Oisín McGann
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oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Oisín McGann
@oisinmcgann.bsky.social
7.3K followers 2.4K following 13K posts
Over 30 years in commercial art and more than 20 as a published author – mostly children's and young adult. No hope of ever getting a proper job. Lifelong nerd who's concerned about climate change. No AI data scraping. He/Him. http://oisinmcgann.com/
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oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Sam Altman wanting all the money and all the data for his digital god that will definitely solve all of our problems some day.
A still from the original Wicker Man film, with Christopher Lee as the cult leader standing in front of his giant creation.
December 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
There’s a definite Soviet vibe to the An Post Christmas stamps this year.
International stamps from An Post, the Irish post service. Two designs, an angel and a Christmas tree, rendered in featureless, minimalist shapes of bright green, red and yellow.
December 4, 2025 at 12:57 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
An illustrated children's/YA novel set in the Irish town where the first fires of Samhain were lit. An ancient faerie shape-shifter awakes in the modern world. As humans wander the streets wearing monster masks, there is a monster among them wearing a human mask.
The full cover of my book, The First Fire of Halloween: The front cover itself features a púca, the mythical Irish shape-changer, as a muscular human figure with a goat's head. He's standing in a field in darkness, with a fire blazing in front of him. Inset in the dark sky above and behind him are a pair of yellow goat's eyes. The title is in orange against the sky, and my name is in black against the fire. On the back cover, over a smaller image of the goat's eyes, the blurb reads: Thief. Trickster. Murderer. Humans have forgotten why they once feared the púca. But he will make them remember. In the small Irish town of Athboy, there is a hill where the first fire was once lit each year to mark the beginning of Samhain. Bonfires would then be lit across the country, launching a festival to celebrate the last harvest before the harsh months of winter. On the night when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest, it was believed that the spirits of the dead wandered the land. In recent years, that fire has been lit once more every Halloween night, and thousands of people come to celebrate. Jamie Sheldon is an American girl visiting the town with her parents for an archaeological dig. Rone O’Callaghan lives on a farm near Tlachtga, the ancient site on the Hill of Ward. Both teenagers are close by when a local man is murdered. The circumstances suggest the killer may be acting out some ancient ritual. The truth is even more macabre. This Halloween, as humans wander the streets wearing monster masks, there is a monster among them wearing a human mask. The most treacherous of all the ancient faerie folk . . . The shape-changing púca. A black and white illustration of a púca, an Irish shape-shifter, in mid-transformation as he's caught in grasping bramble vines. He has the body of a man but the head of a horse. A naked muscular figure with scraggly black hair and beard pulling himself out of a muddy riverbank, just at the level of the water. A child staring in terror out of a window. In the darkness outside, a man with black hair and bear with a bare torso, is looking in. He has short horns jutting from his forehead, just at the hairline.
December 4, 2025 at 11:03 AM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Every time I see one of these dispensers, I imagine I’m having to pull the toilet roll from the property owner’s tightly clenched fingers.
A plastic toilet roll dispenser in a service station’s toilet; the type that holds two large rolls, but you have to pull the tissue through a tiny hole.
December 1, 2025 at 7:21 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
This was the book, for anyone who's interested, published by @theobrienpress.bsky.social. There was major opposition in Ireland to the invasion of Iraq. #SpeirGorm
The cover of the book, Irish Writers Against War, edited by Conor Kostick and Katherine Moore. The title is in white laid on a green-tinted photo of a march in Dublin in 2003, protesting against the invasion of Iraq.
December 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Whenever I see the 'Ireland is Full' mob in the news, I often think of this map. I think I took the photo at the Dunbrody Famine Ship Museum, years ago. There was a time when it was *our* people leaving their country in their masses, either fleeing a crisis or in search of a better life.

#SpeirGorm
A green map of the United States set against a black and white photo of a sky. Each state is labelled with the name and the percentage of the population that have Irish roots. Some of the proportions are very high, with Rhode Island at 22.1%, New Hampshire at 23.3%, and Masschusetts at 25.2%.
November 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Oh Facebook, you know me so well.
A screenshot of an ad on Facebook for a retailer of religious clothing, with the line 'Where Tradition Meets Faith'. The image is a black shirt with a priest's white collar.
November 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
I saw Predator: Badlands at the weekend. It’s great craic. action-packed, inventive, with well defined characters. The funniest in the franchise. I watched Alien: Romulus again too. Good stuff. All it lacked was more distinctive characters. The franchises are definitely being woven together.
The young Predator, Dek, and his ‘synthetic person’ guide, Thia, who presents as a young blonde, white woman. Her legs are temporarily missing, so she’s tied to his back.
November 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
You mean like this?
A black and white illustration of a púca, an Irish faerie-folk shape-shifter, in mid-transformation. He’s got the head of a horse, looking panicked, and the body of a muscular man. He’s entangled in cursed brambles that are wrapping themselves around him.
November 17, 2025 at 7:43 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Now that Halloween is dead and gone, again, it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents. If you have someone in your life who's into earthy spookiness and Irish mythology, you should consider this.

