Charlie Lynch
@charlielynch.bsky.social
Social Historian | Glasgow, Irish Adjacent | Humanist | Writes about sex, religion, queer lives, moral panics. And for a newspaper.
Pinned
Charlie Lynch
@charlielynch.bsky.social
· Oct 10
Between sickness and sin: models of male homosexuality in Northern Ireland c.1960-1990 | Irish Historical Studies | Cambridge Core
Between sickness and sin: models of male homosexuality in Northern Ireland c.1960-1990
www.cambridge.org
“I knew that homosexuality was a sin - I didn’t want to be homosexual. I went to my G.P and said I had read Freud’s book on dreams, that I suffered from homosexuality, and that I would like to change.”
My new article now out in Irish Historical Studies:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
My new article now out in Irish Historical Studies:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
“I was fortunate to interview several older gay men with memories of their social lives in the 1950s and 1960s. They spoke about the fear of blackmail and arrest, but equally about camaraderie, a lively social calendar and building lifelong friendships.”
comeheretome.com/2025/11/15/p...
comeheretome.com/2025/11/15/p...
Pubs and Gay Social Life in Dublin, 1923–1973 (2025 Book Chapter)
During lockdown, I researched and wrote a long article on the history of gay-friendly pubs and venues in Dublin over a fifty-year period – from the early Irish Free State in 1923 to the emerg…
comeheretome.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:33 AM
“I was fortunate to interview several older gay men with memories of their social lives in the 1950s and 1960s. They spoke about the fear of blackmail and arrest, but equally about camaraderie, a lively social calendar and building lifelong friendships.”
comeheretome.com/2025/11/15/p...
comeheretome.com/2025/11/15/p...
A lot to think about here. www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/k...
Norman Scott interview: "I never loved Jeremy Thorpe, but he could be enormous fun"
The Liberal leader was tried for conspiracy to Scott’s murder in 1979 in the biggest political scandal of the 20th century. Now his former lover is settling some scores.
www.newstatesman.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 AM
A lot to think about here. www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/k...
The absurdity of household recycling in which a car is needed to take it to the recycling place.
November 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
The absurdity of household recycling in which a car is needed to take it to the recycling place.
Reposted by Charlie Lynch
Thirty years since the best reaction to losing a referendum was spoken! In 1995 one of No Divorce Campaign leaders Úna Bean Mhic Mhathúna,on leaving the RDS as the 15th amendment to allow divorce was passed,shouted to celebrating pro divorce campaigners,’Go way ye wife swappin' sodomites’!#speirgorm
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Thirty years since the best reaction to losing a referendum was spoken! In 1995 one of No Divorce Campaign leaders Úna Bean Mhic Mhathúna,on leaving the RDS as the 15th amendment to allow divorce was passed,shouted to celebrating pro divorce campaigners,’Go way ye wife swappin' sodomites’!#speirgorm
Continued benefits of oral history:
How else would we learn about the reading practices of a lesbian teenager in rural N. Ireland in the late 1970s, and that a book about the Ladies of Llangollen was available either in a local library or Easons, an Irish bookshop?
How else would we learn about the reading practices of a lesbian teenager in rural N. Ireland in the late 1970s, and that a book about the Ladies of Llangollen was available either in a local library or Easons, an Irish bookshop?
November 23, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Continued benefits of oral history:
How else would we learn about the reading practices of a lesbian teenager in rural N. Ireland in the late 1970s, and that a book about the Ladies of Llangollen was available either in a local library or Easons, an Irish bookshop?
How else would we learn about the reading practices of a lesbian teenager in rural N. Ireland in the late 1970s, and that a book about the Ladies of Llangollen was available either in a local library or Easons, an Irish bookshop?
On what grounds and by whom was it decided that Tom Devine is “Scotland’s greatest living historian?”
November 23, 2025 at 4:52 PM
On what grounds and by whom was it decided that Tom Devine is “Scotland’s greatest living historian?”
Reposted by Charlie Lynch
On 23 November 1990, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was released in the UK. It was the first time that the TMNT had been called the ‘Ninja Turtles’ because the cartoon had been renamed the ‘Hero Turtles’ due to a panic about ninjas in 1980s Britain.
tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/when...
tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/when...
