Daniel Mulhall
@danmulhall.bsky.social
Retired Irish Ambassador, author, consultant, media commentator, Director, #Carlichauns.
Pinned
Daniel Mulhall
@danmulhall.bsky.social
· Nov 23
Introducing the #Carlichauns to @bsky.app. An animated children’s entertainment venture for which I am Brand Ambassador. Carlingford’s leprechauns, the Carlichauns, travel the world to deliver wishes to children. Check them out at www.carlichauns.com
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
📚 The Dublin Literary Award 2026 Longlist has been revealed!
This year’s longlist features 20 titles nominated by 26 libraries from around the world and includes novels by two Irish authors.
Explore the longlist here: https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/prize-years/2026/
This year’s longlist features 20 titles nominated by 26 libraries from around the world and includes novels by two Irish authors.
Explore the longlist here: https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/prize-years/2026/
February 17, 2026 at 6:00 AM
📚 The Dublin Literary Award 2026 Longlist has been revealed!
This year’s longlist features 20 titles nominated by 26 libraries from around the world and includes novels by two Irish authors.
Explore the longlist here: https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/prize-years/2026/
This year’s longlist features 20 titles nominated by 26 libraries from around the world and includes novels by two Irish authors.
Explore the longlist here: https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/prize-years/2026/
The long list of 20 contenders for this year’s @dublinlitaward.bsky.social has just been announced. It has been a pleasure for me to be part of this year’s judging panel. We now have the difficult task of choosing a shortlist of 6 & then the ultimate winner. dublinliteraryaward.ie/features/new...
2026 Dublin Literary Award Longlist is Revealed - Dublin Literary Award
dublinliteraryaward.ie
February 17, 2026 at 10:00 AM
The long list of 20 contenders for this year’s @dublinlitaward.bsky.social has just been announced. It has been a pleasure for me to be part of this year’s judging panel. We now have the difficult task of choosing a shortlist of 6 & then the ultimate winner. dublinliteraryaward.ie/features/new...
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
Free public lecture by Vona Groarke
Ireland Professor of #Poetry Vona Groarke will deliver her first public lecture at @tcddublin on 26 February - details below. It’s a free event. Vona is a fine poet. Her talk is sure to be interesting.
www.eventbrite.ie/e/vona-groar...
www.eventbrite.ie/e/vona-groar...
Vona Groarke, 'A Lonely Began: The Poem Alone and the Poem in Company'
Vona Groarke will deliver her first public lecture as Ireland Professor of Poetry in the Edmund Burke Theatre, Arts Building,Trinity College
www.eventbrite.ie
February 16, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Free public lecture by Vona Groarke
Ireland Professor of #Poetry Vona Groarke will deliver her first public lecture at @tcddublin on 26 February - details below. It’s a free event. Vona is a fine poet. Her talk is sure to be interesting.
www.eventbrite.ie/e/vona-groar...
www.eventbrite.ie/e/vona-groar...
Vona Groarke, 'A Lonely Began: The Poem Alone and the Poem in Company'
Vona Groarke will deliver her first public lecture as Ireland Professor of Poetry in the Edmund Burke Theatre, Arts Building,Trinity College
www.eventbrite.ie
February 15, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Ireland Professor of #Poetry Vona Groarke will deliver her first public lecture at @tcddublin on 26 February - details below. It’s a free event. Vona is a fine poet. Her talk is sure to be interesting.
www.eventbrite.ie/e/vona-groar...
www.eventbrite.ie/e/vona-groar...
On the high slope behind the beach
with each withdrawing wave
a million million almost rounded stones
rush with a hoarse&frantic cheering
that now, at last, is their release:
&are rolled back in on the next wave;
not for a single moment
has there been…
silence amongst us,&peace,&rest
John F. Deane
with each withdrawing wave
a million million almost rounded stones
rush with a hoarse&frantic cheering
that now, at last, is their release:
&are rolled back in on the next wave;
not for a single moment
has there been…
silence amongst us,&peace,&rest
John F. Deane
February 13, 2026 at 9:26 AM
On the high slope behind the beach
with each withdrawing wave
a million million almost rounded stones
rush with a hoarse&frantic cheering
that now, at last, is their release:
&are rolled back in on the next wave;
not for a single moment
has there been…
silence amongst us,&peace,&rest
John F. Deane
with each withdrawing wave
a million million almost rounded stones
rush with a hoarse&frantic cheering
that now, at last, is their release:
&are rolled back in on the next wave;
not for a single moment
has there been…
silence amongst us,&peace,&rest
John F. Deane
The Irish Times view on the meeting of EU leaders: Decisive action is needed
Yes, the EU is facing into a more threatening economic & security environment & must learn to respond accordingly.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/edit...
