Laura McAtackney
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lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney
@lauramca.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.2K following 610 posts

Irish Academic, archaeologist, heritage, memory, creative at UC Cork. Interest in post/conflict and post/colonial contexts inc fieldwork in Ireland and Caribbean.

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History 22%
Political science 20%
Posts Replies Media Videos

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
Just me, going through bluesky, patiently liking all the cat pictures. This is my kind of TL curation!

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
Interesting when Rory McIlroy wins SPOTY for BBC, and then the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ, much of the online commentary centres on how (1) he isn’t British enough and (2) he isn’t Irish enough, which just about sums up the joy of being from the North of / Northern Ireland.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
I’ve had to stop visiting as i just get enraged everytime i see those exhibitions. I had to argue the case for the Fitz in Cambridge not to ‘contextualise’ Irish coins in an exhibition on countermarked coins with prisoner artefacts (illegally taken by a local regiment) and a bomb disposal unit!

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
OMG, it’s absolutely wild. And have you ever read about the gun they had on display from an ACTIVE murder inquiry (and weren’t v sorry when they learnt about its context)? V interesting how othered NI was from their sense of ethical responsibility www.bbc.com/news/uk-3291...
Murder weapon discovered in Imperial War Museum display - BBC News
An assault rifle used in seven unsolved murders has been discovered on public display at the Imperial War Museum.
www.bbc.com

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
Here is David’s paper rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers | RGS Journal | Wiley Online Library
This paper explores the complex and ambiguous development of a concept of nationhood during the early modern period (c.1675–1850). It does this through examining how aspects of identity politics were....
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
And i think this is important for somewhere like Ireland - that relied v heavily on archaeology to create a sense of pre-colonial identity in the push for / aftermath of partial independence - and now sees archaeology being openly used by the Far Right to exclude new migrants and marginalized ids.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
Demystifying some of this and placing it in its contemporary context - yes we can say many things about the original builders of newgrange, but we can also say alot more about how it’s been used and imagined since - would do a lot to reveal the politics and changing nature of archaeology.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
Much as contemporary commentary revere O’Kelly and his interventions at Newgrange it’s long accepted by most archeologists that many of the reconstructions would be considered to interventionist now and some (quartz walls, anyone) are almost definitely incorrect.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
The political use of both Avebury and Newgrange as vehicles of particular forms of national identity have been well explored by David C Harvey & others but it’s only in seeing what these sites looked like prior to heritagization you can really appreciate the ‘archaeological imaginary’.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 3d
Absolutely love the livestream of Newgrange every winter solstice, i would love it even more without some of the more fanciful commentary and (just to digress into the newgrange v stonehenge debate) it could benefit greatly from a more critical dissection of the excavations / reconstructions.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 4d
Ha! I had a mare with saying ‘8’ in Denmark, to the point i’d have to get my husband to say it if i was asked to say anything with that number in it (inc my mobile number). Eventually realized that how Nordies say ‘8’ sounds exactly the same as Danes say ‘1’ (et). V confusing.

Reposted by Nathan P. Kalmoe, Laura McAtackney

tparsi.bsky.social
Trita Parsi @tparsi.bsky.social · 4d
If there only was a word for a governing system in which one set of laws applied to people of a specific race, and a completely different and much harsher set of laws applied to those of another race...

www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 4d
Absolutely, the island has a bad problem with facilitated ruin of ‘difficult’ buildings. It’s not even wholeheartedly deciding to completely change or demolish but just letting things lie, half hearted attempts at regeneration, and then pretty much closing them until they fall into themselves.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 4d
It’s something i’ve written a little about but the denial of a deep past in places like Belfast - actually, specifically Belfast - not only are not neutral in intent but they have real consequences in terms of facilitating positive changes to place identity through allowing for deeper connections.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 4d
Really delighte these largely neglected and inaccessible sites will be preserved. The active ruination of the Assembly rooms has been a long source of anxiety due to its prominent location but Friar’s Bush graveyard can tell us so much about the city’s past. www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast...
£700k alloted to help preserve three heritage projects across Belfast
Belfast Council are funding works at the Assembly Rooms, Friar's Bush Graveyard and Riddell's Warehouse
www.belfastlive.co.uk

