Patrick Freyne: Here’s why AI is making us dumber and more lonely Writing forces people to resolve internal contradictions and confront their own bullshit. It’s why it’s hard. It’s why it’s beautiful

@patrickfreyne.bsky.social in praise of
reading
writing
and thinking:
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

A critical piece about the "very sophisticated pieces of sentence completion technology" a.k.a. AI.

The Lyell Lectures 2026 The 2026 Lyell Lectures, hosted by the Bodleian Libraries and delivered by Professor Mercedes García-Arenal

Roll up, roll up for the 2026 Lyell Lectures! These will be given by Prof Mercedes García-Arenal on 'Muslim Books in Christian Hands: From Iberian Moriscos to Early Modern Europe' @bodleian.ox.ac.uk on 28, 30 April, & 5, 7. 11, May at 5pm. Free, but book! visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/lyell-lectur...

The Shrine of the Miosach on display in the National Museum of Ireland

Shrine of the Miosach • 11-12th century (with later modifications)

This book shrine is made from yew covered in metal plates. The manuscript which it contained has sadly been lost.

It is thought to date from around 1100, but it was repaired and modified in the 16th century.

#Ireland

Database on vikings in Irish Chronicles AD 794-902 which was completed as part of my doctoral research (a looong time ago) www.celt.dias.ie/publications... #medievalsky #archaeology #spéirghorm

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 F 16, the Book of O’Gara. This important collection of poetry, compiled in the 1650s in continental Europe, preserves earlier material from sources that have since been lost.

A regular reminder: books about the Ancient Celtic languages are availabe through the Maynooth University Bookshop (e.g., my book on Ogham at shop.universitybooks.ie/Books/Ogam-L...) or (soon again) in the shop of @nmireland.bsky.social.

1/3 📜✨ New on ISOS: Russell Library, Maynooth
Three Irish-language manuscripts (19th c.).
Grammar, poetry, devotion & tradition, scribes Seán Ó Coileáin, Denis Murray & Seosamh Ó Longáin.
Ogham lore, spiritual texts & literary reflection.
🙏 Thanks to
@mulibrary.bsky.social
@dias.ie
#DIASdiscovers

Still 2 weeks to apply for this position! It’s to provide cover for me while I work on a research project, so I have lots of teaching materials I'm happy to share & the department can offer some extra funding for attending conferences, etc. Come work with us in @ceilteachomn.bsky.social next year!

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies building in Dublin, Ireland

Scoláireacht bliana le fáil i Scoil an Léinn Cheiltigh
1 Year scholarship available in SCS
@dias.ie
Sonraí / Details:
www.dias.ie/2026/03/06/v...

Two new positions with the #ERC-BROKENSONG project at Maynooth University. The first position is for a Postdoctoral Researcher/Senior Postdoctoral Researcher to conduct analysis of the medieval Insular music corpus recovered, transcribed, and edited within the project. my.corehr.com/pls/nuimrecr...

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 E 25, Lebor na hUidre / The Book of the Dun Cow. This 12th century manuscript is best known for containing the oldest extant version of the Táin Bó Cuailgne, or the Cattle Raid of Cooley, a renowned Irish epic.

Happening one week from today! Please join Patrick Wadden, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, John McCafferty, Catherine McKenna, me, and bunch of your best Celticists friends for the virtual book launch of An Eoraip. Register at uconn-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

An creideamh, an Ghaeilge agus na cnámha aduaine An scéal neamhghnách faoin tslí ar tharla sleachta Gaeilge a bheith scríofa ar chnámha beithígh

An creideamh, an Ghaeilge agus na cnámha aduaine

www.irishtimes.com/gaeilge/tuar...

A selection of books form the Fagel Collection

TCD Library is recruiting a Senior Bibliographer to help catalogue the Fagel Collection! This is a fabulous professional opportunity to work on one of Europe's great early modern private libraries. Closing 10 March at noon. Full details available at www.tcd.ie/hr/vacancies

Looking forward to speaking at this event in a few weeks time!

Hugely looking forward to hosting this one-day symposium on 'Medical Learning in the Medieval Gaelic World' as part of the @researchireland.ie LEIGHEAS project @maynoothuniversity.ie - join us @ceilteachomn.bsky.social @muahi.bsky.social on Thursday 12th March!

Dublinia Spring Lecture Series 2026 From the Medieval period right up to the modern era, explore Ireland’s fascinating relationship with magic, belief and the sacred.

Free lunchtime lecture! I’ll be giving a talk at the Dublinia Museum next week on

‘𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝’

Thursday 5th March, 1pm

Still a few tickets left on Eventbrite – all welcome!

www.eventbrite.ie/e/dublinia-s...