Order for Ireland: www.amazon.ie/First-Fire-H...
For the US: www.amazon.com/First-Fire-H...
The full cover of my book, The First Fire of Halloween: On the back, the blurb reads: ' Humans have forgotten why they once feared the púca. But he will make them remember. In the small Irish town of Athboy, there is a hill where the first fire was once lit each year to mark the beginning of Samhain. Bonfires would then be lit across the country, launching a festival to celebrate the last harvest before the harsh months of winter. On the night when the boundary with the Realm of the Dead was at its thinnest, it was believed that the spirits of the dead wandered the land. In recent years, that fire has been lit again every Halloween night. Jamie Sheldon is an American girl visiting the town with her parents for an archaeological dig. Rone O’Callaghan lives on a farm near Tlachtga, the ancient site on the Hill of Ward. Both teenagers are close by when a local man is murdered. The circumstances suggest the killer may be acting out some ancient ritual. The truth is even more macabre. This Halloween, as humans wander the streets wearing monster masks, there is a monster among them wearing a human mask. The most treacherous of all the ancient faerie folk . . . The shape-changing púca. The front cover features a púca, the mythical Irish shape-changer, as a muscular human figure with a goat's head. He's standing in a field in darkness, with a fire blazing in front of him. Inset in the dark sky above and behind him are a pair of yellow goat's eyes. The title is in orange against the sky, and my name is in black against the fire.
November 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
It can't all be about mining, or perhaps it is, because this could just be a rushing river of mud, or the flood caused by the bursting of a tailing pond, causing massive environmental damage. Again, I'm not sure if this is an enduring image of Durham. 6/
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Just to show that Durham isn't just about nineteenth century miners, here is . . . the tower for a pit wheel? Something, I'm not sure. It seems to have a Lego head on the top of it, where the wheel should be. And then there's a mysterious floating lantern. I don't know if this is a Durham thing. 5/
A silhouette image of a some kind of gantry or tower with a barrel shape at the top. It doesn't look like a pit wheel, and it's too small for a water tower. I just don't know what it's supposed to be. What looks like the top of a Victorian gas lamp-post, but without the post, floating in the sky over a landscape that has piles of bare earth in the foreground for some reason.
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Nor do pick handles have articulated arms. Or is this guy using a pickaxe and a walking stick at the same time? I would argue that this might interfere with his swing. Perhaps the aim here was to provide as many options as possible for 'archaic miner image'. 4/
A similar silhouette image of a man in an old-style, wide-brimmed mining helmet and a pick-axe which either has an articulated handle, or the man is holding a pick in one hand, and another handle in his other hand.
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Don't have FOUR VERSIONS of the same image. And yes, nothing says modern workforce like a pickaxe and an old US-style mining helmet. And let's have a look at that guy with the pick. Why is the handle of the pick so long? Have you never used a pick-axe? It is not for picking fruit. 3/
A silhouette image of a man in an old-style, wide-brimmed mining helmet and a pick-axe with a seven foot long handle.
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Okay, I can't let this one go. I live in Ireland, not the UK, but the use of this image by a supposedly socialist party is so stupid and offensive, I'm going to get stuck in.

Let me explain to you why any experienced illustrator/designer could have stopped you making so many miserable mistakes. 1/
A post by Zarah Sultana of 'Your Party', that uses a generated image with the words 'Your Party, County Durham Launch', surrounded by nine simple, flat images of images in silhouette with single colour backgrounds, presumably intended to represent Durham, four of which are a man with a weirdly long pick-axe, one is a building, two are gantries of some kind – for a coal mine? – and one is some kind of floating lamp. I will expand on this in the thread.
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
The production designer of The Expanse walks into the dark, smoke-filled director's office.
'We've a screen full of names to show in this scene. How many should we use for sci-fi Easter Eggs?'
The director, with hollowed-out eyes, cigarette in hand.
'Use them all.'
'But–.'
'I SAID USE THEM ALL!'
A shot of a screen in the sci-fi show, The Expanse, showing the names and bio read-outs, Aliens 2-style, of an assault squad gathered to attack a space station. The names are: Draper, Ackbar, Quaid, Bowman, Shepard, Burton, Idaho, Rogan, Nesmith, Buck, Garrity, Ripley, Hicks, Cooper, Anderton, Ochiai, Vasquez, Hudson, Deckard, O'Neil, Levine, Starr, Banks, Flynn, Neary, Rico, Thrace, Connor, Stone and Riker.
November 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
We in Europe admire your loyalty to your scale of choice.
A grey map of countries that use Fahrenheit – they’re marked in green. There are 19 of them, but the United States is the only ine large enough to be visible on this map.
November 12, 2025 at 5:15 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Ah, fantasy battles. When I started out, I thought I'd be doing a LOT more of this, but life has been far more varied than I expected.

