David Kenny
@dkennytcd.bsky.social
Professor in Law and Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, teaching constitutional law, law & lit, & why law is basically nonsense. he/him
Thanks to @irishtimes.com for publishing this article by @dkennytcd.bsky.social and me on the criteria for calling a border poll. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202... #BorderPoll #Ireland #BorderPoll #SpéirGorm #NorthernIreland #UKPolitics #IrishPolitics
How would a Border poll on Irish unity get called in Northern Ireland?
The Belfast Agreement sets out rules for calling a unity referendum, but is vague on some details
irishtimes.com
Hugely pleased with this: my article about Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels as proto-comparative constitutional law is now out in @law-and-humanities.bsky.social! It’s open access thanks to @tcdlibrary.bsky.social so it’s available to all. You can read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Oh what a night of ancient Indian Irish musical dialogue at the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival ... Soumik Datta on sarod alongside the piano/ voice of Michael Gallen & bodhrán virtuoso Cormac Byrne layered with delicious tales of Jonathan Swift from @dkennytcd.bsky.social
Anyone in Belfast: the Jaipur Literature Festival Island of Ireland kicks off in Ulster University tomorrow evening! I’m chatting with Shashi Tharoor about Living Constitutions on Saturday afternoon. Free to attend, all welcome! Full programme and registration available here: jlflitfest.org/ireland
A college professor spent seven years decoding the inscription on the grave of the writer Jonathan Swift. He thinks he’s finally cracked it. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Jonathan Swift Wrote His Own Epitaph. Was It a Joke?
A college professor spent seven years decoding the inscription on the grave of the writer Jonathan Swift. He thinks he’s finally cracked it.
newyorker.com
One of the most fun things that has happened to me: @edcaesar.bsky.social, one of my favourite writers, wrote for the @newyorker.com about my long-running quest to find a hidden meaning in Jonathan Swift’s epitaph. Thanks to Ed’s narrative skills, it’s a great read! www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Jonathan Swift Wrote His Own Epitaph. Was It a Joke?
A college professor spent seven years decoding the inscription on the grave of the writer Jonathan Swift. He thinks he’s finally cracked it.
newyorker.com
The great Cass Sunstein delivering a public lecture on campus free speech at Trinity next Thursday. Should be hugely worthwhile. All welcome, booking essential at the form below. forms.office.com/pages/respon...
Have any legal practitioner friends in Ireland had courtroom encounters (criminal or civil) with people using the methods of the Freemen on the Land? Would love to chat quickly at some stage if so.
Paperback is here and, to judge by its cover, it’s great! It can be yours for €37.50 including shipping if you want 2026 to be your year of law and literature!
David Kenny@dkennytcd.bsky.social · 10mo agoJust in time for the Christmas, you can preorder the paperback copy of my book! It won’t arrive until after Christmas, which I know will disappoint many, but a printout of a preorder is often an even better stocking filler than a book. 20% off with code below! www.routledge.com/Pragmatism-L...
New symposium issue of Comparative Constitutional Studies: “After the Referendum”. Includes analysis of referendum failures in Ireland (by me), Australia, Chile, and Taiwan, alongside other great papers and book discussion. Open access for a limited time! www.elgaronline.com/view/journal...
elgaronline.com
Just in time for the Christmas, you can preorder the paperback copy of my book! It won’t arrive until after Christmas, which I know will disappoint many, but a printout of a preorder is often an even better stocking filler than a book. 20% off with code below! www.routledge.com/Pragmatism-L...
Another obscure academic crowdsource request - does anyone have access to the Philological Quarterly from 1966 and a willingness to help me?
Rarely spotted job fairy alert! A specific public law senior lecturer/reader post (and a few other positions - including in environmental law - to boot). Please spread the word! Happy to discuss with anyone who is tempted to come join us in Newcastle: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPM199/s...
Senior Lecturer/Reader in Public Law at Newcastle University
Apply now for the Senior Lecturer/Reader in Public Law role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
jobs.ac.uk
Extremely niche request, very unlikely to work: does anyone know anyone who specialises in analysis of historical handwriting??
Really looking forward to presenting to wonderful colleagues at Glasgow tomorrow on some recent work about Irish parliamentary culture and practice.
Martin David Kelly@martindavidkelly.bsky.social · 11mo agoLooking forward to tomorrow afternoon's @uofglaw.bsky.social Public Law Research Cluster seminar, when David Kenny (@dkennytcd.bsky.social) of @tcddublin.bsky.social will present his paper 'Ireland, Westminster, and Political Constitutionalism'.
CfP: announcing the 8th L&H Roundtable workshop 'Visions of Democracy in Art and Literature' @tcddublin.bsky.social on 19 Jun 2026. Submit abstracts to Roisin.acostello@tcd.ie by Fri 6 Feb @legalhumanities.bsky.social @sophiedoherty.bsky.social @dkennytcd.bsky.social @drelenacooper.bsky.social 👇
Exciting news: the Law and Humanities Roundtables comes to Trinity College Dublin next summer!
