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
I like to think that Kildare has been paired with Austria because of @davidstifter.bsky.social!
Each Irish county has been paired with an EU member state for Ireland’s presidency of the European Council
January 18, 2026 at 9:14 AM
I like to think that Kildare has been paired with Austria because of @davidstifter.bsky.social!
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
How sad is this? The CDC closed its FOIA office, so this story could only be published because a Danish journalist provided Rolling Stone with the documents, after obtaining them through a freedom of information request to the University of Southern Denmark
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
HHS Gave a $1.6 Million Grant to a Controversial Vaccine Study. These Emails Show How That Happened
Two Danish researchers faced accusations of “questionable research practices” as RFK Jr.’s top appointees made their study a “funding priority.”
www.rollingstone.com
January 18, 2026 at 4:11 AM
How sad is this? The CDC closed its FOIA office, so this story could only be published because a Danish journalist provided Rolling Stone with the documents, after obtaining them through a freedom of information request to the University of Southern Denmark
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
More on the princely burials from the Sizewell C site in Suffolk. This is a really lovely BBC news article, you can almost feel the archaeologists glee
Sizewell princely cemetery reveals more Anglo-Saxon secrets
www.bbc.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 7:54 AM
More on the princely burials from the Sizewell C site in Suffolk. This is a really lovely BBC news article, you can almost feel the archaeologists glee
'Under a winter sun the trio recorded clips for the Green Ocean Foundation’s social media accounts and fielded supporters’ queries. One, sent in jest, proved unanswerable: “Can the oysters filter the smugness out of the people of Dún Laoghaire?”'
😆😆 #Spéirghorm
😆😆 #Spéirghorm
Dublin Bay’s oyster graveyard rises from dead in effort to restore rich ecosystem
Pioneering scheme hopes species that thrived for thousands of years in Irish waters can do so again
www.theguardian.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:29 AM
'Under a winter sun the trio recorded clips for the Green Ocean Foundation’s social media accounts and fielded supporters’ queries. One, sent in jest, proved unanswerable: “Can the oysters filter the smugness out of the people of Dún Laoghaire?”'
😆😆 #Spéirghorm
😆😆 #Spéirghorm
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
I'm late but notable reporting here: "names more than 50 apparently fake experts who have offered commentary to British press in recent years," featuring 1,000+ times... "For this list we have focused strictly on cases where the ‘expert’ does not appear to exist" pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
Named: 50 'experts' and linked brands publishers should treat with caution
Experts and brands associated with more than 1,000 likely faked stories.
pressgazette.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 8:13 AM
I'm late but notable reporting here: "names more than 50 apparently fake experts who have offered commentary to British press in recent years," featuring 1,000+ times... "For this list we have focused strictly on cases where the ‘expert’ does not appear to exist" pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
The rector of an Icelandic university accused her academic staff of misconduct after asking an AI programme whether those academics had written their own papers - AI said no, & she believed it. 😱
Vantraust samþykkt á rektor og stjórnendur skólans
Starfsmenn Háskólans á Bifröst hafa samþykkt vantrauststillögu á Margréti Jónsdóttur Njarðvík rektor, Guðrúnu Johnsen, deildarforseta viðskiptadeildar skólans, og Kasper Simo Kristensen rannsóknarstjó...
www.mbl.is
January 17, 2026 at 9:41 PM
The rector of an Icelandic university accused her academic staff of misconduct after asking an AI programme whether those academics had written their own papers - AI said no, & she believed it. 😱
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Including a fantastic dinner with my buddies @drlauravarnam.bsky.social and @thecelticist.bsky.social 😁😁😁
January 17, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Including a fantastic dinner with my buddies @drlauravarnam.bsky.social and @thecelticist.bsky.social 😁😁😁
Home sweet home. Back in Dublin.
January 17, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Home sweet home. Back in Dublin.
Thank you so much to @realmandeville.bsky.social for organizing this & directing us so well!
