Looking forward to presenting my research on how families sought to preserve the decency of relatives who died in the workhouse at @ssnci.bsky.social ‘Intimacies in 19th C Ireland’ conference. This year marks 10 years since I studied abroad at Maynooth, so it will be great to be back on campus

Check out our wonderful conference schedule and join us for 'Intimacies in Nineteenth Century Ireland'! It promises to provide exciting new perspectives on old and new themes! @l19cmanmet.bsky.social @irishunireview.bsky.social @iaphistorians.bsky.social @efacis.bsky.social

Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland @ssnci.bsky.social · 4mo ago

For details on the 2026 SSNCI Annual Conference and our registration link see ssnci.org/annual-confe...

Saw ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ at @nationaltheatre.org.uk. The play did a great job depicting rural Irish folk traditions. My research examines keening and wakes, so it was amazing to see keening onstage. Definitely recommend this play! The cast, staging, and production were brilliant

A great content warning for the Beaney Museum’s ‘What Remains? Canterbury’s Ancestors, Ethics, History & Science’ exhibit. I was pleased to see how the warning sign highlighted the humanity and individuality of the human remains on display. #histmed #ethics

When on holiday in Alaska, I visited the Gold Rush #Cemetery in #Skagway. The cemetery opened in 1898 and is the resting place of prospectors and those who settled in Skagway. The headstones are a mix of original and restored monuments. I am intrigued about the history of the unknown headstones

In the 1870s, the Holborn guardians built the Holborn Union Infirmary in Archway/Highgate, N London solely as a hospital distinct from the main workhouse site. Across the street at Whittington Hospital, is an 1848 Smallpox & Vaccination Hospital #workhouse #histmed #londonhistory #islington

🎧 Tune in to @nearfm.ie tomorrow (May 29th) at 6pm to hear @shelbyzimme.bsky.social exploring the reality of death, dying, and medical care in Dublin city’s largest poorhouse. Supported by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television licence fee. 🔗 nearfm.ie/trinity-talk... #TrinityTalks

Thank you @tlrhub.bsky.social and NearFMfor inviting me to speak on medical relief and death in the post-Famine Dublin #workhouses. It was a great conversation & I enjoyed hearing about the audience’s family history. The recording will be released on 29 May #irishhistory #histmed

Honoured to have contributed to this volume on death and institutions. My chapter examines how the priorities of post-Famine Irish workhouse administration shaped institutional mortality Thanks to @cendeathsociety.bsky.social @brisunipress.bsky.social bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/death-and-in...

Excellent exhibition, ‘Making the Rounds’ at @rcnlibraries.bsky.social in London.This exhibit explores the experience and stories of workhouse nurses in Norfolk. As artefacts tend to not survive from workhouse infirmaries, artist Connie Flynn used textiles to share these stories #workhouse #histmed

Next week, the edited collection ‘Death and Institutions,’ which I contributed a chapter to will be published. Check out @deathstudiespod.bsky.social for an overview of the book, chapter summaries & editors’ interview @cendeathsociety.bsky.social thedeathstudiespodcast.com/episodes/ #workhouse

Episodes - The Death Studies Podcast

What’s the episode about? In this episode, get an overview of the 2025 Edited Collection Death and Institutions: Processes, Places and the Past   What is the Book About? Institutions play a crucial role in shaping experiences of end-of-life care, dying, death, body disposal and bereavement. However, there has been little holistic or multidisciplinary research…

thedeathstudiespodcast.com

BBC News - Call for council to mark city's hidden burial ground www.bbc.com/news/article...

Calls for council to mark 'forgotten' burial ground

The three-acre site near the City Hospital contains more than 10,000 bodies dating back to the Irish famine.

bbc.com

Looking forward to returning to Dublin to speak at the UCD Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland’s seminar series on 6 Feb. My paper will discuss the institutional options for end of life in late 19th and early 20th century Dublin. #histmed #irishhistory #workhouse @tlrhub.bsky.social

Trade Card of Nathaniel Longbottom, “Supplier of Skeletons in St. Thomas's Street, Southwark,” late 18th century. Longbottom would likely have had interactions with bodysnatchers (or “resurrectionists”) to help him procure skeletons for his shop. Photo: Wellcome Collection

The IHA Medical & Health Humanities Working Group have compiled an impressive Research Snapshot from across the island of Ireland. This report, launched on 27 Nov at the @ria.ie, includes an overview of research in this area from 138 colleagues in Ireland. www.irishhumanities.com/assets/Uploa...

