David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
@davidstifter.bsky.social
Ollamh le Sean- ⁊ Meán-Ghaeilge, BARE
Ceann Scoil an Léinn Cheiltigh in Ollscoil Mhá Nuad 🇮🇪
Taighdeoir ar ᚑᚌ(ᚆ)ᚐᚋ OG(H)AM ⁊ DiAgnostic
⚫️⚪️
https://maynoothuniversity.ie/faculty-arts-celtic-studies-philosophy/our-people/david-stifter
Ceann Scoil an Léinn Cheiltigh in Ollscoil Mhá Nuad 🇮🇪
Taighdeoir ar ᚑᚌ(ᚆ)ᚐᚋ OG(H)AM ⁊ DiAgnostic
⚫️⚪️
https://maynoothuniversity.ie/faculty-arts-celtic-studies-philosophy/our-people/david-stifter
Pinned
Sengoidelc - An Siopa Leabhar
David Stifter’s Sengoidelc (Shan-goy-delth) provides a comprehensive introduction to Old Irish grammar and metrics. Ideally suited for use as a course text and as a guide for the independent learner, ...
www.siopaleabhar.com
By way of 𝓦𝓮𝓵𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮:
In the last days huge numbers have started to follow me. So maybe it is appropriate to say something about myself.
I teach Old Irish at @maynoothuni.bsky.social and propagate it world-wide via my introduction to the language, 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨í𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐜: www.siopaleabhar.com/en/tairgi/se....
/1
In the last days huge numbers have started to follow me. So maybe it is appropriate to say something about myself.
I teach Old Irish at @maynoothuni.bsky.social and propagate it world-wide via my introduction to the language, 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨í𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐜: www.siopaleabhar.com/en/tairgi/se....
/1
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
Really looking forward to this event! Beidh mé ag plé stair na Midhe agus Cluain Ioraid le linn na Méanaoise. Fáilte roimh chách
Bígí linn | Join us for the first Early Irish & Celtic Studies research seminar of the semester. Thursday 12 February at 17:00, Room 2.31 IONTAS.
*Positioning Meath and Clonard in the Central Middle Ages*
Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social)
Fáilte roimh chách!
*Positioning Meath and Clonard in the Central Middle Ages*
Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social)
Fáilte roimh chách!
February 10, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Really looking forward to this event! Beidh mé ag plé stair na Midhe agus Cluain Ioraid le linn na Méanaoise. Fáilte roimh chách
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘀
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙣𝙖́𝙣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣
John Carey
More Info: bit.ly/3OyLT6A
#Eschatology #Translation #Irish #Apocrypha #Bible #Christianity
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙣𝙖́𝙣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣
John Carey
More Info: bit.ly/3OyLT6A
#Eschatology #Translation #Irish #Apocrypha #Bible #Christianity
February 10, 2026 at 8:28 AM
𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘀
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙣𝙖́𝙣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣
John Carey
More Info: bit.ly/3OyLT6A
#Eschatology #Translation #Irish #Apocrypha #Bible #Christianity
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙣𝙖́𝙣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣
John Carey
More Info: bit.ly/3OyLT6A
#Eschatology #Translation #Irish #Apocrypha #Bible #Christianity
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
Bígí linn | Join us for the first Early Irish & Celtic Studies research seminar of the semester. Thursday 12 February at 17:00, Room 2.31 IONTAS.
*Positioning Meath and Clonard in the Central Middle Ages*
Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social)
Fáilte roimh chách!
*Positioning Meath and Clonard in the Central Middle Ages*
Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social)
Fáilte roimh chách!
February 10, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Bígí linn | Join us for the first Early Irish & Celtic Studies research seminar of the semester. Thursday 12 February at 17:00, Room 2.31 IONTAS.
*Positioning Meath and Clonard in the Central Middle Ages*
Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social)
Fáilte roimh chách!