If there's one thing I'd urge new illustrators to take on board, it's to keep your options open. There's much more out there than the kind of work you see online.
A privately commissioned, digital painting for a bunch of gamers, based in the Dragonlance fantasy universe. It's a battle in a dark, mountainous setting, centered around five classic character types, going from left to right: a knight swooping from the sky with angel-like wings made of swords; a dwarf knocking the head off a goblin with his battle-hammer; a ranger, leaping through the air, wielding two swords, one of which is cutting the arm off an orc; a rogue stabbing a knight with sword from behind, through his armpit and out his throat; a barbarian leaping at a reptilian warrior, a sword in one hand and a human head in the other. Around them are an assortment of human, orc, goblin and reptilian characters. In the background, an enormous dragon rises up from a hollow in the mountain, and two more smaller ones fight in the dirty red sky in the distance.
November 10, 2025 at 5:55 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Oh an 'ENGLISH war action movie', is it? Come over here and say that, why don'tcha?!
A screenshot of a menu item on YouTube: 'Jadotville, Full English War Action Movie', with a thumbnail image that must genAI, because two of the soliders feature look like they have very modern gear, and Jadotville, the battle fought by IRISH soldiers against overwhelming odds, took place in the Congo in 1961.
November 10, 2025 at 5:06 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Drop something blue.
A digitally painted illustration of a brown-skinned, fantasy cartoon-style warrior woman in a blue and cream outfit against a blue background. She’s holding a jagged fantasy sword and looking mean. Around her, like a game menu, is a selection of other weapons and tools.
November 7, 2025 at 12:33 AM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Some thoughts on #Frankenstein, the film and the book. I read the novel when I was in my early to mid twenties, I think, so there was a lot I didn't remember about the original story. There was no better man than Guillermo del Toro to make this film, so I was excited to see what he'd do with it. 1/
The poster for the film, with the tagline, 'Only monsters play God'. The title stretches across the middle, and the image is of a single figure whose giant form is covered by layers of ragged fabric and fur, leaving only a rough idea of what the monster looks like. He's standing in an Arctic wasteland, the air is filled with snow and there's a nineteenth century ship trapped in the ice in the background.
November 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
No lying or making yourself out to be a cool kid.

Post the first record you bought.

If you can remember the shop or circumstances add that too. Local colour appreciated.

My first two albums in vinyl. Poison’s Open Up and Say Ah! (long gone) and Queen’s Greatest Hits. The Sound Shop in Drogheda.
the album cover of Poison’s Open Up and Say Ah! A red and black photo of a glam rocker with huge hair and tiger stripes on his face, with an unnaturally long tongue. The text is in green. The cover of Queen’s Greatest Hits. All black with white and red type and skewed photo of the four band members, all dressed in black.
November 2, 2025 at 9:36 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
A huge thanks to Antonia Daly of Antonia's Bookstore in Trim for including The First Fire of Halloween in her four recommended books on the Late Lunch on LMFM! A great spot to get. The book section starts at 14min 28 secs in.

shows.acast.com/b693e735-811...

#Samhain #PucaFestival #SpeirGorm
The full cover of The First Fire of Halloween. The front features a púca, the mythical Irish shape-changer, as a muscular human figure with a goat's head. He's standing in a field in darkness, with a fire blazing in front of him. Inset in the dark sky above and behind him are a pair of yellow goat's eyes. The title is in orange against the sky, and my name is in black against the fire. The blurb on the back cover reads: Humans have forgotten why they once feared the púca. But he will make them remember. In the small Irish town of Athboy, there is a hill where the first fire was once lit each year to mark the beginning of Samhain. Bonfires would then be lit across the country, launching a festival to celebrate the last harvest before the harsh months of winter. On the night when the boundary with the Realm of the Dead was at its thinnest, it was believed that the spirits of the dead wandered the land. In recent years, that fire has been lit again every Halloween night. Jamie Sheldon is an American girl visiting the town with her parents for an archaeological dig. Rone O’Callaghan lives on a farm near Tlachtga, the ancient site on the Hill of Ward. Both teenagers are close by when a local man is murdered. The circumstances suggest the killer may be acting out some ancient ritual. The truth is even more macabre. This Halloween, as humans wander the streets wearing monster masks, there is a monster among them wearing a human mask. The most treacherous of all the ancient faerie folk . . . The shape-changing púca.
November 1, 2025 at 9:59 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Well, if I must . . .

#Alien #Halloween #Xenomorph #Horror #Xenovember
The original xenomorph from Alien, hanging from a circular vent in a spaceship corridor, dimly by green lights running along the edges of the floor. There’s steam coming from the vent, and the alien, a bony biomechanical thing with a long-domed head, is only partially visible in the shadowy space.
November 1, 2025 at 4:29 PM
oisinmcgann.bsky.social
Watching The Expanse, and I’m a fan of repurposing everyday objects for sci-fi props, but this cryogenic chamber (containing a child) is VERY obviously a roof-box for a car.
A man in a white lab coat standing over a counter, on which rests a black cryogenic chamber in the exact sleek shape of a roof-box for a car.
October 31, 2025 at 9:35 PM