Yes, the EU is facing into a more threatening economic & security environment & must learn to respond accordingly.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/edit...
The Irish Times view on the meeting of EU leaders: Decisive action is needed
Ireland faces choices in addressing this agenda and trade-offs in terms of national priorities
www.irishtimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 12:07 PM
The Irish Times view on the meeting of EU leaders: Decisive action is needed
Yes, the EU is facing into a more threatening economic & security environment & must learn to respond accordingly.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/edit...
Yes, the EU is facing into a more threatening economic & security environment & must learn to respond accordingly.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/edit...
There are, perhaps, no accidents,
no coincidences.
When we stumble against people, books,
rare moments out of time,
these are illuminations —
like the hunter’s moon
that sails tonight in its high clouds,
casting light into our black harbour …
Moya Cannon
no coincidences.
When we stumble against people, books,
rare moments out of time,
these are illuminations —
like the hunter’s moon
that sails tonight in its high clouds,
casting light into our black harbour …
Moya Cannon
February 12, 2026 at 11:57 AM
There are, perhaps, no accidents,
no coincidences.
When we stumble against people, books,
rare moments out of time,
these are illuminations —
like the hunter’s moon
that sails tonight in its high clouds,
casting light into our black harbour …
Moya Cannon
no coincidences.
When we stumble against people, books,
rare moments out of time,
these are illuminations —
like the hunter’s moon
that sails tonight in its high clouds,
casting light into our black harbour …
Moya Cannon
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
Government may fast-track citizenship for military personnel
Government may fast-track citizenship for military personnel
Proposals under consideration similar to system operating in the United States
www.irishtimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Government may fast-track citizenship for military personnel
This is not a good time to be an immigrant in the US without a work visa or a green card. ICE has huge numbers in detention from all over the world. Our diplomats will be doing all in their power to secure the release of Irish people held by ICE. www.rte.ie/news/politic...
'Small number' of Irish in situations similar to Culleton
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said she is aware of a small number of people in situations similar to Irish man Seamus Culleton, who was detained by immigration officials in the US las...
www.rte.ie
February 10, 2026 at 2:23 PM
This is not a good time to be an immigrant in the US without a work visa or a green card. ICE has huge numbers in detention from all over the world. Our diplomats will be doing all in their power to secure the release of Irish people held by ICE. www.rte.ie/news/politic...
I have never gone there but hear
Altnasheen unravelling on a page,
A creel of sound that I carry,
Laundered linen to sort through.
I listen to its music & know
The treadle trapped by a stone.
Near it, a mouth wide in silence,
The curved horn of a gramaphone.
Seán Dunne ‘Altnasheen’
Altnasheen unravelling on a page,
A creel of sound that I carry,
Laundered linen to sort through.
I listen to its music & know
The treadle trapped by a stone.
Near it, a mouth wide in silence,
The curved horn of a gramaphone.
Seán Dunne ‘Altnasheen’
February 10, 2026 at 1:06 PM
I have never gone there but hear
Altnasheen unravelling on a page,
A creel of sound that I carry,
Laundered linen to sort through.
I listen to its music & know
The treadle trapped by a stone.
Near it, a mouth wide in silence,
The curved horn of a gramaphone.
Seán Dunne ‘Altnasheen’
Altnasheen unravelling on a page,
A creel of sound that I carry,
Laundered linen to sort through.
I listen to its music & know
The treadle trapped by a stone.
Near it, a mouth wide in silence,
The curved horn of a gramaphone.
Seán Dunne ‘Altnasheen’
You come in & we quickly leave behind
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
February 9, 2026 at 4:45 PM
You come in & we quickly leave behind
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
You come in & we quickly leave behind
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
February 8, 2026 at 5:32 PM
You come in & we quickly leave behind
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
You come in & we quickly leave behind
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
February 8, 2026 at 2:23 PM
You come in & we quickly leave behind
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
the thorny rose-gardens of our grown-up fights.