When the Right Tried to Cancel the Turtles
In the 1980s and '90s, successive moral panics about hooliganism and violence on TV culminated in a right-wing campaign against a dangerous social phenomenon: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
tribunemag.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:34 PM
On 23 November 1990, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was released in the UK. It was the first time that the TMNT had been called the ‘Ninja Turtles’ because the cartoon had been renamed the ‘Hero Turtles’ due to a panic about ninjas in 1980s Britain.
tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/when...
tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/when...
“One of the challenges of social history is to bring individual stories into conversation with broader social change. She achieves this in an engaging and entertaining way, inviting the reader to smile in acknowledgment of when an episode triggers one’s own memory of clothing disaster or triumph.”
November 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
“One of the challenges of social history is to bring individual stories into conversation with broader social change. She achieves this in an engaging and entertaining way, inviting the reader to smile in acknowledgment of when an episode triggers one’s own memory of clothing disaster or triumph.”
“To remain relevant, social democratic parties should promote an outspoken progressive agenda in terms of economic and cultural issues… otherwise they will lose their remaining strongholds and future electorate.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:26 PM
“To remain relevant, social democratic parties should promote an outspoken progressive agenda in terms of economic and cultural issues… otherwise they will lose their remaining strongholds and future electorate.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
At book event last night:
Author: So, what’d you do?
Me: I’m an unemployed social historian.
Author: Me too.
What a time to be alive!
Author: So, what’d you do?
Me: I’m an unemployed social historian.
Author: Me too.
What a time to be alive!
November 21, 2025 at 9:59 PM
At book event last night:
Author: So, what’d you do?
Me: I’m an unemployed social historian.
Author: Me too.
What a time to be alive!
Author: So, what’d you do?
Me: I’m an unemployed social historian.
Author: Me too.
What a time to be alive!
Reposted by Charlie Lynch
they say the arts are thriving in Ireland, but when was the last time we produced a poet capable of satirising a politician to death? #speirgorm
![1414.]
ANNALS OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND.
819
John Stanley', the Deputy of the King of England, arrived in Ireland, a man who gave neither merey nor protection to clergy, laity, or men of science, but subjected as many of them as he came upon to cold, hardship, and famine.
It was he who plundered Niall, the son of Hugh O'Higgin, at Visneach', in Meath. Henry Dalton, however, plundered James Tuite and the King's people, and gave the O'Higgins out of the preys" [then acquired] a cow for each and every cow taken from them, and afterwards escorted them to Connaught. The O'Higgins, with Niall, then satirized John Stanley, who lived after this satire but five weeks, for he died of the virulence of the lampoons.
This was the second poetical miracle performed by this Niall O'Higgin, the first being the discomfiture of the Clann-Conway the night they plundered Niall at Cladann*; and the second, the death of John Stanley.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5lalgxnyfxas34qyb3u4dp4u/bafkreihzyfu423o65774nubtf43aegne5vq4hrqzqhi7ab2thrjjpzg63q@jpeg)
November 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
they say the arts are thriving in Ireland, but when was the last time we produced a poet capable of satirising a politician to death? #speirgorm
This surely good but: New train station in Stranraer and rapid bus link to ferry terminal please. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Stranraer-Ayr rail line to undergo major upgrade
Network Rail is investing £1m to prevent flooding blocking the track between Stranraer and Ayr.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This surely good but: New train station in Stranraer and rapid bus link to ferry terminal please. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
“By adopting an entirely spurious Spanish identity, this flamboyant Irishwoman cultivated an unconventional performance style and a completely unfettered persona… her travels across continents left a trial of abdication, bigamy, and scandalised spectators.” blogs.qub.ac.uk/dancebiograp...
The fascinating Lola Montez: the European years – Dance biographies: Female theatrical dancers circa 1680-1860
blogs.qub.ac.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
“By adopting an entirely spurious Spanish identity, this flamboyant Irishwoman cultivated an unconventional performance style and a completely unfettered persona… her travels across continents left a trial of abdication, bigamy, and scandalised spectators.” blogs.qub.ac.uk/dancebiograp...
Reposted by Charlie Lynch
Today in the public history column: Leadhills Library, in South Lanarkshire, founded in 1741, is the oldest subscription library in the British Isles, and brought Enlightenment learning to a remote mining village in Scotland. www.thenational.scot/news/2562926...
Exploring the story of the oldest library of its kind in Britain
'It was hard drinking, hard living, tough going here, back in the 18th century,' says Cameron Halfpenny, chair of the Leadhills Reading Society
www.thenational.scot
November 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Today in the public history column: Leadhills Library, in South Lanarkshire, founded in 1741, is the oldest subscription library in the British Isles, and brought Enlightenment learning to a remote mining village in Scotland. www.thenational.scot/news/2562926...
