Séamus Coyle was my local councillor for as long as I can remember. From experience, I know how diligent he was in raising his constituents’ concerns and suggestions. As a person, he was an absolute gentleman. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. www.northernsound.ie/news/death-o...

Death of local councillor Séamus Coyle has been announced | NorthernSound

Long-serving Fianna Fáil County Monaghan Councillor Séamus Coyle has died.  The local rep who is the current Cathaoirleach of the Ballybay/Clones Municipal Dist...

northernsound.ie

On this day, 200 years ago, during the Co. Monaghan general election, priests in Monaghan addressed their flock attending Mass on the day of Saints Peter and Paul and encouraged them to vote for Henry Robert Westenra to remove the anti-Catholic Charles Powell Leslie from parliament. 🧵1/3

I was delighted to be involved in this project both as a speaker at the conference at @durhamhistory.bsky.social back in 2023, and helping to promote the wonderful @parlhistjournal.bsky.social issue on social media. You can read the issue and conference blogs, including my own, in the link below.

History of Parliament@histparl.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Our colleague Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones has edited a special issue of the @parlhistjournal.bsky.social, which is free to read until the end of June. Find out more about the issue and how to access pieces written by current and former @victoriancommons.bsky.social colleagues below.

We are delighted to publish our latest issue with a number of Open and Free Access articles from leading scholars, covering topics as diverse as social mobility in the reign of Henry VI, the 1876 Royal Titles Bill, and the May 1940 Norway Debate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17500206...

Parliamentary History: Vol 45, No 2

Click on the title to browse this issue

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Colleagues might consider signing this petition against the downgrading of AHSS research by Research Ireland openletter.earth/concern-abou...

Concern about Research Ireland’s Strategy and Programme Plan

openletter.earth

The only Eurovision I'm watching this year.

As the king opens a new session of @ukparliament.parliament.uk today, I retraced (as I do daily on my way to @tcddublin.bsky.social) the route taken by the lord lieutenant of Ireland during the C18 from @dublincastle.bsky.social to the House of Lords chamber when he opened the Irish Parliament

Parliamentary History Journal@parlhistjournal.bsky.social · 3mo ago

As a new session of @ukparliament.parliament.uk is opened today, why not take a look at some of our articles examining the pageantry, ritual and politics of this ancient ceremony 🧵1/5

All research papers published in the Academy’s journals during 2026 will be freely available online, providing equitable open access for authors and readers, with no APCs charged. This development was made possible by Project MUSE’s Subscribe to Open initiative and ongoing support from IReL.

Reading old documents in archives is my bread and butter, but reading the 1926 Irish Free State census online and seeing the names of close relatives, some of whom I remember, is another experience! The census can be searched here: nationalarchives.ie/collections/...

It's a pity that the Dáil has abandoned the Westminster tradition of voting through its division lobbies and is voting on the confidence motion by roll-call.

I marked Good Friday this evening with an ecumenical walk through the streets of Dublin, led by Achbishops Dermot Farrell and Michael Jackson from St Mary's Cathedral to @cccdublin.bsky.social

Today being St Macartan's Day, I called into @nmireland.bsky.social's Archaeology branch to view An Domhnach Airgid. Macartan was a disciple of St Patrick and founding bishop of Clogher. According to tradition, Patrick gave Macartan a gospel manuscript that was kept in this shrine. 1/2

@lindaervine.bsky.social will be speaking about the east Belfast Irish language project 'Turas' in Cahans Meeting House, County Monaghan, tomorrow, 20 March at 20:00.

Patrick Duffy@pduffy1.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Beidh @lindaervine.bsky.social ag caint faoin tionscnamh Gaeilge Oirthear Bhéal Feirste, 'Turas' i dTeach Pobail Cahans, Contae Mhuineacháin, amárach, 20 Márta ag 20:00. Eircode H18 E7N1

Beidh @lindaervine.bsky.social ag caint faoin tionscnamh Gaeilge Oirthear Bhéal Feirste, 'Turas' i dTeach Pobail Cahans, Contae Mhuineacháin, amárach, 20 Márta ag 20:00. Eircode H18 E7N1

Happy #StPatricksDay On this day in 1835 there was ‘a very large attendance’ of MPs in the Commons, including the leading Irish MP Daniel O’Connell ‘wearing a large bunch of shamrock’. For more on some of the Irish MPs we have researched, see victoriancommons.wordpress.com/category/ire...