*Positioning Meath and Clonard in the Central Middle Ages*
Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (@hoireabhard.bsky.social @scs-dias.bsky.social)
Fáilte roimh chách!
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
Nice to see some very cool images from my ‘Classicizing the Gaelic’ chapter on the visuality of Irish manuscripts included in this Irish Times write-up of the book Irish Migrations and Classical Antiquity 👇
Ireland’s fascination with ancient Greece, from our origin legends to Joyce’s Ulysses
Ireland’s fascination with ancient Greece, from our origin legends to Joyce’s Ulysses
Irish Migrations and Classical Antiquity explores the connections between Irish myths and modern stories and the classical world
www.irishtimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Nice to see some very cool images from my ‘Classicizing the Gaelic’ chapter on the visuality of Irish manuscripts included in this Irish Times write-up of the book Irish Migrations and Classical Antiquity 👇
That's very diverse, though. And do you feel belonging?
February 9, 2026 at 7:38 PM
That's very diverse, though. And do you feel belonging?
Nach bhfuil tú beannaithe?
February 9, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Nach bhfuil tú beannaithe?
Should I feel personally offended that I am on the edge of "British Academic Historians" and even further off "British Criminology Academics"?
Am I just an island alone on the edge of the universe?
Am I just an island alone on the edge of the universe?
February 9, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Should I feel personally offended that I am on the edge of "British Academic Historians" and even further off "British Criminology Academics"?
Am I just an island alone on the edge of the universe?
Am I just an island alone on the edge of the universe?
I like this corner of the universe, but I am not even a part of it.
February 9, 2026 at 6:51 PM
I like this corner of the universe, but I am not even a part of it.
The universe is a really big place, and we are only a tiny speck in it.
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
February 9, 2026 at 6:51 PM
The universe is a really big place, and we are only a tiny speck in it.
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
Is cosúil go bhfuil muid ar oileán beag bídeach amach ó chósta ilchríoch na bhForbróirí Cluichí Indie ⁊ na n-Ealaíontóirí Digiteacha.
Bheinn féin ag coinneáil súil aniar aduaidh uainn ar Lucht Gairme Amharclann na Ríochta Aontaithe. ↖️👀
Bheinn féin ag coinneáil súil aniar aduaidh uainn ar Lucht Gairme Amharclann na Ríochta Aontaithe. ↖️👀
February 9, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Is cosúil go bhfuil muid ar oileán beag bídeach amach ó chósta ilchríoch na bhForbróirí Cluichí Indie ⁊ na n-Ealaíontóirí Digiteacha.
Bheinn féin ag coinneáil súil aniar aduaidh uainn ar Lucht Gairme Amharclann na Ríochta Aontaithe. ↖️👀
Bheinn féin ag coinneáil súil aniar aduaidh uainn ar Lucht Gairme Amharclann na Ríochta Aontaithe. ↖️👀
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
In collaboration with the @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social, the National Monuments Service delivered the international seminar ‘World Heritage nomination journey: Challenges and Successes’ sharing insights from European case studies to support the Strategy for World Heritage in Ireland 2025–2035.
February 9, 2026 at 3:12 PM
In collaboration with the @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social, the National Monuments Service delivered the international seminar ‘World Heritage nomination journey: Challenges and Successes’ sharing insights from European case studies to support the Strategy for World Heritage in Ireland 2025–2035.
My commiserations.
February 9, 2026 at 2:04 PM
My commiserations.
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
UNESCO has declared 9th February World Greek Language Day (building on the national day), which seems like a good day to share my recently published open access article:
"Mount Hymettos, Athens: A holy place for writing", EGI vol. 1.
journals.wisethorough.com/index.php/EG...
"Mount Hymettos, Athens: A holy place for writing", EGI vol. 1.
journals.wisethorough.com/index.php/EG...
