired & early medieval medicine; & Conor McDonough on medieval Irish exegesis! #MedievalSky
November 16, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Yesterday I was at the Tionól, the annual conference of @scs-dias.bsky.social. The final 2 papers happened to be by 2 of my favourite scholars of medieval Ireland - @dhaydenceltic.bsky.social on Cath Maige Tuired & early medieval medicine; & Conor McDonough on medieval Irish exegesis! #MedievalSky
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Did an Irish 'nation' ever exist? Who were the Scotti? The Féni? The Gaels? Dr Patrick Wadden, DCU & Belmont Abbey College, provides a masterclass on the written sources and how Irish authors conceptualised Irishness in the early Middle Ages. @maynoothuniversity.ie open.spotify.com/episode/40rP...
Irish national identity in the early Middle Ages with Dr Patrick Wadden
open.spotify.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Did an Irish 'nation' ever exist? Who were the Scotti? The Féni? The Gaels? Dr Patrick Wadden, DCU & Belmont Abbey College, provides a masterclass on the written sources and how Irish authors conceptualised Irishness in the early Middle Ages. @maynoothuniversity.ie open.spotify.com/episode/40rP...
November 15, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Today in Maynooth! All welcome! 🍾🥂📚 Even if you can't attend, Boydell & Brewer are offering a **65%** discount on the book until the end of November. Enter the code BB158 when ordering it from their website (individual not institutional orders):
boydellandbrewer.com/book/vikings...
boydellandbrewer.com/book/vikings...
November 13, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Today in Maynooth! All welcome! 🍾🥂📚 Even if you can't attend, Boydell & Brewer are offering a **65%** discount on the book until the end of November. Enter the code BB158 when ordering it from their website (individual not institutional orders):
boydellandbrewer.com/book/vikings...
boydellandbrewer.com/book/vikings...
"In showing us nothing, Laing has risked nothing, and so must invoke at every opportunity those who risked and lost everything. The result is a novel both self-protecting and superficial – hypnotised by beauty, safely distant from everything it hints at in hope of depth."
Yikes! 😱😱😱
Yikes! 😱😱😱
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing review – a thin line of beauty
The world of 1970s Italian cinema is the glossy backdrop for an elegantly wrought but shallow novel
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:41 AM
"In showing us nothing, Laing has risked nothing, and so must invoke at every opportunity those who risked and lost everything. The result is a novel both self-protecting and superficial – hypnotised by beauty, safely distant from everything it hints at in hope of depth."
Yikes! 😱😱😱
Yikes! 😱😱😱
"Mothers who leave their children are the third rail of splintered family narratives, and “The White Hot” has the effect of pressing your hand to a barbed live wire."
Notes From a Young Mother, to the Daughter She Left Behind
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:25 AM
"Mothers who leave their children are the third rail of splintered family narratives, and “The White Hot” has the effect of pressing your hand to a barbed live wire."
"How can prose that is so simple ... pulse with such feeling? How can it be so littoral, incarnating the light and spray and tidal tempos of these seascapes with such power? And how can a novelist make a reader feel so lost and so found at the same time? It is strange. A strange miracle."
Vaim by Jon Fosse review – the Nobel laureate performs a strange miracle
In the Norwegian master’s latest example of ‘mystical realism’, one man makes a dreamlike, hypnotic voyage through life
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:52 PM
"How can prose that is so simple ... pulse with such feeling? How can it be so littoral, incarnating the light and spray and tidal tempos of these seascapes with such power? And how can a novelist make a reader feel so lost and so found at the same time? It is strange. A strange miracle."
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Call for Papers! Fissures: Gender and Political Crisis #medievalsky #Fissures2026
November 11, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Call for Papers! Fissures: Gender and Political Crisis #medievalsky #Fissures2026