Ireland – The Victorian Commons

Posts about Ireland written by Martin Spychal, sball1832, Kathryn Rix, and Philip Salmon

victoriancommons.wordpress.com

Some St Patrick's Day reading - by Roman Catholic bishop emeritus of Clogher Joseph Duffy

No better way to begin St Patrick's Day celebrations than by visiting his city of Armagh for an ecumenical vigil walk between the two cathedrals led by Archbishops Eamon Martin and John McDowell

The passage of the Hereditary Peers Bill in the Lords yesterday means an end to 366 unbroken years of membership of Parliament by peers claiming their seats by hereditary right. If one overlooks the hiatus of 1649-1660, their participation dates back to the very beginning of parliaments. #HistParl

At @abbeytheatre.bsky.social tonight, to see the centenary production of the classic The Plough and the stars. Let's hope there's no disruption like there was when it was first performed back in 1926! More on about the playwright, Sean O'Casey here: www.dib.ie/biography/oc...

The latest issue of @parlhistjournal.bsky.social explores the practices and organisation of politics in the long 19th century. Edited by #HistParl's Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones, this special issue can be accessed now:

The 2026 special issue, edited by Naomi Lloyd-Jones is now live! The issue is the product of a 2023 conference at @durhamhistory.bsky.social discussing collective action and the politics of organisation in Britain and Ireland in the long nineteenth-century: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1750...

Parliamentary History

Click on the title to browse this journal

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Parliamentary History is delighted to join LinkedIn! Check out our page and give us a follow. Details of our upcoming special issue will be posted on our platforms very soon! www.linkedin.com/company/parl...

Parliamentary History Journal | LinkedIn

Parliamentary History Journal | 4 followers on LinkedIn. Peer-reviewed research on the history of parliamentary institutions in Britain, Ireland and the British colonies. | Parliamentary History provi...

linkedin.com

Rough diamonds: Frank McNally on a geometric oddity unique to Ulster (and Pennsylvania)

Rough diamonds: Frank McNally on a geometric oddity unique to Ulster (and Pennsylvania)

While most towns have squares, for some reason they’re called diamonds in the North – whatever shape they are

irishtimes.com

I was delighted to attend the launch of the @arinsproject.bsky.social exhibition on the Protestant Association of County Monaghan at Monaghan County Museum today. Curated by Samuel Beckton, it contains documents of the Association, which will be deposited in an archive after the exhibition ends1.

The Trustees and editors of Parliamentary History are delighted to announce that the essay prize for 2025 has been awarded to Peter Keeling (linktr.ee/peterkeeling) for: ‘Non-simultaneous polling in United Kingdom general elections, 1885-1918' 🧵1/6

And they’re off. The annual mass escape from Dublin Castle, commemorating the real jailbreak of 1592 by Red Hugh O’Donnell & the O’Neill Brothers. Competitors will cover 62km through the night, across the mountains to Glenmalure Valley. That’s if they make it, unlike Art O’Neill, who died en route.

Having heard about the campaign to grant Choral Evensong World Heritage status on BBC Radio 4 last night, I decided to attend one this evening at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. I used to attend one regularly during my year at @lincoln.ox.ac.uk. bbc.com/audio/play/m...

@markhennessy.bsky.social's article on this file is the most interesting so far: www.irishtimes.com/history/2025...

State carried out secret study on asking UN to make Northern Ireland a trusteeship

Confidential report on inviting peacekeepers to North was ‘very helpful’ to minister Garret Fitzgerald

irishtimes.com

Patrick Duffy@pduffy1.bsky.social · 8mo ago

One of my favourite parts of Christmas is @irishtimes.com and @news.rte.ie's coverage of the release of state papers transferred to the National Archives. Coverage be found at www.irishtimes.com/tags/state-p... and www.rte.ie/news/state-p...

One of my favourite parts of Christmas is @irishtimes.com and @news.rte.ie's coverage of the release of state papers transferred to the National Archives. Coverage be found at www.irishtimes.com/tags/state-p... and www.rte.ie/news/state-p...

State Papers - The Irish Times

irishtimes.com

Reading the Standard for the last time on a Thursdsy evening. My article on its political ideology during its first five years is on the right.

Patrick Duffy@pduffy1.bsky.social · 8mo ago

1/ I wrote a short piece on the early history of the Northern Standard for its final ever issue today. There are also some good memoirs from Adrian Harte and Brendan Ó Dufaigh shining light on its more recent history.