I smooth out the creases in your gentle face
I know I’ve often caused —
while you, keeping me from the shabby coldness
of this outside world,
put the last stitch on my coat.
Enda Wyley #IrishPoetry
… The spider
on the dining room window has fallen asleep
among complexities as I will once
the doors are bolted & the keys tested
& the switch turned up on the kitchen light
which made outside in the back garden
… a domestication
of closed daisies, an architecture
instant & improbable.
Eavan Boland
on the dining room window has fallen asleep
among complexities as I will once
the doors are bolted & the keys tested
& the switch turned up on the kitchen light
which made outside in the back garden
… a domestication
of closed daisies, an architecture
instant & improbable.
Eavan Boland
February 8, 2026 at 12:49 AM
… The spider
on the dining room window has fallen asleep
among complexities as I will once
the doors are bolted & the keys tested
& the switch turned up on the kitchen light
which made outside in the back garden
… a domestication
of closed daisies, an architecture
instant & improbable.
Eavan Boland
on the dining room window has fallen asleep
among complexities as I will once
the doors are bolted & the keys tested
& the switch turned up on the kitchen light
which made outside in the back garden
… a domestication
of closed daisies, an architecture
instant & improbable.
Eavan Boland
When my grandmother looked into my mother’s eyes
she saw what I see in my daughter’s.
Vona Groarke ‘House Style’ #IrishPoetry
@poetryireland.bsky.social
she saw what I see in my daughter’s.
Vona Groarke ‘House Style’ #IrishPoetry
@poetryireland.bsky.social
February 6, 2026 at 12:58 PM
When my grandmother looked into my mother’s eyes
she saw what I see in my daughter’s.
Vona Groarke ‘House Style’ #IrishPoetry
@poetryireland.bsky.social
she saw what I see in my daughter’s.
Vona Groarke ‘House Style’ #IrishPoetry
@poetryireland.bsky.social
If you know these things,
you won’t slip your moorings
in heavy weather. Hold fast, you say,
our lake is as alone as the mind
before calm returns, and as handsome
as a scatter of starlings in the winter sky.
Eleanor Hooker ‘Murmuration’
#IrishPoetry
you won’t slip your moorings
in heavy weather. Hold fast, you say,
our lake is as alone as the mind
before calm returns, and as handsome
as a scatter of starlings in the winter sky.
Eleanor Hooker ‘Murmuration’
#IrishPoetry
February 5, 2026 at 12:53 PM
If you know these things,
you won’t slip your moorings
in heavy weather. Hold fast, you say,
our lake is as alone as the mind
before calm returns, and as handsome
as a scatter of starlings in the winter sky.
Eleanor Hooker ‘Murmuration’
#IrishPoetry
you won’t slip your moorings
in heavy weather. Hold fast, you say,
our lake is as alone as the mind
before calm returns, and as handsome
as a scatter of starlings in the winter sky.
Eleanor Hooker ‘Murmuration’
#IrishPoetry
I come out alone onto the boreen,
A flinty path glimmering through mist,
Stilly night, wilderness listening to God,
The constellations in conversation,
Astonishing things up there in the sky,
The earth dozing in pale-blue radiance.
Michael Longley #IrishPoetry
A flinty path glimmering through mist,
Stilly night, wilderness listening to God,
The constellations in conversation,
Astonishing things up there in the sky,
The earth dozing in pale-blue radiance.
Michael Longley #IrishPoetry
February 4, 2026 at 5:18 PM
I come out alone onto the boreen,
A flinty path glimmering through mist,
Stilly night, wilderness listening to God,
The constellations in conversation,
Astonishing things up there in the sky,
The earth dozing in pale-blue radiance.
Michael Longley #IrishPoetry
A flinty path glimmering through mist,
Stilly night, wilderness listening to God,
The constellations in conversation,
Astonishing things up there in the sky,
The earth dozing in pale-blue radiance.
Michael Longley #IrishPoetry
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
Today is the 104th anniversary of the publication of #Ulysses. Here is a link to an essay I published in @postopinions.bsky.social to mark the novel’s centenary in 2022.
