Daniel Mulhall
@danmulhall.bsky.social
Retired Irish Ambassador, author, consultant, media commentator, Director, #Carlichauns.
Pinned
Daniel Mulhall
@danmulhall.bsky.social
· Nov 23
Introducing the #Carlichauns to @bsky.app. An animated children’s entertainment venture for which I am Brand Ambassador. Carlingford’s leprechauns, the Carlichauns, travel the world to deliver wishes to children. Check them out at www.carlichauns.com
Call the earth female, as of old.
She needs to be placed pronto
in the recovery position, gently hold
her chin up, bend the left arm at the elbow,
hand above the head, palm facing down
— waving goodbye or hello?
Greg Delanty #IrishPoetry
She needs to be placed pronto
in the recovery position, gently hold
her chin up, bend the left arm at the elbow,
hand above the head, palm facing down
— waving goodbye or hello?
Greg Delanty #IrishPoetry
November 10, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Call the earth female, as of old.
She needs to be placed pronto
in the recovery position, gently hold
her chin up, bend the left arm at the elbow,
hand above the head, palm facing down
— waving goodbye or hello?
Greg Delanty #IrishPoetry
She needs to be placed pronto
in the recovery position, gently hold
her chin up, bend the left arm at the elbow,
hand above the head, palm facing down
— waving goodbye or hello?
Greg Delanty #IrishPoetry
… let us also be healed
wounds closed,senses cleansed
as over our bowed heads
the mad larks multiply
needles stabbing the sky
in an ecstasy of stitching fury
against the blue void
while from clump & tuft
cranny & cleft, soft footed
curious, the animals gather around.
John Montague
wounds closed,senses cleansed
as over our bowed heads
the mad larks multiply
needles stabbing the sky
in an ecstasy of stitching fury
against the blue void
while from clump & tuft
cranny & cleft, soft footed
curious, the animals gather around.
John Montague
November 9, 2025 at 8:46 PM
… let us also be healed
wounds closed,senses cleansed
as over our bowed heads
the mad larks multiply
needles stabbing the sky
in an ecstasy of stitching fury
against the blue void
while from clump & tuft
cranny & cleft, soft footed
curious, the animals gather around.
John Montague
wounds closed,senses cleansed
as over our bowed heads
the mad larks multiply
needles stabbing the sky
in an ecstasy of stitching fury
against the blue void
while from clump & tuft
cranny & cleft, soft footed
curious, the animals gather around.
John Montague
Coming up on @newstalkfm.bsky.social at 7 pm. A panel discussion about the 40th anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Presenter Patrick Geoghegan will put the questions about the Agreement’s significance & legacy to me, retired Ambassador, Daithí Ó Ceallaigh & political scientist, Eoin O’Malley.
November 9, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Coming up on @newstalkfm.bsky.social at 7 pm. A panel discussion about the 40th anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Presenter Patrick Geoghegan will put the questions about the Agreement’s significance & legacy to me, retired Ambassador, Daithí Ó Ceallaigh & political scientist, Eoin O’Malley.
Congressman William Bourke Cockran (1854-1923) honoured in Sligo, the place of his birth. He was a staunch advocate for Irish causes. Another illustration of the hugely supportive role played by Irish-American politicians throughout modern Irish history. www.rte.ie/news/connach...
'Forgotten' Irishman Cockran is honoured in Sligo
A celebration of one of the Yeats Country's most distinguished but forgotten sons - William Bourke Cockran - has taken place in Sligo City Hall.
www.rte.ie
November 8, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Congressman William Bourke Cockran (1854-1923) honoured in Sligo, the place of his birth. He was a staunch advocate for Irish causes. Another illustration of the hugely supportive role played by Irish-American politicians throughout modern Irish history. www.rte.ie/news/connach...
To fly into risk,
attempt the dream,
cast off, as we have done,
requires true luck
who know ourselves
blessed to have found
between this harbour’s arms
a sheltering home
where the vast
tides of the Atlantic
lift to caress
rose coloured rocks.
John Montague ‘Edge’
attempt the dream,
cast off, as we have done,
requires true luck
who know ourselves
blessed to have found
between this harbour’s arms
a sheltering home
where the vast
tides of the Atlantic
lift to caress
rose coloured rocks.
