@marcmulholland.bsky.social
I took the opportunity to sneak in a bit of serious Marx exegesis, which I'm quite proud of. 1.
December 11, 2025 at 10:22 AM
I took the opportunity to sneak in a bit of serious Marx exegesis, which I'm quite proud of. 1.
On the curious economics of modern capitalism: shipping to the UK is cheapest from the US, most expensive within the UK.
December 10, 2025 at 9:03 AM
On the curious economics of modern capitalism: shipping to the UK is cheapest from the US, most expensive within the UK.
The 'social origins of the Land War' has notoriously been seen as the disappearing labourer and rising strong farmer ('mean-faced mean who did well out of the Famine'). I think this is a denigratory myth. Actually, the basic social structure of the peasantry changed very little.
December 9, 2025 at 8:58 AM
The 'social origins of the Land War' has notoriously been seen as the disappearing labourer and rising strong farmer ('mean-faced mean who did well out of the Famine'). I think this is a denigratory myth. Actually, the basic social structure of the peasantry changed very little.
I hadn't realised that the modern sense of 'revolution' was recorded quite so early (from Donald Sassoon's 'Revolutions: A New History').
December 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I hadn't realised that the modern sense of 'revolution' was recorded quite so early (from Donald Sassoon's 'Revolutions: A New History').
I'm enjoying Gary Brecher's militant book on the American slaveowners rebellion, 'They Should Have Been Hanged'. It includes a fine essay on arson as a weapon of war wielded by slaves behind enemy lines. It has this excellent aside on the Irish buachaillí. www.amazon.co.uk/They-Should-...
December 6, 2025 at 9:10 AM
I'm enjoying Gary Brecher's militant book on the American slaveowners rebellion, 'They Should Have Been Hanged'. It includes a fine essay on arson as a weapon of war wielded by slaves behind enemy lines. It has this excellent aside on the Irish buachaillí. www.amazon.co.uk/They-Should-...
Some tweets on peasant society in Ireland (focus on pre-Famine, but quite a lot relevant afterwards).
December 5, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Some tweets on peasant society in Ireland (focus on pre-Famine, but quite a lot relevant afterwards).
It's Christmas buying time, so why not buy someone Marc Mulholland's 'At the Rising of the Moon: The Peasantry and Ireland from the Tudor Conquest to the Fall of Landlordism?'
(Or order for your library).
Tweet summary of the book below.
(Or order for your library).
Tweet summary of the book below.
December 4, 2025 at 2:43 PM
It's Christmas buying time, so why not buy someone Marc Mulholland's 'At the Rising of the Moon: The Peasantry and Ireland from the Tudor Conquest to the Fall of Landlordism?'
(Or order for your library).
Tweet summary of the book below.
(Or order for your library).
Tweet summary of the book below.
An absolutely *crucial* source base for my book on the Irish peasantry was William Carleton. Here's a thread summarising some of what I said about him.
December 3, 2025 at 12:17 PM
An absolutely *crucial* source base for my book on the Irish peasantry was William Carleton. Here's a thread summarising some of what I said about him.
Private Eye used to caricature his accent back in the day:
December 1, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Private Eye used to caricature his accent back in the day:
A thread from my book; From 'Captain Rock' to 'Catholic Emancipation'.
December 1, 2025 at 4:22 PM
A thread from my book; From 'Captain Rock' to 'Catholic Emancipation'.
From my book, a general theory of 'mass killing' mentality. Generally one tries to write history sub specie aeternitatis, but this composition did unavoidably bear the impression of its time.
November 28, 2025 at 11:05 PM
From my book, a general theory of 'mass killing' mentality. Generally one tries to write history sub specie aeternitatis, but this composition did unavoidably bear the impression of its time.
Page 2 of 2:
November 28, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Page 2 of 2:
Here's the argument in some more detail. Page 1 of 2:
November 28, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Here's the argument in some more detail. Page 1 of 2:
6/ Some spoke of a coming showdown: “a war between the two churches is a war of extermination,” wrote one evangelical in 1827. [Note different sense of 'extermination' then:
November 27, 2025 at 1:57 PM
6/ Some spoke of a coming showdown: “a war between the two churches is a war of extermination,” wrote one evangelical in 1827. [Note different sense of 'extermination' then:
Samuel Gray was quite the character!
November 26, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Samuel Gray was quite the character!
The drip-drip-drip campaign against Irish neutrality continues. 'European defence' today, crack-pot US war against China tomorrow.
November 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
The drip-drip-drip campaign against Irish neutrality continues. 'European defence' today, crack-pot US war against China tomorrow.
1798: The Second Defender Rising' (after the 1793 'Militia Riots')? A thread from my book.
November 14, 2025 at 11:45 AM
1798: The Second Defender Rising' (after the 1793 'Militia Riots')? A thread from my book.
A revolutionary bourgeoisie - the separatism of the United Irish men: what was all that about?
A thread from my book.
A thread from my book.
November 12, 2025 at 3:56 PM
A revolutionary bourgeoisie - the separatism of the United Irish men: what was all that about?
A thread from my book.
A thread from my book.
I think that's right. The usual consumer price index is far too flat. My suspicion is that a much better measure would be of 'labour commanded'. How much of other people's service would it employ. So, eg.:
November 12, 2025 at 9:18 AM
I think that's right. The usual consumer price index is far too flat. My suspicion is that a much better measure would be of 'labour commanded'. How much of other people's service would it employ. So, eg.:
It's a nice quote. I'm not quite at one with this kind of post-structuralist reading, however. It has the unhappy effect of reducing much of our valuable source material to nothing more than the 'colonial gaze'. Here's what I say:
November 11, 2025 at 12:00 PM
It's a nice quote. I'm not quite at one with this kind of post-structuralist reading, however. It has the unhappy effect of reducing much of our valuable source material to nothing more than the 'colonial gaze'. Here's what I say:
As everyone knows, Ireland was desperately poor, so when potato blight hit, its thoughtlessly philoprogenitive people were doomed.
But is that quite so ... ? From my book:
But is that quite so ... ? From my book:
November 11, 2025 at 9:31 AM
As everyone knows, Ireland was desperately poor, so when potato blight hit, its thoughtlessly philoprogenitive people were doomed.
But is that quite so ... ? From my book:
But is that quite so ... ? From my book:
Picture of my mother's mother at a military hospital, front centre, 1917.
November 9, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Picture of my mother's mother at a military hospital, front centre, 1917.