Dr Rachel Murphy
@rachelmurphy.bsky.social
Assistant Professor in Irish History @unioflimerick.bsky.social | Landed estates, history of family, local history, digital humanities | Historical GIS | Genealogist | Learning about biodiversity | Thurles, Co. Tipperary. 🇪🇺🌍🌳
📢PROJECT UPDATE📢 You may have seen the news that the University of Exeter, home of the wills project, has placed 500 academics at risk of redundancy. The project leader Prof. Jane Whittle & project co-investigator Dr Laura Sangha are both at risk, alongside almost all of the History department. 1/
The Creative Industries added £124 billion to the UK economy in 2023, but yes, let's not bother to fund any training and education in them. I mean, it's not like we're known for music, fashion, artists, filmmakers, performers. Make it make sense.
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6d agoCreative & performing arts subjects received £16.8 million SPG 2024-25; £12.9 million in 2025-26; £ O million in 2026-27. The University of Creative Arts will thus lose half of its government funding this year; Art University Bournmouth 40.7%, Norwich U of Arts 40.4% and Leeds Arts U 30.3%. 1/2
‘The labour of the month of August’, Limoges, workshop of Jean Pénicaud II, c. 1555 (British Museum)
Some historical background to the fires in southwestern France, drawing on reading I did for my 2019 book about the moorlands, and lamenting the deeply depressing reality that we have known many of the causes of this ecological disaster for 150years 🗃️ williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/u...
Unintentional Arson
The fires in southwestern France are an appalling demonstration of the reality of climate change in 2026. But this is not the first ecological devastation in the region, and the role of human actio…
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
Crews continue to manage flare-ups on Slievenamon https://www.europesays.com/ie/610495/ A Status Orange high forest fire risk warning has been extended nationwide until midday next Tuesday, as fire…
Crews continue to manage flare-ups on Slievenamon - Ireland
A Status Orange high forest fire risk warning has been extended nationwide until midday next Tuesday, as fire crews continue to manage and monitor flare-ups
europesays.com
Fires in Slievenamon, Connemara and Killarney show our hills are on life support - @whittledaway.bsky.social www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Fires in Slievenamon, Connemara and Killarney show our hills are on life support
We should invest in mountains like we invest in schools, roads and hospitals, and acknowledge Slievenamon, along with all other hills, has been sick for some time and needs help if it is going to reco...
irishexaminer.com
And here is some of that "Mediterranean lifestyle", as reported by today's Telegraph website...
Here's a quick recap of those five stages of climate denial... 1. Deny the problem exists 2. Deny we are the cause 3. Deny it is a problem 4. Deny we can solve it 5. Claim it is too late And we should probably squeeze in... 4.5. Claim we can just adapt www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The 5 stages of climate denial are on display ahead of the IPCC report | Dana Nuccitelli
Dana Nuccitelli: Climate contrarians appear to be running damage control in the media before the next IPCC report is published
theguardian.com
This is the letter that the current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has written to the Telegraph in response to yesterday's column by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. Note how she - yet again - doesn't actually explain how she would tackle climate change 🤔
Meanwhile, look at the extreme discordance and dissonance of stories on this news page in the same edition...
The Daily Telegraph has raced through all five stages of climate denial this week. But this is, perhaps, the most ridiculous column so far: "Without minimising the severe downsides…especially on some poorer nations, many in Britain would enjoy the kind of warmer climate predicted by modellers..."
To be fair, quite a lot of the Mediterranean is also on fire if that's what he means.
Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike@gazza-d.bsky.social · 6d agoYea, but enjoy the new Mediterranean climate (while you can)
Meanwhile, The idiots at The Telegraph are telling us to abandon net zero and just enjoy a Mediterranean climate’ - which those Telegraph climate deniers don’t understand is NOT what we are going to get.
Zack Polanski@zackpolanski.bsky.social · 6d agoHalf of the country is in "exceptionally serious drought" - putting us at more risk of wildfires and threatening our food security. Meanwhile water companies are wasting a staggering 2.87 billion litres of water every day through leaky pipes. Time to end water privatisation.
It means a lot more than that: Embracing a Mediterranean life in the climate changed near future also means being displaced by wildfires and floods; accepting death from heat illness; loss of crops and other food resources, resulting in hunger; and worse: potential societal breakdown.