Mount Hymettos, Athens: A Holy Place For Writing
| EGI - Epigraphy Graffiti Iconography
journals.wisethorough.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:00 PM
UNESCO has declared 9th February World Greek Language Day (building on the national day), which seems like a good day to share my recently published open access article:
"Mount Hymettos, Athens: A holy place for writing", EGI vol. 1.
journals.wisethorough.com/index.php/EG...
"Mount Hymettos, Athens: A holy place for writing", EGI vol. 1.
journals.wisethorough.com/index.php/EG...
Reposted by David Stifter 🍵📄🦊
The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 26, the Book of Fenagh. This 16th C manuscript is the work of a skilled scribe, on good quality vellum, and contains both prose and verse. The writing is in double columns and some of the capitals are filled in with red pigment.
February 9, 2026 at 9:55 AM
The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 26, the Book of Fenagh. This 16th C manuscript is the work of a skilled scribe, on good quality vellum, and contains both prose and verse. The writing is in double columns and some of the capitals are filled in with red pigment.
The rhyming couplet is:
fromad cach bíd iar n-urd
issed dlegair i n-Imbulc
It's the poem "Atberim frib, líth saine" about food at the 4 quarterdays, edited by Kuno Meyer in Hibernica Minora: archive.org/details/Hibe...
fromad cach bíd iar n-urd
issed dlegair i n-Imbulc
It's the poem "Atberim frib, líth saine" about food at the 4 quarterdays, edited by Kuno Meyer in Hibernica Minora: archive.org/details/Hibe...
Hibernica minora, being a fragment of an Old-Irish treatise on the Psalter with translation, notes and glossary and an appendix containing extracts hitherto unpublished from MS. Rawlinson, B. 512 in t...
Book digitized by Google and uploaded by ARLIMA (http://www.arlima.net)
archive.org
February 9, 2026 at 6:10 AM
The rhyming couplet is:
fromad cach bíd iar n-urd
issed dlegair i n-Imbulc
It's the poem "Atberim frib, líth saine" about food at the 4 quarterdays, edited by Kuno Meyer in Hibernica Minora: archive.org/details/Hibe...
fromad cach bíd iar n-urd
issed dlegair i n-Imbulc
It's the poem "Atberim frib, líth saine" about food at the 4 quarterdays, edited by Kuno Meyer in Hibernica Minora: archive.org/details/Hibe...
Yes, this seems to be the best alternative. Alternatively, imm + bolg "around the belly" has been proposed, but that doesn't seem to make so much sense practically.
/4
/4
February 8, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Yes, this seems to be the best alternative. Alternatively, imm + bolg "around the belly" has been proposed, but that doesn't seem to make so much sense practically.
/4
/4
...However, linguists believe this is a folk etymology..." Yes, indeed, obviously an explanation based on superficial similarities in the style of Isidore of Seville. This explanation explains neither the letters nor the sounds.
3. "i mbolg" i.e. in the belly (related to farm animal pregnancy).
/3
3. "i mbolg" i.e. in the belly (related to farm animal pregnancy).
/3
February 8, 2026 at 6:24 PM
...However, linguists believe this is a folk etymology..." Yes, indeed, obviously an explanation based on superficial similarities in the style of Isidore of Seville. This explanation explains neither the letters nor the sounds.
3. "i mbolg" i.e. in the belly (related to farm animal pregnancy).
/3
3. "i mbolg" i.e. in the belly (related to farm animal pregnancy).
/3
This is easy to dispose of. This etymology of the _spelling_ imbolc presupposes a /k/ at the end, but as I say in that article, the word clearly has a /g/. So there is no connection with ritual cleansing.
2. "Oímelc, calling it the beginning of spring and deriving it from oí-melg ('ewe milk')...
/2
2. "Oímelc, calling it the beginning of spring and deriving it from oí-melg ('ewe milk')...
/2
February 8, 2026 at 6:24 PM
This is easy to dispose of. This etymology of the _spelling_ imbolc presupposes a /k/ at the end, but as I say in that article, the word clearly has a /g/. So there is no connection with ritual cleansing.