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 5d
We have the best catsitter, who comes to visit our cat twice a day when we are away to give him treats and play with him, but Crowe loves her and i’m deeply jealous of the great photos she gets of him!
Black cat staring into your soul Black cat lying on his back pretending he won’t attack if you dare to touch his exposed belly

Reposted by Gavin A. Schmidt, Mark J. Brandt, Jonathan M. Gilligan , and 14 more

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5d
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
duncanbell.bsky.social Duncan Bell @duncanbell.bsky.social · 5d
Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."

uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
uni-freiburg.de

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 5d
Your ma is a good soul as the southern ones don’t cut the mustard (soda farls are a scarce found thing!) and i’m also bringing all the tayto wuster sauce back with me!

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 5d
Can’t beat a good old (veggie) Ulster fry at the best place in Belfast (Mad Hatter), worth travelling North at Christmas for alone!
Plate of deliciousness: fried soda bread, potato bread, hash brown, fried eggs, mushroom and tomato.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
ohmigod they were amazing! I’m going to bring a box to Cork with me!

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
Thanks Andy, it’s a great place to work in and I’m v excited for the next phase of the Lab!

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
Very delighted to announce this news as one of the biggest pleasures I’ve had in moving to UCC has been working with Des and everyone else at the Lab, it’s a very special group of people!
desfitzgerald.bsky.social Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 6d
Genuinely sorry to do a "delighted to announce" while the world is in such a state, but anyway, @lauramca.bsky.social are now the co-directors of @radhumslab.bsky.social and I'm actually delighted about it. Lots of very cool stuff incoming. Look out for more vomit-inducing announcements in 2026! 🥳🤮

Reposted by Laura McAtackney

desfitzgerald.bsky.social
Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 6d
Genuinely sorry to do a "delighted to announce" while the world is in such a state, but anyway, @lauramca.bsky.social are now the co-directors of @radhumslab.bsky.social and I'm actually delighted about it. Lots of very cool stuff incoming. Look out for more vomit-inducing announcements in 2026! 🥳🤮

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
that’s not the point; the point of stating it is a colonial import is that one cannot evoke tradition (which i reference in my response has been used in both Ire and Eng) as it is not one here. But if you want to distract from the aim of calling this out then that’s your privilege.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
may as well spell as we say it, pure notions otherwise! haha!

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
For those who like to play along and pretend you are a famous person being asked about your food preferences on ‘Taste’, this is one of my main reasons for coming home to the frozen North (family withstanding) A God of crisps #NordieTayto #WusterSauce
Picture of the best crisps on earth - Tayto wuster sauce. Yum!

Reposted by Laura McAtackney

davidandress.bsky.social
Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 6d
I see episode 2743 of "Why can't we all just get along about some of the deepest-rooted historical hatreds and most blatant, gruesomely murderous conflicts of the age" is going well today.

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
Fox hunting was a colonial import to Ireland that continues to exist because … coloniality! It had to exist in Britain to be banned (and I remember the same debates were had about ‘tradition’ at the time. Also it is still ongoing in places and attempts are being made to make it legal again)

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 6d
An esp heartbreaking sub-group of those murdered during the Troubles was the so-called Disappeared. Not uncommon in civil wars but the devastation brought on families - associated with suspicion, shame, silence and lack of a proper burial - is stark and enduring. www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com

lauramca.bsky.social
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 7d
It’s so interesting when you see the variations and realize how ‘factual’ documents are so subjective. As you may guess from my surname it’s been the subject of many variations, irs associated with the inauguration site of the O’Neill at Tullyhogue (Nic an tSasainagh, also ‘English’).