John Montague ‘Edge’
November 8, 2025 at 11:36 AM
To fly into risk,
attempt the dream,
cast off, as we have done,
requires true luck
who know ourselves
blessed to have found
between this harbour’s arms
a sheltering home
where the vast
tides of the Atlantic
lift to caress
rose coloured rocks.
John Montague ‘Edge’
attempt the dream,
cast off, as we have done,
requires true luck
who know ourselves
blessed to have found
between this harbour’s arms
a sheltering home
where the vast
tides of the Atlantic
lift to caress
rose coloured rocks.
John Montague ‘Edge’
His grace is no longer called for
before meals: farmed fish multiply
without His intercession.
Bread production rises through
disease-resistant grains devised
scientifically to mitigate His faults.
Dennis O’Driscoll ‘Missing God’
before meals: farmed fish multiply
without His intercession.
Bread production rises through
disease-resistant grains devised
scientifically to mitigate His faults.
Dennis O’Driscoll ‘Missing God’
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 AM
His grace is no longer called for
before meals: farmed fish multiply
without His intercession.
Bread production rises through
disease-resistant grains devised
scientifically to mitigate His faults.
Dennis O’Driscoll ‘Missing God’
before meals: farmed fish multiply
without His intercession.
Bread production rises through
disease-resistant grains devised
scientifically to mitigate His faults.
Dennis O’Driscoll ‘Missing God’
… you told me how
I saw them in the morning going to school,
Tattering down the sallow sky of winter.
Now I know them well: I see them every mile
By flocks & companies in roadside fields
As I drive onwards through these snowcast days
To sit at your bed evoking them for you.
Bernard O’Donoghue
I saw them in the morning going to school,
Tattering down the sallow sky of winter.
Now I know them well: I see them every mile
By flocks & companies in roadside fields
As I drive onwards through these snowcast days
To sit at your bed evoking them for you.
Bernard O’Donoghue
November 6, 2025 at 2:18 PM
… you told me how
I saw them in the morning going to school,
Tattering down the sallow sky of winter.
Now I know them well: I see them every mile
By flocks & companies in roadside fields
As I drive onwards through these snowcast days
To sit at your bed evoking them for you.
Bernard O’Donoghue
I saw them in the morning going to school,
Tattering down the sallow sky of winter.
Now I know them well: I see them every mile
By flocks & companies in roadside fields
As I drive onwards through these snowcast days
To sit at your bed evoking them for you.
Bernard O’Donoghue
My review of ‘The Poems of Seamus Heaney’ @ The Irish Post: ‘Heaney was affected by the dramatic events taking place around him which he viewed from a northern nationalist perspective,rooted in his upbringing in rural County Derry. This book is ‘a fitting testament to his life’s work.’
November 6, 2025 at 8:53 AM
My review of ‘The Poems of Seamus Heaney’ @ The Irish Post: ‘Heaney was affected by the dramatic events taking place around him which he viewed from a northern nationalist perspective,rooted in his upbringing in rural County Derry. This book is ‘a fitting testament to his life’s work.’
You are like
that crazy old clock
in Winthrop Street
whose hands wind
ever backwards.
If Death took you now,
he would find
a six-year-old boy
in his arms.
Gerry Murphy ‘The Clock’
that crazy old clock
in Winthrop Street
whose hands wind
ever backwards.
If Death took you now,
he would find
a six-year-old boy
in his arms.
Gerry Murphy ‘The Clock’
November 3, 2025 at 9:51 AM
You are like
that crazy old clock
in Winthrop Street
whose hands wind
ever backwards.
If Death took you now,
he would find
a six-year-old boy
in his arms.
Gerry Murphy ‘The Clock’
that crazy old clock
in Winthrop Street
whose hands wind
ever backwards.
If Death took you now,
he would find
a six-year-old boy
in his arms.
Gerry Murphy ‘The Clock’
‘An Outlier in Irish Politics Has Become the Country’s President.’
A @nytimes piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
A @nytimes piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
An Outlier in Irish Politics Has Become the Country’s President
www.nytimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:48 PM
‘An Outlier in Irish Politics Has Become the Country’s President.’
A @nytimes piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
A @nytimes piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
‘An Outlier in Irish Politics Has Become the Country’s President.’
