Elva Johnston

America's status as the top destination for global talent is being shattered.

The Administration only just published (!) what happened last summer to international student visa issuances. It's grim.

From the indispensable @karinfischer.bsky.social @chronicle.com —> chronicle.com/newsletter/l...

View towards Howrh from between Sandymount & Merrion Strands - the tide is far out

Lone & level sands stretching towards Howth & far out to the Irish Sea

"A flaminco" [flamingo] John White, c. 1585-1593.

(British Museum)

A view across York.

Mar 9: Feast of Bosa, bishop of York 678-86 and 691-706. He ruled the diocese until his death except for the years of Wilfrid I’s restoration. Bede calls both of them ‘men of outstanding merit and holiness’. John – later known as John of Beverley – succeeded Bosa. 📸Paul Lakin #medievalsky

Not surprised - March is 4 seasons in 1 😀

Maybe 10 😀

Cat lounging in the spring sun

A beautiful spring morning and - of course - a #caturday 😊🐈

Thank you. May is a good time to visit. There is usually a decent spell of good weather

Sandymount strand with the tide in - looking towards Poolbeg & Howth

A beautiful day in Dublin - best of the year so far - pleasantly warm in the direct sun

Mar 6: Feast of Balthere (Baldred) (†756). Anchorite from Lindisfarne linked with Lothian sites Aldham (Auldhame), whose monastic community he may have founded; the Bass Rock, his likely retreat; and Tinangeham (Tyninghame), whose religious centre eclipsed Aldham by mid-10thC. #medievalsky

Thank you 😊

Brilliant. I love how you have captured the movement of the cloud. Sometimes a painting is truer to a scene than a photo

Looking towards Poolbeg from Sandymount Strand

A break between zoom sessions - good to be looking across the sea towards Poolbeg rather than at a screen, even if briefly

Feathered Tabard 15th–16th century Chimú Peru This vivid survival is made of feathers from Amazonia.

Male hoverfly (the eyes are larger than on the female) exploring the bright lime-coloured euphorbia flower-head

It is spring 😀. A male hoverfly checking out early euphorbia flower-heads 🌱

UCD School of Archaeology supports an SEO for commercial archaeology in Ireland. It would support better employment conditions for young archaeologists and be of benefit to our discipline

Communities fight 'corporate' bid for seaweed rights Communities on Ireland's west coast say they will fight to safeguard their traditional seaweed rights against what they describe as a "corporate takeover "of their livelihoods.

Myself and Colin Breen have written in "Maritime Ireland" about seaweed harvesting on Ireland's coastline, in 19th century. These are local rights, well known and established through built features (e.g. wrack walls, kilns, etc). There is no way that such rights be taken over by foreign companies.

A wonder - walking into @ucddublin.bsky.social campus & it isn’t raining (for now….)

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!

I am listening to heavy rain right now & I think mine are probably going that way too 😬

Crocuses opening to the sun

Mini-daffs finally having their moment

The difference the sun makes! Feels like spring with crocuses and daffs 🌱

Merrion Baths, Sandymount Strand

Cold here standing near Merrion Baths - but it isn’t raining!

Sandymount Strand looking towards Dún Laoghaire. The walker is in the middle left. A signpost warning of tides is in the foreground

A lone walker across the sands disappearing into soft rain

A walker and their dog walking across the strand - the tide is out

It has been a season of rain - looking across Sandymount Strand

‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university? When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Crocuses - one beginning to open in the sun

Happy St Brigit’s Day!

For St Brigit’s Day, there’s a feast of writings for you by Maynooth scholars such as @niamhwycherley.bsky.social @davidstifter.bsky.social amongst others, and by UCD Early Irish historian @elvabjohnston.bsky.social

Here’s her fascinating paper

muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

Thanks for the callout!

Ahead of tomorrow's inevitable
deluge of social media imboloxology, this, by @elvabjohnston.bsky.social is the most significant piece of relevant scholarship in years. Do yourself a favour...

muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

It's 410 CE, and I'm your podcast host, Rossus Douthaticus. I'm here with Alaric the Visigoth, who recently sacked the Eternal City.

Alaric, why do you think people have lost faith in Rome? Is it a crisis of liberalism? Is it because of the feminization of the workplace?