Ar 5 Márta beidh mé in @ria.ie ag caint ar chnámha (!) ón 19ú céad, agus go háirithe ar an gcnámh seo thíos atá anois i mbailiúchán an Acadaimh👇

Research-Creation in the early Middle Ages: the example of Hibernicus Exul : Find an Expert : The University of Melbourne <p> The pivotal role played by Irish scholars in preserving and transmitting ancient learning during the early Middle Ages is well known even beyond the academy, thanks to popularising works such as ‘How the Irish Saved Civilization’. Yet a great deal of work remains to be done on individual Irish figures working in continental Europe during the eighth to tenth centuries in order to establish more rigorously the Irish contribution. The shadowy figure known as ‘Hibernicus Exul’ (‘the Irish exile’) provides an ideal test-case for this work: the author of thirty-eight Latin poems, on scholarly, political, and comic topics, his works appear in a single manuscript, Vatican Reg. Lat. 2078. This is an important and influential poetic anthology from the heart of the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of intense cultural and intellectual activity in eight- and ninth-century Europe during which the literature and learning of the ancient Graeco-Roman world was rediscovered and concerted efforts were made to standardise and widen access to educational systems, with significant consequences for the intellectual history of western Europe. The PhD student recruited will write the first monograph-length study of Hibernicus Exul, setting his work in the context of the manuscript, addressing the controversial question of his possible identification with the better- known Carolingian scholar Dúngal, and demonstrate how the poet exemplifies the nature of medieval Irish literature, which simultaneously aims to educate and to entertain, and can in many ways be seen as a predecessor of today’s Research-Creation. </p> <p> <strong>Please note below additional requirements when submitting your Expressions of Interest:</strong> </p> <ul> <li>Additional requirements: <ul> <li> <strong>Statement of research interest [max. 1000 words]</strong> </li> <li> <strong>MA in a related field, or equivalent, to be completed by the programme start date.</strong> </li> <li> <strong>Evidence of at least six semesters of Latin, or equivalent, with grades of B+ or higher, or equivalent</strong> </li> </ul> </li> </ul>

#MEDIEVAL #LATIN #PHD OPPORTUNITY:
Co-supervised by myself and Cillian O'Hogan, University of Toronto

Project start: September 2027, with time in #Toronto, France, & @unimelb.edu.au. #Scholarship includes tuition fees, living allowance, health insurance, and relocation support.

Get in touch!

For the week that’s in it: the LEIGHEAS project Medical Manuscript of the Month for February 2026 is Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland MS Adv. 72.1.13, containing an Irish translation of Bernard of Gordon’s chapter on lovesickness:

leigheas.maynoothuniversity.ie/leigheas-man...

𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘀
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙣𝙖́𝙣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣
John Carey

More Info: bit.ly/3OyLT6A

#Eschatology #Translation #Irish #Apocrypha #Bible #Christianity

The spring Library newsletter is live! Take a look to discover more about our current exhibition, upcoming events, blogs, podcasts, and more!
mailchi.mp/ria.ie/libra...

Nice to see some very cool images from my ‘Classicizing the Gaelic’ chapter on the visuality of Irish manuscripts included in this Irish Times write-up of the book Irish Migrations and Classical Antiquity 👇

🎇Job Klaxon!!🎇 Assistant Lectureship in Medieval Irish and Celtic Studies at Maynooth University (12-month contract). Application deadline 22 March 2026. Come work with us in the Department of Early Irish @ceilteachomn.bsky.social!

my.corehr.com/pls/nuimrecr...

1/3 📜✨ New on ISOS: Russell Library, Maynooth
Two remarkable Irish-language manuscripts (18th & 19th c.).
Scribes include Pól Ó Longáin & Seán Ó Laochadh.
Dialogues, Ogham lore, heroic saga, poetry & genealogies.

🙏Thanks to
@mulibrary.bsky.social
@dias.ie
@dias-isos.bsky.social

#DIASdiscovers

In our new blog post, Typographia, see how words literally took shape and communicated meaning through nearly 500-year-old books in the Library.


Read it on: mulibrarytreasures.wordpress.com

Hagiography with Dr Sarah Waidler

Have you listened to The Medieval Irish History Podcast's latest episode yet?

In this episode, Dr Niamh Wycherley interviews Dr Sarah Waidler (NYU), a specialist on medieval Irish hagiographies and the various texts that can broadly be understood within the spectrum of holy writings.

academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15745

PhD scholarship in History or Geography at Dublin City University - applicants with an interest in medieval Ireland are particularly encouraged to apply.

#MedievalSky

www.dcu.ie/historygeogr...

Despite its shortcomings (mostly related to me not being an art historian), this was one of the most enjoyable pieces of academic writing I’ve ever done!
#LámhscríbhinníGaeilge

Classicizing the Gaelic: Visual Classicism, Migration and Irish Manuscript Culture

tinyurl.com/5n7wwccd