Catherine Swift
LightNews LightNews
bewattled.bsky.social
Catherine Swift
@bewattled.bsky.social
380 followers 340 following 180 posts
Medievalist based in Limerick with interests in Ireland and the Irish church in a European context - St Patrick through to King John and all folk in between.
Posts Replies Media Videos
bewattled.bsky.social
ria.ie Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie · Jul 3
Applications are invited for two positions of Lexicographer in the Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge (FNG), a research programme of the Royal Irish Academy.

Find out more:
www.ria.ie/about/careers/vacancy-two-lexicographer-posts-with-focloir-stairiuil-na-gaeilge/

#DublinJobs #JobFairy #IrishJobs
November 29, 2025 at 9:32 PM
bewattled.bsky.social
Cathy Swift's Fundraising Page www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/c...
Support Cathy Swift's Fundraising Page on iDonate.ie
Cathy Swift's Fundraising Page for Barnardos, created by Catherine Swift | iDonate.ie
www.idonate.ie
November 14, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
fortrenn.bsky.social
Elgin Museum's archaeology conference has an excellent line-up of speakers and papers, including @northernpicts.bsky.social's Burghead update, Loch Spynie through time, Covesea caves, metalwork and Celtic art, iron production in Agricolan-era Moray... In-person and online, tickets from £5.
Breaking New Ground: sharing archaeological discoveries from Moray - Elgin Museum
When: September 13, 2025 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Where: Alexander Graham Bell Centre for Digital Health (AGBC) at UHI Moray, Hay Street, Elgin, IV30 1JJ Breaking New Ground: sharing archaeological...
elginmuseum.org.uk
July 3, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
ria.ie
Applications are invited for two positions of Lexicographer in the Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge (FNG), a research programme of the Royal Irish Academy.

Find out more:
www.ria.ie/about/careers/vacancy-two-lexicographer-posts-with-focloir-stairiuil-na-gaeilge/

#DublinJobs #JobFairy #IrishJobs
July 3, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
willemh.bsky.social
Hope someone takes a crack at ChatGPT next. These companies are fundamentally built on theft.
edzitron.com Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 11
This lawsuit is brutal. One of the exhibits is the letter Universal sent to Midjourney, including a quote from a 2022 Forbes interview that I bet midjourney regrets
June 12, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
christianonre.bsky.social
@bnenews.bsky.socialBirds thriving, breeding successfully in Germany’s solar parks www.pv-magazine.com/2025/06/05/b...
Birds thriving, breeding successfully in Germany’s solar parks
Larks and other bird species are flourishing in Germany’s solar parks, where breeding success exceeds that of many other habitats. These PV project sites are becoming valuable refuges, benefiting both...
www.pv-magazine.com
June 7, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
ralphtorta.bsky.social
This week's source translation: a tenth-century Carolingian sermon gives advice for life and politics to... well, everyone.

salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/04/01/t...
Translated Text: Pseudo-Eligius, Homilies, no. I
A charter, I always say, is like a legal document crossed with a sermon. (Sometimes, it actually is a sermon.) As you might imagine, I’d like to do more with actual sermons; but political sermonisi…
salutemmundo.wordpress.com
April 1, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
ccooijmans.bsky.social
In honour of Simon's #FindsFriday post, I managed to excavate my 🧵 from the bad site:

In 1865, in a field outside the village of Pîtres, a road worker stumbled on a pair of Viking Age oval brooches (type R.657, c. 850-900 CE), typically used as shoulder clasps on Scandinavian-style dresses.

1/11
Two Scandinavian-style oval brooches, type R.657, c. 850-900 CE.
March 28, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
enniusredloeb.bsky.social
initial 'F'(uit) at the beginning of 1 Kings (1 Samuel) depicting the fight between the youth David and Goliath.

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 003; The Dover Bible, Volume I; 12th century; f.115v @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social
@corpuscambridge.bsky.social
March 28, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
prehistorian.bsky.social
The Melsonby assemblage (not a hoard). 28 (smallish) wheels and 14 harnesses, so potentially seven 4-wheeled carts (2 ponies each). If right then Early Iron Age tradition, as vessel might suggest. Out of fashion in Gaul by 450 BC, slightly later here perhaps.

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Iron age hoard found in North Yorkshire could change Britain’s history
More than 800 objects unearthed near Melsonby show the north was ‘definitely not a backwater’ 2,000 years ago
www.theguardian.com
March 25, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
jameseogan.bsky.social
This is a great opportunity for younger archaeologist to present their research during National Heritage Week 2025
ayiaconference.bsky.social Association of Young Irish Archaeologists @ayiaconference.bsky.social · Mar 21
The TII Archaeology and Heritage section, in partnership with the Association of Young Irish Archaeologists (AYIA), is inviting early career researchers, including undergraduates, to submit paper proposals for the forthcoming TII Heritage Week conference in Dublin. 1/3
March 22, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
adamchapman.bsky.social
An important question (and not only for the Middle Ages - government, and no end of communities struggle to get their heads around this, today, too).
urbanhistorygroup.bsky.social The Urban History Group @urbanhistorygroup.bsky.social · Mar 20
'A non-agricultural economy can certainly be seen as the distinction between urban and rural. However, boundaries between agricultural villages and commercial towns were far from clear-cut in the medieval era'

Joe Chick asks, 'What is a town?'