Anna Orridge@anna-orridge.bsky.social · 6d agoEmbracing Mediterranean life means adaptation measures - mechanical ventilation, massive natural and built shade solutions, the creation of outdoor swimming facilities. and I think you and your fossil fuel mates should be paying for them, Allister, since you're so keen on throwing in the towel.
Testimony shines a light on Magdalene Laundry and Mother & Baby Home survivors Available to watch back on RTE Player (I would encourage everyone to...) www.rte.ie/culture/2026... #HumanRights #Justice #JusticeForMagdalenes
Testimony - giving voice to Magdalene and Mother & Baby survivors
Filmmaker Aoife Kelleher introduces her documentary Testimony, a profoundly moving documentary that chronicles the fight for justice by survivors of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby H...
rte.ie
While the future of Bessborough is under discussion - more discoveries at Tuam
22 more infant remains recovered at Tuam
Bringing the total to 99 discovered since July 2025
corkbeo.ie
Remains of 22 more infants found at former St Mary's mother and baby home in Tuam, Ireland
Remains of 22 more infants found at former St Mary's mother and baby home in Tuam, Ireland
The remains of a further 22 infants have been found at the site of a former mother and baby home in Ireland, investigators have said.
news.sky.com
The National Archives of Ireland's genealogy site has been taken offline - to find out where to access those collections online see this very helpful post from @cbgenealogy.ie #IrishGenealogy #IrishFamilyHistory #Skystorians
Claire Bradley@cbgenealogy.ie · 2w agoNews today that the National Archives has taken their genealogy site offline indefinitely. Find where to get the collections elsewhere here: cbgenealogy.ie/nai-collecti... #IrishGenealogy #AncestryHour #GenHour #Genealogy #FamilyHistory
And now, Patricia appears as a search result on IrishGenealogy.ie! #Genealogy
Daniel Loftus@danielloftus.projectinfant.ie · last yr.It feels really surreal to see this recorded officially, but it happened. 🥲 It’s never too late to rectify something, but it shouldn’t have had to take so long to do it.
History of Medicine at UMN is hiring a one year Teaching Fellow for the upcoming academic year. Please share with anyone who may be interested! #histmed #histsci hr.myu.umn.edu/psc/hrprd/EM...
Careers
This position is based on campus. Per UMN policy, work may be done remotely when appropriate and approved by your manager. All UMN employees are expected to follow applicable public health and safety procedures.
hr.myu.umn.edu
🚨 JOB KLAXON #skystorians #envhist #envhums Cover for some of my teaching next year - 0.5 FTE at University of Liverpool. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSE899/l...
Lecturer in Environmental History (Teaching & Scholarship) (0.5 FTE)- Grade 7 at University of Liverpool
Apply now for the Lecturer in Environmental History (Teaching & Scholarship) (0.5 FTE)- Grade 7 role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
jobs.ac.uk
In perhaps our most devastating briefing we find early career staff in the humanities as a whole have declined by 20% since 2016/17. Between 23/24 and 24/25 early career staff across all SHAPE subject areas fell by 6%, (from 52,795 to 49,410 FPE). That is the pipeline for our disciplines
The decline in job opportunities for ECRs and a widening gap between teaching and research roles “pose a real risk to the sustainability of the disciplines and consequently to the UK’s world leading R&D capacity” says @eicathomefinn.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/humanit...
Humanities hardest hit as early career opportunities disappear
Analysis of staff data finds skew to teaching-only roles in entry-level positions, with scale of cuts not reflected at more senior levels
timeshighereducation.com
#earlymodern 🗃️ This is phenomenal project and a solid opportunity for someone who has just finished their PhD. NB v tight deadline - apps by 28 July
Lily Freeman-Jones@freemanjones.bsky.social · 3w ago***job klaxon!*** Postdoctoral Research Associate on ERC-funded project TextDiveGlobal at QMUL 12 month post from 1 September 2026 Apply by 28 July: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSG130/p...
Nothing like a bit of sea swimming on a day like today! #Guillamene #Waterford @claireconnolly.bsky.social
It's #DigitalFriday ! This is my routine appeal to #skystorians and all other academics prepping for teaching to share any software, hardware, online resources (primary, secondary, teaching tools, blogs) tips and tricks that they've found useful this week! #AcademicSky 🗃️(pls boost to relevant feeds)