Spotted on London’s tube today. In the 1950s and 60s, there was a mass influx of Irish immigrants in England. It is great that the Irish government is reaching out to London residents who were confined in Irish mother and baby homes. Hopefully this is one step towards justice for these women

My book Power and Powerlessness in Union Ireland: Life in a Palliative State (OUP, 2024) was just published online. It is ludicrously expensive, so let me explain the basic premise of the book. If interested, please encourage your local/univ library to buy a copy. academic.oup.com/book/58980 🧵

Smallpox Elf is learning about anatomy & dissection at the @oldoptheatre.bsky.social. Test your diagnosis skills on the museum’s ’Disease Elves’ trail. Although smallpox had less than 25% mortality rate, vaccination reduced the risk of serious infections. It is the only globally eradicated disease

On 28 November, the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre will launch Mike Jay’s ‘Psychonauts: Drugs and the Modern Mind.’ The book discusses early scientists who experimented with mind-altering substances. Would interest historians of medicine, drug history, psych. #histmed #drughistory #psychiatry #london

Exploring the Mind with Psychonauts: In Conversation with Mike Jay

Join us for an intriguing evening with author Mike Jay, who will discuss his latest book, Psychonauts: Drugs and the Modern Mind.

eventbrite.co.uk

I am a historian based in London and am available for freelance research work. If there are any documents you would like to consult in London archives but unable to visit, I am happy to photograph or transcribe them. Please contact me if you’re looking for a research assistant

Yesterday I saw ‘Small Things Like These’ in the cinema. This brilliant film examines the power the Church had over Ireland in the 1980s and how it encouraged citizens to be complacent regarding the Magdalene Laundries. It is important to remember the stories of women in these institutions.

Always fun going out into the community with the Old Operating Theatre Museum and using museum collections to share the history of medicine #histmed #london #museum

Last year, my dad passed away from brain cancer (glioblastoma). In his honour, I am participating in London's Halloween Walk to raise money for Brain Tumour Charity. Thank you for helping to support an excellent charity in finding a cure for brain tumours. t.co/tD1VGy0vFg

I am a historian based in London and am available for freelance research work. If there are any documents you would like to consult in London archives but unable to visit, I am happy to photograph or transcribe them. Please contact me if you’re looking for a research assistant

London folk! One week today I’ll be at Old Operating Theatre talking about the history of dissection - with a chance to explore this amazing museum after dark, with a drink!

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine provides a fascinating look into the role of medicine during the US civil war including developments in ambulances and embalming the dead. Definitely worth a visit if in Frederick, MD. #histmed #maryland #history

Last year, my dad passed away from brain cancer (glioblastoma). In his honour, I am participating in London's Halloween Walk to raise money for Brain Tumour Charity. Thank you for helping to support an excellent charity in finding a cure for brain tumours. t.co/tD1VGy0vFg

Brompton Cemetery is one of London’s Magnificent Seven garden cemeteries and is the resting place for Emmeline Pankhurst and John Snow. As a medical historian, it was great to see the grave of the doctor who determined cholera was waterborne in 1854 #histmed #london #cemetery #bromptoncemetery

Thank you RTÈ for publishing my piece on how Trinity College Dublin acquired the skeleton of a centenarian who died in the North Dublin Union workhouse in 1889 #medicalhistory #workhouse #ethics #provenance www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

How skeleton of 106 year old Dubliner ended up in Trinity College

The use of James Conway's body for medical research in 1889 says much about the unethical historical acquisition of human remains

rte.ie

Such an interesting find! These types of records tend not to survive for the Dublin workhouses. As there were no standard regulations for what happened to the corpse between death and burial, this coffin ticket offers valuable insight into this Welsh workhouse’s mortuary procedures

Louvain Rees ⚰️@hellohistoria.bsky.social · 2y ago

Over the past few days, I've been looking at workhouse death announcements. This is a copy of a ticket that was pasted on the coffin allocated to a person having a pauper burial. 📷 Coffin Ticket • Abergavenny Workhouse #History #Wales