#skystorians #medievalsky #urbanhistory
What is a town?
What exactly is a town? The answer to this question has been debated for many decades by medieval historians. This blog post explores why this has proven so difficult, how the debate is being shape…
urbanhistorygroup.wordpress.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
jtpmedieval.bsky.social
Chair in Divinity at St Andrews... with door open for #medieval (I think) #medievalsky

www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
Professor of Divinity (Divinity Chair) - AC1281LS
Professor of Divinity (Divinity Chair) - AC1281LS, Divinity Salary: Competitive Start Date: January 2026 , <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;">We wish to appoint a Professor of...
www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk
March 21, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
tuatha.ie
The King's Fort • Derry

This is one of the best preserved ringforts in Ulster.

It likely dates to some time between the 6th-11th century.

It is situated on the southern slopes of Benbradagh, commanding spectacular views over Drumsurn in County Derry.

#SpéirGhorm #Archaeology 🏺
an early medieval ringfort, looking over green countryside towards distant mountains
March 19, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
enniusredloeb.bsky.social
Historiated initial 'L'(ibrum) at the beginning of the preface to the book of Esther.

BnF MS Latin 116; Biblia Latina, pars II; 12th century; Chartres; f.65v @gallicabnf.bsky.social
March 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
arashzeini.com
New paperbacks in the 'Classical Islamic History and Culture' series, published by the good folks at @edinburghup.bsky.social 👇🏻
March 13, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
irishrainforest.bsky.social
I'm convinced *far* more prehistoric forest loss was due to livestock preventing regrowth than people cutting down trees.

But because a tree seedling getting eaten by a sheep goes unnoticed, so does the resulting deforestation, over 100s of years.
arty-san.bsky.social Arty-san @arty-san.bsky.social · Mar 13
If you read the old logs describing Iceland hundreds of years ago, when explorers and whalers passed by, it was described as having trees from water to treeline.

Unfortunately, the only way to stay warm in those days was to burn them, and then the topsoil goes too. Iceland is beautiful, but barren.
March 13, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
lvhicks.bsky.social
I'm drafting my inuaugral lecture today and have a section on the penitential ordinance, a very interesting document from 170 that deals with the aftermath of conquest. You can read about it here from an old post 1/ #medievalsky #https://normanlandscapes.wordpress.com/2023/11/12/remembrance/
Remembrance
I’m writing this on Remembrance Sunday while it pours with rain, all very reminiscent of the numerous church parades of my youth (just how many layers could you get under a Brownie dress? How…
normanlandscapes.wordpress.com
March 13, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
larryneufeldsk.bsky.social
Trump's tariffs threaten Canada's food security. It's time to go local #foodsecurity #Canada #tariffs #DonaldTrump #shoplocal www.corporateknights.com/food-beverag...
Trump's tariffs threaten Canada's food security. It's time to go local.
OPINION | Canada has the land, the farmers and the resources to build thriving local food economies. What’s missing is the political will.
www.corporateknights.com
March 13, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
aidanosullivan.bsky.social
The RIA is on Bluesky
ria.ie Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie · Mar 11
Our Manuscript of the Week is the Book of O’Lees or Book of Hy-Brasil, RIA MS 23 P 10(ii). Each table names a disease, typical characteristics, who is most susceptible, and most importantly, the cures! Learn more & see a digitised copy via
@dias-isos.bsky.social www.ria.ie/collections/...
The Book of O’Lees / Book of Hy-Brasil - Royal Irish Academy
RIA MS 23 P 10 (ii) (Cat. No. 453) 15th Century
www.ria.ie
March 13, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
kpw1453.bsky.social
The approach to Dunadd Fort at the southern end of Kilmartin Glen in Argyll. Occupied since the Iron Age, the fort was a major centre for the Gaelic kings of Dál Riata from around AD 500 to AD 800. 📸 My own. #HillfortsWednesday #IronAge #Medieval #Dunadd #Argyll
The approach to Dunadd Fort at the southern end of Kilmartin Glen in Argyll.
March 12, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
marshslibrary.bsky.social
A Latin-English-Gaelic dictionary begun in 1712 by Father Francis Walsh of Dublin. It was purchased by Marsh's around 1743 for £20. We went with the entry on trees as it's #NationalTreeWeek as well as #SeachtainnaGaeilge!

See the full manuscript on ISOS: www.isos.dias.ie/MARSH/MS_Z_3...
Detail from Latin-English-Gaelic dictionary, compiled c.1712-1730
March 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
downham.bsky.social
In 'Cogadh Gaedel re Gallaib' (12th century saga about Battle of Clontarf) the word scelbocodech is a compound from scell 'shield boss' loaned from Old Norse skjöldr 'shield' + boccóitech meaning embossed. So I take it to refer to ornamented shield bosses used in battle #medievalsky 1/2
March 11, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
calthalas.bsky.social
"The image of the painter and illuminator of this work.
Hugh the painter"

Hugh, the 11th century artist of Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 717, goes meta and paints himself at work on the manuscript itself.
A zoom in on a manuscript page. On the left some text is visible and on the right, in a geometric and floral frame there is a monk at a writing desk. The tones are green and red with a blue robe of the monk.
March 11, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Catherine Swift
archaeologyeaa.bsky.social
*** WARNING CONTENT: HUMAN REMAINS ***
🏺 In 1998 the burial of a child was found in a shelter in Lagar Velho (#Portugal). A decade before the first Neanderthal genome was sequenced, its skeleton was thought to be evidence for a Neanderthal/Sapiens hybrid.. Image: Nuno Farinha / Museu de Leiria
1/
Reconstruction of a Gravettian burial of a Child - Lapedo Child, found in Portugal in 1998. It was the first individual ever to be thought as a Neanderthal / Sapiens hybrid due to its anatomical features. A theory that was not fully accepted at the time, 10 years before the first Neanderthal genome was sequenced.
March 10, 2025 at 6:50 PM