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Michael O'Connell

@moconnell007.bsky.social

700 followers 280 following 180 posts

Botanist, palaeoecologist. Research interests: long-term environmental change, local and global; also archaeology, geography, history & a spot of photography

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · Jul 1

#Dingle reveals previously unknown features of its post-glacial vegetation & farming history. Pleased to report on strawberry tree (#Arbutus), buckwheat (#Fagopyrum) cultivation & extensive pre-bog #fields at Kilmore Td www.mdpi.com/3378528 @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social #mdpidiversity #Kerry #Ireland

www.mdpi.com

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 1d

#Salthill prom: high tide & sun going down on #GalwayBay this evening. I'm told by year-round swimmer, sea temperature 12C; 14C earlier in week. Mackerel appear to be rather scarce but the fishermen still try their luck @wildatlanticway.bsky.social

Reposted by Michael O'Connell

History of Geology @historyofgeology.bsky.social · 2d

October 6 was declared International #GeodiversityDay by the UNESCO in 2021. On this day we celebrate the abiotic beauty and diversity of Earth - including rocks, soils, landscapes, rivers, lakes, minerals & fossils ⛰️🪨🐚💎

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 1d

This recalls the fine fieldtrip at around this time of year 2022 that included a magical walk during which we explored the Knockbarron #esker, nr Kinnitty, Co Offaly led by Dr John Feehan. Looking forward greatly to another magical day on Saturday

Galway Geological Assoc (GGA) @galway-geol-ass.bsky.social · 1d

GGA #fieldtrip on Sat 11 October: Exploring Midland #Eskers (leader: Dr John Feehan). Start point Birr, Co Offaly. For further details email: [email protected]

Knockbarron esker complex; image: lidar and OSI map. Image provided by J Feehan in the context of GGA Fieldtrip Co. Offaly, October 2022

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 1d

Greatly looking forward to this lecture by Prof Rónagh Cox on this highly topical subject - given the increased frequency of severe storms on the NW Atlantic coasts and especially western Ireland

Galway Geological Assoc (GGA) @galway-geol-ass.bsky.social · 1d

GGA Zoom lecture (Wed, 15 October 2025 at 19:00 h): Coastal boulder deposits on the #AranIslands record at least 2000 years of extreme wave events
BY Professor Rónadh Cox (WilliamsCollege Williams College, MA, USA). For Z link email: [email protected]

Megaclasts resting on bedrock near Poll na bPeist; 2025-05-28; GGA/CGA Fieldtrip, Inis Mór (photo: Michael O’Connell)

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 2d

Photos from recent travels to mark #InternationalGeodiversityDay. Dalradian metamorphic rocks with quartz veins #Connemara National Park, W Ireland; sandstone, slate etc, medieval tower house, St Marys & All Saints church, Conwy, Wales; dykes & Watt, Langwarder Groden, west of Bremerhaven, Germany

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 3d

Apologies for the typo, Manchán. I'm hoping you will forgive me - from that other world which I'm sure you are already busy investigating and documenting; and no doubt having interesting discussions with Jane Goodall. You are certainly sorely missed on this planet & especially in Ireland 🙂

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 4d

Storm #Amy was at max in #Galway at about 3 pm yesterday. Photos from about 6 pm on #Salthill Prom as winds abated, skies cleared & sun appeared to give fine rainbows; and @catherinegalway.bsky.social still standing!

Start of a walk of the Prom, Salthill, Galway at about 6 pm, Friday 3 October as storm Amy was subsiding and tide going out. Road still closed to traffice. Only President poster was that showing the local (and independent) candidate, Catherine Connolly

End of walk of the Prom after 6 pm, Friday 3 October. Storm Amy had passed, and sun appeared and with it rainbows arching the city of Galway

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 5d

So sorry to learn that Machán Magan has died. You certainly showed us the relevance of the past for the present; cf. your bestseller 'Thirty-Two Words for Field. Lost Words of the Irish Landscape'. 'Ireland in Iceland' another intriguing title. #Machán your enterprising & free spirit will be missed!

Manchán Magan @manchanmagan.bsky.social · Apr 30

On 11 June I'm giving a talk at The Fumbally Café in Dublin 8 to mark the launch of my new book, Ireland in Iceland: Gaelic Remnants in a Nordic Land.
I'll be selling and signing this book, as well as all my previous ones.
www.eventbrite.ie/e/ireland-in...

Ireland in Iceland - book launch

Come join us for the launch of "Ireland in Iceland" where we'll explore the fascinating connections between these two beautiful countries

www.eventbrite.ie

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Reposted by Michael O'Connell

Stone Club @stoneclub.bsky.social · 6d

We stood and pondered on the stones,whose plan displays their pattern still; the small blunt arc, and, sill by sill, the pockets stripped of shards and bones.
The legend has it, Ossian lies
beneath this landmark on the hill

Excerpt from Ossian’s Grave, John Hewitt (1962)

#nationalpoetryday

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 6d

#JaneGoodall, 3 Apr 1934 – 1 Oct 2025. A life well lived. An icon for the ages and particularly for the times we live in.
Photo is a screengrab from a fine #BBC interview with Terry Wogan
bbc.com/news/article...

screengrab from BBC interview with Terry Wogan

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 9d

Thanks Caroline. Yes, his maps are great. UoG digital archives @uniofgalwaylib.bsky.social I'm pretty sure I've seen scans of his maps there. I have scans; send an email & I'll forward. M.