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
Perspective | Leopold Bloom, the anti-nationalist star of ‘Ulysses,’ is an ambassador for our day
I’ve used James Joyce's novel as a tool of soft power in my diplomatic career. On its 100th anniversary, it’s particularly relevant.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Today is the 104th anniversary of the publication of #Ulysses. Here is a link to an essay I published in @postopinions.bsky.social to mark the novel’s centenary in 2022.
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
Today is the 104th anniversary of the publication of #Ulysses. Here is a link to an essay I published in @postopinions.bsky.social to mark the novel’s centenary in 2022.
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
Perspective | Leopold Bloom, the anti-nationalist star of ‘Ulysses,’ is an ambassador for our day
I’ve used James Joyce's novel as a tool of soft power in my diplomatic career. On its 100th anniversary, it’s particularly relevant.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Today is the 104th anniversary of the publication of #Ulysses. Here is a link to an essay I published in @postopinions.bsky.social to mark the novel’s centenary in 2022.
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022...
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
Slate grey, this grief,
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
January 30, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Slate grey, this grief,
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
Slate grey, this grief,
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
January 30, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Slate grey, this grief,
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
made up of rain & whitecaps
and regret; the great lake
swallowing whatever’s next.
I could yell his name
all night long
& the roar of waves
would drown each letter.
Dark pines above. The stars
gone invisible.
Ethna McKiernan (Irish American poet from #Minnesota)
My body was braille
for the creeping influences:
dawn suns groped over my head
and cooled at my feet,
through my fabrics & skins
the seeps of winter
digested me,
the illiterate roots
pondered and died
in the cavings
of stomach and socket.
Seamus Heaney ‘Bog Queen’
for the creeping influences:
dawn suns groped over my head
and cooled at my feet,
through my fabrics & skins
the seeps of winter
digested me,
the illiterate roots
pondered and died
in the cavings
of stomach and socket.
Seamus Heaney ‘Bog Queen’
January 29, 2026 at 3:31 PM
My body was braille
for the creeping influences:
dawn suns groped over my head
and cooled at my feet,
through my fabrics & skins
the seeps of winter
digested me,
the illiterate roots
pondered and died
in the cavings
of stomach and socket.
Seamus Heaney ‘Bog Queen’
for the creeping influences:
dawn suns groped over my head
and cooled at my feet,
through my fabrics & skins
the seeps of winter
digested me,
the illiterate roots
pondered and died
in the cavings
of stomach and socket.
Seamus Heaney ‘Bog Queen’
Some fascinating new entries here, including on Dermot Gallagher (1945-2017) former Ambassador to the USA and Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs. 👇
This November the @dib.ie publishes 29 biographical entries: 28 new entries alongside an extensive revision of an existing entry. This eclectic range of noteworthy lives, drawn from across the spectrum of Irish society can be viewed here:
www.dib.ie/news/broadca...
www.dib.ie/news/broadca...
January 28, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Some fascinating new entries here, including on Dermot Gallagher (1945-2017) former Ambassador to the USA and Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs. 👇
I remember eating in Gaj’s restaurant (I think we pronounce it Guy’s) many times during my early days in Dublin in the late ‘70s when eating places were far scarcer than they are today. It was close to Iveagh House and the food there was good value for young civil servants. 👇
'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
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 10:07 AM
I remember eating in Gaj’s restaurant (I think we pronounce it Guy’s) many times during my early days in Dublin in the late ‘70s when eating places were far scarcer than they are today. It was close to Iveagh House and the food there was good value for young civil servants. 👇
The spider’s web
of your handwriting
on a blue envelope
brings up too much
to bear, old sea sick-
ness of love, retch
of sentiment, night
& day devoured by
the worm of delight
which turns to
feed upon itself;
John Montague ‘Special Delivery’
of your handwriting
on a blue envelope
brings up too much
to bear, old sea sick-
ness of love, retch
of sentiment, night
& day devoured by
the worm of delight
which turns to
feed upon itself;
John Montague ‘Special Delivery’
January 28, 2026 at 9:06 AM
The spider’s web
of your handwriting
on a blue envelope
brings up too much
to bear, old sea sick-
ness of love, retch
of sentiment, night
& day devoured by
the worm of delight
which turns to
feed upon itself;
John Montague ‘Special Delivery’
of your handwriting
on a blue envelope
brings up too much
to bear, old sea sick-
ness of love, retch
of sentiment, night
& day devoured by
the worm of delight
which turns to
feed upon itself;
John Montague ‘Special Delivery’