Law and Humanities@law-and-humanities.bsky.social · 11mo agoCfP: announcing the 8th L&H Roundtable workshop 'Visions of Democracy in Art and Literature' @tcddublin.bsky.social on 19 Jun 2026. Submit abstracts to Roisin.acostello@tcd.ie by Fri 6 Feb @legalhumanities.bsky.social @sophiedoherty.bsky.social @dkennytcd.bsky.social @drelenacooper.bsky.social 👇
Is the legal world really too complicated for any abstraction? @dkennytcd.bsky.social argues so in his new book 'Pragmatism, Law and Literature' tinyurl.com/yc5spfh3 as reviewed for us by @adamhanna.bsky.social - Find Adam Hanna's review here: doi.org/10.1080/1752...
Pragmatism, Law, and Literature
This book uses literary examples to make the case for understanding law and the legal system through the lens of philosophical pragmatism. For pragmatists, experience is everything; they argue against...
tinyurl.com
This is going to be an excellent event with speakers including @maireadenright.bsky.social @conorkelly.bsky.social @dkennytcd.bsky.social @aileenkavanagh.bsky.social @aileenmcharg.bsky.social @danielwincott.bsky.social @profnicolamcewen.bsky.social 📢
@ICONSGBIE@iconsgbie.bsky.social · last yr.📢ICON GBIE, TRICON, QUB Webinar: Familiarity, Culture & Expertise: The Future of Referendums in Ireland & the UK Oct 17th 10:00-13:00 Online To register follow the link below: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0d55a0... 1/3 👇
Great seminar yesterday at @tricondublin.bsky.social @tlrhub.bsky.social to mark the 10th anniversary of the Marriage Equality Referendum in Ireland. Special thanks to Katherine Zappone for her fascinating talk and conversation with Profs @aileenkavanagh.bsky.social & @dkennytcd.bsky.social
Great to partner with the Irish Jurisprudence Society for an excellent constitutional theory seminar with Prof Lawrence Sager @utexaslaw.bsky.social, with comments by @dkennytcd.bsky.social & @aileenkavanagh.bsky.social, chaired by @conorcrummey.bsky.social
On May 1st, @tricondublin.bsky.social members Prof @dkennytcd.bsky.social and Dr Róisín Costello will speak at this legal humanities symposium on Antigone and Ireland at the @abbeytheatre.bsky.social
Irish Network for the Legal Humanities@legalhumanities.bsky.social · 2y agoAntigone and Ireland: A Symposium in the Legal Humanities Details and tickets (free) at the Abbey Theatre link below. (Full programme at their embedded Eventbrite ticket link.) www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats-on/ant...
Wonderful, sunny Trinity Monday celebrating our newest Fellow Andrea Milligan FTCD and some of our terrific new scholars.
@blueprincegame.bsky.social hi! Cutscenes don’t play on steamdeck - just hang on a test screen until you slip them - any suggestions?
The legal humanities are a global phenomenon. Read why the IHA now has an established working group in this area from our WG Co-Chair @adamhanna.bsky.social @ucc.ie www.irishhumanities.com/blog/the-leg...
The Legal Humanities Working Group: An Introduction | Irish Humanities Alliance
The legal humanities are a global phenomenon; the newly-established Legal Humanities Working Group in the Irish Humanities Alliance is interested in the ways in which they have been, and continue to b...
irishhumanities.com
Antigone and Ireland: A Symposium in the Legal Humanities Details and tickets (free) at the Abbey Theatre link below. (Full programme at their embedded Eventbrite ticket link.) www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats-on/ant...
@cado.bsky.social I was just listening to this week’s episode and when you mentioned the banana game, I yelled “GORRILAS.BAS”! Is this it? My sisters and I used to play it constantly on our pre-windows DOS machine. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla...
Gorillas (video game) - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Crowdsource request - does anyone have access to a document known as “The Blank of Ireland”, apparently an Irish Freeman on the Land legal manual (like The Freeman Guide, which I have) of the early 2010s? I cannot find a copy, several links I found were dead.
I spoke to @mrkocnnll.bsky.social at @tlrhub.bsky.social last month about difficult men, big second acts, the spectre of the author in non-fiction writing, and his very exciting new book project. Recording available at the link below. www.tcd.ie/trinitylongr...
Mark O'Connell Fellow in Focus - Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute | Trinity College DublinmenusearchSearchmenu
Speaking with David Kenny from Trinity’s School of Law, Rooney Writer Fellow Mark O’Connell discussed the “villains” in his books and other reccurring themes that preoccupy him.
tcd.ie
This year I’m channelling Samuel Beckett when, in 1984, the Times asked him for his new year hopes and resolutions and he responded with the following telegram: “RESOLUTIONS: ZERO. HOPES: ZERO. BECKETT”.