A @nytimes.com piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
A @nytimes.com piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
An Outlier in Irish Politics Has Become the Country’s President
www.nytimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM
‘An Outlier in Irish Politics Has Become the Country’s President.’
A @nytimes.com piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
A @nytimes.com piece on our recent Presidential election in which I am quoted.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/w...
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
The knifing wind shivers, but no tree rustles
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
October 27, 2025 at 11:27 AM
The knifing wind shivers, but no tree rustles
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
I will be on @newstalkfm.bsky.social
shortly with Pat Kenny discussing the situation in Gaza & the OTB.
shortly with Pat Kenny discussing the situation in Gaza & the OTB.
October 28, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I will be on @newstalkfm.bsky.social
shortly with Pat Kenny discussing the situation in Gaza & the OTB.
shortly with Pat Kenny discussing the situation in Gaza & the OTB.
This is one of Seamus #Heaney’s earliest poems. It never made it into one of his books. The poem appeared in a magazine Gorgon in 1960. It shows what a fine writer he already was when just 21 years old. I will be reviewing ‘The Poems of Seamus Heaney’ shortly in The Irish Post.
The knifing wind shivers, but no tree rustles
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
October 27, 2025 at 11:29 AM
This is one of Seamus #Heaney’s earliest poems. It never made it into one of his books. The poem appeared in a magazine Gorgon in 1960. It shows what a fine writer he already was when just 21 years old. I will be reviewing ‘The Poems of Seamus Heaney’ shortly in The Irish Post.
The knifing wind shivers, but no tree rustles
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
October 27, 2025 at 11:27 AM
The knifing wind shivers, but no tree rustles
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
No sedge whispers; only the numb rocks,
...
Around the shore, the breakers constantly rush
With snow-smash explosion & overhead
A slush of grey cloud is forever melting
And running to the edge of the sky.
Seamus Heaney ‘Aran’
Although votes are yet to be counted, the result is clear. I congratulate Catherine Connolly & wish her the best for her term as Uachtarán na hÉireann. She now deserves the support of all. The number of spoiled votes & the low turnout is a warning to all parties.
www.rte.ie/news/preside...
www.rte.ie/news/preside...
Connolly on course to become next president - tallies
Follow live updates as the count begins to determine the tenth President of Ireland with tallies showing Catherine Connolly is set to take victory.
www.rte.ie
October 25, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Although votes are yet to be counted, the result is clear. I congratulate Catherine Connolly & wish her the best for her term as Uachtarán na hÉireann. She now deserves the support of all. The number of spoiled votes & the low turnout is a warning to all parties.
www.rte.ie/news/preside...
www.rte.ie/news/preside...
Under a gay flotilla of gulls
…
Brown bread and tea in bright canfuls
Are served for lunch. Dead-beat, they flop
Down in the ditch & take their fill,
Thankfully breaking timeless fasts;
Then, stretched on the faithless ground, spill
Libations of cold tea, scatter crusts.
Seamus Heaney #IrishPoetry
…
Brown bread and tea in bright canfuls
Are served for lunch. Dead-beat, they flop
Down in the ditch & take their fill,
Thankfully breaking timeless fasts;
Then, stretched on the faithless ground, spill
Libations of cold tea, scatter crusts.
Seamus Heaney #IrishPoetry
October 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Under a gay flotilla of gulls
…
Brown bread and tea in bright canfuls
Are served for lunch. Dead-beat, they flop
Down in the ditch & take their fill,
Thankfully breaking timeless fasts;
Then, stretched on the faithless ground, spill
Libations of cold tea, scatter crusts.
Seamus Heaney #IrishPoetry
…
Brown bread and tea in bright canfuls
Are served for lunch. Dead-beat, they flop
Down in the ditch & take their fill,
Thankfully breaking timeless fasts;
Then, stretched on the faithless ground, spill
Libations of cold tea, scatter crusts.
Seamus Heaney #IrishPoetry
My review in this week’s Irish Post of Leo Varadkar’s autobiography, ‘Speaking my Mind’. “History will be the ultimate judge of his record … but his robust defence of Irish interests over Brexit, facing off against Boris Johnson, stands as a big mark in his favour.”
www.irishpost.com/comment/form...
www.irishpost.com/comment/form...
Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar's rise, drive and retreat | The Irish Post
Former Irish Ambassador DANIEL MULHALL reviews Leo Varadkar’s autobiographyFULL disclosure.Leo ...
www.irishpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 8:27 AM
My review in this week’s Irish Post of Leo Varadkar’s autobiography, ‘Speaking my Mind’. “History will be the ultimate judge of his record … but his robust defence of Irish interests over Brexit, facing off against Boris Johnson, stands as a big mark in his favour.”
www.irishpost.com/comment/form...
www.irishpost.com/comment/form...
Passion or conquest,wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?
W.B. #Yeats The Wild Swans at Coole
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?
W.B. #Yeats The Wild Swans at Coole
October 23, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Passion or conquest,wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?
W.B. #Yeats The Wild Swans at Coole
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?
W.B. #Yeats The Wild Swans at Coole
Some thoughts from me and other retired @dfatirish.bsky.social
colleagues on the opportunities & challenges of a career in diplomacy.
‘It is not an easy street for families’: Ireland’s diplomatic reshuffle’
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
colleagues on the opportunities & challenges of a career in diplomacy.
‘It is not an easy street for families’: Ireland’s diplomatic reshuffle’
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
‘It is not an easy street for families’: Ireland’s diplomatic reshuffle
Partners of ambassadors struggle to continue careers while simultaneously playing unpaid support role
www.irishtimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Some thoughts from me and other retired @dfatirish.bsky.social
colleagues on the opportunities & challenges of a career in diplomacy.
‘It is not an easy street for families’: Ireland’s diplomatic reshuffle’
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
colleagues on the opportunities & challenges of a career in diplomacy.
‘It is not an easy street for families’: Ireland’s diplomatic reshuffle’
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
A link to my entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography (dib.ie) on Marcus Daly, the Cavan-born Montana Copper King & champion of the large Irish community there in the late-19th century.
www.dib.ie/biography/da...
www.dib.ie/biography/da...
www.dib.ie
October 9, 2025 at 5:52 PM
A link to my entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography (dib.ie) on Marcus Daly, the Cavan-born Montana Copper King & champion of the large Irish community there in the late-19th century.
www.dib.ie/biography/da...
www.dib.ie/biography/da...
President Trump deserves considerable credit for today’s milestone. Others too. If this is to succeed, he will need to put his back into it for the rest of his term in the White House, & the Agreement’s other supporters will also need to continue weighing in.
www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...
www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...
US and mediators sign Gaza ceasefire declaration
Follow all the latest developments as world leaders meet in Egypt for a summit on Gaza.
www.rte.ie
October 13, 2025 at 7:06 PM
President Trump deserves considerable credit for today’s milestone. Others too. If this is to succeed, he will need to put his back into it for the rest of his term in the White House, & the Agreement’s other supporters will also need to continue weighing in.
www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...
www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...
A poetic thought for this day. The ‘honey-bees’ in this case are Middle East negotiators. Wish them well
“We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love; O honey-bees,
Come build in the empty house of the stare”
W.B. #Yeats
“We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love; O honey-bees,
Come build in the empty house of the stare”
W.B. #Yeats
October 13, 2025 at 11:35 AM
A poetic thought for this day. The ‘honey-bees’ in this case are Middle East negotiators. Wish them well
“We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love; O honey-bees,
Come build in the empty house of the stare”
W.B. #Yeats
“We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love; O honey-bees,
Come build in the empty house of the stare”
W.B. #Yeats
Reposted by Daniel Mulhall
An interesting piece on (among other things) the wide range of Irish and Irish-American attitudes to US African-American slavery in the 19th century.
Having delved into Frederick Douglass’s 1845 visit to Ireland during my time as #Ireland’s Ambassador in Washington, I was delighted to be asked by the Fitzwilliam journal to reflect further on the visit & its legacy. My commentary is 👇.
t.co/bmG11zofYc
t.co/bmG11zofYc
https://www.thefitzwilliam.com/p/what-frederick-douglass-learned-in
t.co
October 6, 2025 at 7:42 AM
An interesting piece on (among other things) the wide range of Irish and Irish-American attitudes to US African-American slavery in the 19th century.