Just had the most inspiring & invigorating couple of days @ Creative Medievalisms Now workshop @ Cambridge. Fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, print-makers, comic-makers, film-makers, visual artists & more, all drawing on medieval sources. I spoke about my work & received so much in return ❤️
January 16, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Thank you so much to @realmandeville.bsky.social for organizing this & directing us so well!
Just had the most inspiring & invigorating couple of days @ Creative Medievalisms Now workshop @ Cambridge. Fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, print-makers, comic-makers, film-makers, visual artists & more, all drawing on medieval sources. I spoke about my work & received so much in return ❤️
January 16, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Just had the most inspiring & invigorating couple of days @ Creative Medievalisms Now workshop @ Cambridge. Fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, print-makers, comic-makers, film-makers, visual artists & more, all drawing on medieval sources. I spoke about my work & received so much in return ❤️
"Robertson became Brian James, to avoid confusion with Thin Lizzy’s guitarist, Lett became Dave Vanian (as in Transyl-), Millar became Rat Scabies, because he looked like a dead rat and had suffered scabies, and Burns became Captain Sensible, because he wasn’t."
‘We wouldn’t still be playing if we’d got stinking rich’: the Damned celebrate 50 years of punk, goth and holy grail hunting
An appetite for self-destruction left Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies hugely influential but financially insecure. They’re back with a big show and their first album together since 1995
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:55 AM
"Robertson became Brian James, to avoid confusion with Thin Lizzy’s guitarist, Lett became Dave Vanian (as in Transyl-), Millar became Rat Scabies, because he looked like a dead rat and had suffered scabies, and Burns became Captain Sensible, because he wasn’t."
"Much as you can’t cheat an honest man, the Landry confidence game required a college admissions culture that saw poor Black children as trophies more than people."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...
The Lie That Elite Colleges, and a Nation, Wanted to Believe
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:41 AM
"Much as you can’t cheat an honest man, the Landry confidence game required a college admissions culture that saw poor Black children as trophies more than people."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...
“Many Christians were challenged for the first time to be Christians,” Lee wrote, adding, “What was heart-breaking was to discover that people you loved — friends, relatives, neighbors — whom you assumed were civilized, harbored the most vicious feelings.”
Plus ça change ...
Plus ça change ...
In Letters to a Friend, Harper Lee Expanded on Her View of the South
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:36 AM
“Many Christians were challenged for the first time to be Christians,” Lee wrote, adding, “What was heart-breaking was to discover that people you loved — friends, relatives, neighbors — whom you assumed were civilized, harbored the most vicious feelings.”
Plus ça change ...
Plus ça change ...
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
"It's not the same as Twitter", friend Twitter isn't the same as Twitter. Old Twitter died years ago, we need to accept that almost no-one under 30 is interested in joining text-based social media - the format will die with us, like floppy discs, Mars Delights, and the concept of hope for the future
January 14, 2026 at 9:56 PM
"It's not the same as Twitter", friend Twitter isn't the same as Twitter. Old Twitter died years ago, we need to accept that almost no-one under 30 is interested in joining text-based social media - the format will die with us, like floppy discs, Mars Delights, and the concept of hope for the future
Arrived in Cambridge, and am staying at the college where I was a postgraduate student and postdoc. Looking forward to the "Creative Medievalisms Now" symposium, which begins tomorrow!
January 14, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Arrived in Cambridge, and am staying at the college where I was a postgraduate student and postdoc. Looking forward to the "Creative Medievalisms Now" symposium, which begins tomorrow!
130 Tracks of Guitar Per Song? Sunn O))) Is Back, and Going Big.
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Amazing collections, lovely people. Come and spend a year doing research @theul.bsky.social @theulspeccoll.bsky.social
Apply to be the 2026-7 Munby Fellow in bibliography and history of the book @theul.bsky.social
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPZ688/m...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPZ688/m...
Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 at University of Cambridge
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
www.jobs.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Amazing collections, lovely people. Come and spend a year doing research @theul.bsky.social @theulspeccoll.bsky.social
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
History Today was first published 75 years ago this week to make sense of a world undergoing ‘bewilderingly swift’ change.
✍️ Our editors reflect on the story so far
www.historytoday.com/archive/75th...
✍️ Our editors reflect on the story so far
www.historytoday.com/archive/75th...
A 75th Anniversary Letter from the Editors
www.historytoday.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:05 AM
History Today was first published 75 years ago this week to make sense of a world undergoing ‘bewilderingly swift’ change.
✍️ Our editors reflect on the story so far
www.historytoday.com/archive/75th...
✍️ Our editors reflect on the story so far
www.historytoday.com/archive/75th...
"Half His Age is a bleak, often hilarious and uncomfortable triumph that underscores McCurdy’s talent for focusing in on the multilayered nature of trauma and artfully unpicking it, one scab at a time."
I absolutely LOVED "I'm Glad My Mom Died", so I can't wait to read this!
I absolutely LOVED "I'm Glad My Mom Died", so I can't wait to read this!
Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy – the follow-up to I’m Glad My Mom Died
Family trauma shapes a student’s affair with her teacher in this bleak and funny fiction debut from the American memoirist
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:48 AM
"Half His Age is a bleak, often hilarious and uncomfortable triumph that underscores McCurdy’s talent for focusing in on the multilayered nature of trauma and artfully unpicking it, one scab at a time."
I absolutely LOVED "I'm Glad My Mom Died", so I can't wait to read this!
I absolutely LOVED "I'm Glad My Mom Died", so I can't wait to read this!
Welcome to Bluesky, RIA Library! 📚 📖
January 14, 2026 at 10:46 AM
Welcome to Bluesky, RIA Library! 📚 📖
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Breaking news: Claudette Colvin, a civil rights pioneer who refused to give up her seat on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks, died at 86.
Claudette Colvin, civil rights pioneer on a Montgomery bus, dies at 86
Nine months before Rosa Parks made history, Ms. Colvin refused to give up her seat on a segregated city bus. She became a star witness in a civil rights case.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Breaking news: Claudette Colvin, a civil rights pioneer who refused to give up her seat on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks, died at 86.
Absolutely one of the most fascinating things I have seen in a long time. Thanks for this report, Jamal Osman!
Tectonic forces in Ethiopia are carving a new ocean across the continent
www.channel4.com/news/tectoni...
www.channel4.com/news/tectoni...
Tectonic forces in Ethiopia are carving a new ocean across the continent
The movement of tectonic plates may take millions of years, but in Northern Ethiopia, you can see it happen in real time.
www.channel4.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Absolutely one of the most fascinating things I have seen in a long time. Thanks for this report, Jamal Osman!
Reposted by Elizabeth Boyle
Finally, 2026 has started properly, with a new issue of Early Medieval Europe! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680254...
Early Medieval Europe: Vol 34, No 1
Early Medieval Europe is an interdisciplinary medieval studies journal covering European history from the fall of the Roman Empire up until the 11th century.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Finally, 2026 has started properly, with a new issue of Early Medieval Europe! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680254...
"Over the years, “Catapult” has become a cult book, a literary outlier. It has provided offbeat solace for readers who like good capers and stupid and futile gestures. I’m happy to report that this modest and shaggy book, newly republished, is as winning today as it was back then." 📚
Have Some Spare Time? Why Not Build a Medieval War Machine?
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:30 AM
"Over the years, “Catapult” has become a cult book, a literary outlier. It has provided offbeat solace for readers who like good capers and stupid and futile gestures. I’m happy to report that this modest and shaggy book, newly republished, is as winning today as it was back then." 📚
The Picasso exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland is fantastic. It's on until 22nd February.
January 12, 2026 at 7:06 PM
The Picasso exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland is fantastic. It's on until 22nd February.