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 10d

Wonderful tribute to Tim Robinson, cartographer, writer, recorder of landscapes of #AranIslands #Burren & #Connemara in #NationalConcertHall, Dublin. Afterwards met 2 of contributors, #poet Moya Cannon & scholar & sean-nós singer Lillis Ó Laoire. Tim & Mairéad you have contributed so much to us

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 19d

#Langwarder #Groden - Natur des Jahres 2024 - final stop in palaeo Tuexen excursion today in Lower Saxony. Impressive dikes grazed by folks of sheep, bare mud, species-rich saltmarsh, a haven for bird life & all within sight of the busy Bremerhaven container port

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 26d

Nearby in #UniversityofReading Archives of #JamesJoyce & #SamuelBeckett. Later in year there will be an exhibition of the #Joyce material

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 26d

#Museum of English #Rural Life in #UniversityofReadind a real gem.

Tapestry exhibited at Festival of Britain 1951 by Michael O’Connell (English artist with Irish ancestry)

Part of large collection of ploughs in Museum of Rural English Life, Reading

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Reposted by Michael O'Connell

John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 29d

9 Sept 1674: d. Murrough O'Brien 1st Earl of Inchiquin #otd

(Manchester Gallery of Art/ British Museum)

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · 29d

For ferry passengers on #DublinPort #Holyhead
route, the tall sailing #ship from #Peru in #Dublin Port a delight to see

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · Sep 6

Within a stone's throw of the march, it was normal life in #Galway with weddings being celebrated in style at the #Claddagh Dominican church & at 700+ year old Saint Nicholas' Collegiate Church. Thanks to driver of that beautiful maroon #Mercedes (grounds of St Nicholas) for facilitating the photos

Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · Sep 6

#Galway makes its feelings felt today re. #Gaza & the awful plight of the Palastinian people. A huge turnout that walked, with flags flying in the stiff breeze, from Westside over Wolfe Tone Bridge, & then up High St & Shop St & onto Eyre Square where a rally was held. Photos 1-3 from start point

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Reposted by Michael O'Connell

Emily Mark-FitzGerald @emilymfg.bsky.social · Aug 18

also just for you -- not part of my set (by H.C. White) but a super image I came across -- Galway market women having a laugh with local constabulary
www.loc.gov/pictures/ite...

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Reposted by Michael O'Connell

Aoife @aoifeb1.bsky.social · Aug 30

Seven #butterfly species enjoying #wildflowers in the sunshine along the #Galway Bay shore yesterday. 😊 My first ever Clouded Yellow. Dozens of courting Green-Veined Whites. Small Tortoiseshell. Red Admiral. Common Blue. Meadow Brown. Speckled Wood.

Clouded Yellow Butterfly. Bright yellow Butterfly resting on a white stone

Green Veined Butterfly. White Butterfly with yellow-green underwings with dark veins sitting amongst green grasses and clovers

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly. Butterfly with a mosaic of red, black, orange, yellow, white and blue pattern on its wings. Feeding on blue Devil's Bit Scabious flower.

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Michael O'Connell @moconnell007.bsky.social · Aug 27

A scholarly volume by Dr Leesa Wheatley on writings by #German travellers to #Ireland in late 18C & early 19C. No 10 in the series Irish-German Studies, eds J Fischer & G Holfter of #UniversityofLimerick. For me, Pückler-Muskau has a special place in this pantheon; see bsky.app/profile/moco...

Wheatley, L. (2018) Forging Ireland. German travel writing from 1785–1850 (Irish-German Studies 10). Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT), Trier (Germany).
The book covers feature the Giant’s Causeway. This illustration, one of many reproduced in the volume, is from Ireland Illustrated, 1832

Reposted by Michael O'Connell

Tuatha @tuatha.ie · Aug 25

Explore Ireland with our free Monument Monday newsletter!

In today's mail, we take a trip to the outskirts of lovely Lismore in County Waterford to cross a bridge to nowhere. One of Irish history's most remarkable testaments to folly and notions of grandeur!

#Ireland #SpéirGhorm

An elaborate hindu-gothic style castellated bridge in a wood in County Waterford.

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Reposted by Michael O'Connell

Irish Basking Shark Group @irishbaskingshark.bsky.social · Aug 25

Yesterday, the IBSG and Fair Seas unveiled a life size sculpture of a basking shark for Heritage Week in Galway!
The sculpture created by well-known prop-maker Tommy Casby was part-funded by The Heritage Council and with support from Galway City Council.

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Reposted by Michael O'Connell

Terry O'Connor @osteoconnor.bsky.social · Aug 24

I feel seen.

Codfather #FBPE 🇫🇷🇪🇺 @codfather.bsky.social · Aug 24

😂 I don't like Mondays

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