Reposted by Charlie Lynch
'A new curriculum needs to be written. Currently, it's written by the four largest denominational churches... It has to be written by education professionals and include humanist content.' Northern Ireland Humanists Coordinator Boyd Sleator featured on BBC Newsline. Boyd appears at 1:33 👏
November 19, 2025 at 3:33 PM
'A new curriculum needs to be written. Currently, it's written by the four largest denominational churches... It has to be written by education professionals and include humanist content.' Northern Ireland Humanists Coordinator Boyd Sleator featured on BBC Newsline. Boyd appears at 1:33 👏
Built heritage 1, property developer 0. www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/scottis...
Bid to demolish 'distinctive' listed Glasgow building rejected
Plans to demolish a "distinctive" building in Glasgow city centre have been rejected.
www.glasgowtimes.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Built heritage 1, property developer 0. www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/scottis...
This is a long shot. Does anyone in Glasgow or surrounding area know where I might get a pair of good *second hand* curtains *at a reasonable price* which would fit the bay window of a tenement flat? Windows are draughty.
November 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
This is a long shot. Does anyone in Glasgow or surrounding area know where I might get a pair of good *second hand* curtains *at a reasonable price* which would fit the bay window of a tenement flat? Windows are draughty.
At last some good news! m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/educati...
UK Supreme Court rules religious education in NI schools is unlawful and ‘indoctrination’
The DUP has said it will “continue to support the Christian ethos that underpins” Northern Ireland’s education system, after a court ruling on religious education.
m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
At last some good news! m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/educati...
Today in the public history column: Leadhills Library, in South Lanarkshire, founded in 1741, is the oldest subscription library in the British Isles, and brought Enlightenment learning to a remote mining village in Scotland. www.thenational.scot/news/2562926...
Exploring the story of the oldest library of its kind in Britain
'It was hard drinking, hard living, tough going here, back in the 18th century,' says Cameron Halfpenny, chair of the Leadhills Reading Society
www.thenational.scot
November 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Today in the public history column: Leadhills Library, in South Lanarkshire, founded in 1741, is the oldest subscription library in the British Isles, and brought Enlightenment learning to a remote mining village in Scotland. www.thenational.scot/news/2562926...
Returning here to my pipe dream of a decaying country house in Argyll, where academics in the humanities and social sciences can go for funded ‘retreats’ in exchange for vague proposals. There would be workshops and communal cooking on low budgets.
November 16, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Returning here to my pipe dream of a decaying country house in Argyll, where academics in the humanities and social sciences can go for funded ‘retreats’ in exchange for vague proposals. There would be workshops and communal cooking on low budgets.
Yeah, with a similar level of probability to me being appointed Historiographer Royal for Scotland. www.thenational.scot/news/2562546...
Your Party could be best route for Scottish independence, Jeremy Corbyn says
JEREMY Corbyn has agreed with the suggestion that electing Your Party MPs at Westminster could be the best route to Scottish independence.
www.thenational.scot
November 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Yeah, with a similar level of probability to me being appointed Historiographer Royal for Scotland. www.thenational.scot/news/2562546...
Comment to editor: “Outwith is a commonly used and very useful Scottish word which Microsoft refuses to accept.”
November 16, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Comment to editor: “Outwith is a commonly used and very useful Scottish word which Microsoft refuses to accept.”
Reposted by Charlie Lynch
REVEALED: A Russian oligarch linked to Vladimir Putin hid his Paisley car park investments behind offshore trusts 👇
Leaked files expose Putin ally’s hidden stake in Paisley car parks
www.thenational.scot
November 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM
REVEALED: A Russian oligarch linked to Vladimir Putin hid his Paisley car park investments behind offshore trusts 👇
Talk of great 1980s punk bands generally ignores the astonishing Culture Shock, and their two albums, notably Go Wild (1986). Exploring themes of alienation in everyday life under capitalism, dance to this wonderfully miserable music. Where is the equivalent now? m.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Culture Shock - Go Wild - YouTube
m.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Talk of great 1980s punk bands generally ignores the astonishing Culture Shock, and their two albums, notably Go Wild (1986). Exploring themes of alienation in everyday life under capitalism, dance to this wonderfully miserable music. Where is the equivalent now? m.youtube.com/playlist?lis...