2. "Oímelc, calling it the beginning of spring and deriving it from oí-melg ('ewe milk')...
/2
2. "Oímelc, calling it the beginning of spring and deriving it from oí-melg ('ewe milk')...
/2
Further on "imbolg": Several, sometimes fanciful etymologies, have been proposed from the medieval to the modern period.
1. "Old Irish imb- (intensive prefix) and folc ('wash, cleanse'), linking it to folcaim ('to wash/cleanse oneself') and suggesting it referred to a ritual cleansing".
/1
1. "Old Irish imb- (intensive prefix) and folc ('wash, cleanse'), linking it to folcaim ('to wash/cleanse oneself') and suggesting it referred to a ritual cleansing".
/1
Is the meaning "i mbolg" i.e. in the belly (related to farm animal pregnancy) generally accepted? I have seen a few alternative explanations but that would seem to be logical for a start-of-spring festival?
February 8, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Further on "imbolg": Several, sometimes fanciful etymologies, have been proposed from the medieval to the modern period.
1. "Old Irish imb- (intensive prefix) and folc ('wash, cleanse'), linking it to folcaim ('to wash/cleanse oneself') and suggesting it referred to a ritual cleansing".
/1
1. "Old Irish imb- (intensive prefix) and folc ('wash, cleanse'), linking it to folcaim ('to wash/cleanse oneself') and suggesting it referred to a ritual cleansing".
/1
That's the expected Modern Irish pronunciation, which is alright, except for the fact - raised in the article - that the word doesn't even exist in Modern Irish, except as a very recent borrowing from Old Irish.
The Old Irish pronunciation must have been something along the lines of [ˈimbəlg].
The Old Irish pronunciation must have been something along the lines of [ˈimbəlg].
February 8, 2026 at 2:08 PM
That's the expected Modern Irish pronunciation, which is alright, except for the fact - raised in the article - that the word doesn't even exist in Modern Irish, except as a very recent borrowing from Old Irish.
The Old Irish pronunciation must have been something along the lines of [ˈimbəlg].
The Old Irish pronunciation must have been something along the lines of [ˈimbəlg].
Well, you know, I do care. Here it goes as a screengrab.
February 8, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Well, you know, I do care. Here it goes as a screengrab.
Want to hear what I think of the neo-English word "Imbolc" for 1st February? Go down to the end of this article by Karl McDonald in the @irishtimes.com, where my opinion is cited beside that of other esteemed colleagues.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
@maynoothuniversity.ie
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
@maynoothuniversity.ie
Social Democrats TD misses out on €1m from Palantir share boom off the back of Ice contracts
Plus: Eamon Dunphy’s Michelin star mission; the Washington Post lays off a reporter in a war zone; and the pagans strike back
www.irishtimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Want to hear what I think of the neo-English word "Imbolc" for 1st February? Go down to the end of this article by Karl McDonald in the @irishtimes.com, where my opinion is cited beside that of other esteemed colleagues.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
@maynoothuniversity.ie
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
@maynoothuniversity.ie
Strictly speaking, the Roman Empire only ended formally in 1806. Just saying...
February 7, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Strictly speaking, the Roman Empire only ended formally in 1806. Just saying...
😅 Ró-éadrom do na h-ólaithe dúchasacha gan amhras... 😂
Níor fhaca mé an focal "iathghlas" roimhe sin. Is breá liom é!
Níor fhaca mé an focal "iathghlas" roimhe sin. Is breá liom é!
February 7, 2026 at 4:38 PM
😅 Ró-éadrom do na h-ólaithe dúchasacha gan amhras... 😂
Níor fhaca mé an focal "iathghlas" roimhe sin. Is breá liom é!
Níor fhaca mé an focal "iathghlas" roimhe sin. Is breá liom é!