marcmulholland.bsky.social
@marcmulholland.bsky.social
Reposted
I'll be speaking at the @historytcd.bsky.social Modern and Contemporary Irish History Seminar tomorrow, Wednesday 12 November at 2.30pm in @tlrhub.bsky.social. I'll be speaking on O'Connellite politics in south Ulster from 1824 to 1844. More information here: www.tcd.ie/history/rese...
Trinity Research Centre for Contemporary Irish History Seminars - Department of History - Trinity College Dublin
www.tcd.ie
November 11, 2025 at 9:23 AM
As everyone knows, Ireland was desperately poor, so when potato blight hit, its thoughtlessly philoprogenitive people were doomed.

But is that quite so ... ? From my book:
November 11, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Picture of my mother's mother at a military hospital, front centre, 1917.
November 9, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Does anyone know whether the scripts of the 2018 'Civilisations' TV programme were published or otherwise available? (I know a couple of follow-up books came out).
November 8, 2025 at 2:19 PM
A thread from my book on the 'Irish Union' between the bourgeois United Irishmen and the peasant-plebeian Defender1: shorturl.at/wyMWB
At the Rising of the Moon: The Peasantry and Ireland from the Tudor Conquest to the fall of Landlordism
paperback.
shorturl.at
November 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Historians have generally argued that the United Irishmen 'took over' the Defenders. I reckon it's much more the other way round: the plebeian and peasant Defenders 'took over' the United Irish. We even have Thomas Addis Emmet trying to tell us this, by almost direct address.
November 6, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Yesterday I wrote something defending the Irish stick-fighting tradition from accusations of barbarity. 'But' - you're thinking - 'what about the notorious Ballyeigh Strand faction fight?' It left 220 dead by later repute (actually about 16)! shorturl.at/gC8M6
Bloody Battle on Ballyeigh Strand - Ballybunion County Kerry Ireland | ballybunion.ie
shorturl.at
November 5, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Irish stick-fighting in pre-Famine Ireland was not random mayhem, but a martial art. Not significantly more dangerous, I'd say, than pugilism (or horse-racing).
November 4, 2025 at 9:28 AM
How the Irish peasant divided her day:

Day’s dapple

Dawn’s first glimmer

'Ring of the day’

Sunrise

Broad daylight

Breakfast and morning milking

Day dapple

Noon

Dinner time

'Nonetide’

Evening

Sunset

Nightfall

'Man-with-bush’ light

Suppertime

Beginning of night ...
November 3, 2025 at 4:00 PM
One thing I've done in my books is to employ as a generic term for popular but covert peasant movements, from the Whiteboys of the 1760s to the Moonlighters of the 1880s. Here's why:
November 1, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reposted
“At the same time, more than half of Gen Z members say they are struggling to make ends meet, yet a majority buy themselves a small treat, such as a pastry, coffee, or sweet, at least once a week. That can lead to overspending…”

archive.ph/2TI8J
October 31, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Here's a thread from my book on the First Defender Rising (1793) -- I think 'Militia Riots' is too weak.

ttps://shorturl.at/3glHq
At the Rising of the Moon: The Peasantry and Ireland from the Tudor Conquest to the fall of Landlordism eBook : Mulholland, Marc: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
At the Rising of the Moon: The Peasantry and Ireland from the Tudor Conquest to the fall of Landlordism eBook : Mulholland, Marc: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
shorturl.at
October 31, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Here's a thread on the ideology of the United Irishmen, from my book, 'At the Rising of the Moon'. shorturl.at/Sx1zz
At the Rising of the Moon: The Peasantry and Ireland from the Tudor Conquest to the fall of Landlordism
paperback.
shorturl.at
October 30, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted
Interested in the history of Seven Dials or London or the 1920s and 1930s? I'm doing some walking tours of the Dials with @stanfordstravel.bsky.social on Sat 15 Nov.

There's loads to see, but Seven Dials is so small you don't need to walk far.

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/events/songs...
October 29, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted
Not my place, not my period, but I'm looking forward to some "intimate history" in the present tense, in my colleague @tricksterprince.bsky.social's new book.
October 29, 2025 at 11:29 AM
What kind of headline is that!? Who other than fanatical authoritarians and shills for the cartel would now accept it as reasonable and decent?
October 28, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Three things regarding the Irish Famine I worked out for my book, which I don't think have been noticed before.

1. Over the Famine years the landlord share of agricultural production, seized in rent, went up by one-quarter, from 28.5% to 36.14%.
October 28, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted
Doing a thing tomorrow night for the Crossgar Historical Society
October 27, 2025 at 10:46 PM
From the Book: The rise of the Defenders as a popular & peasant revolutionary organisation.
October 27, 2025 at 10:05 AM
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Whenever I hear about the decline in standards from the old days of Decent Conservatism this is the first image that comes to mind. The man who drew this was given an OBE.
October 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
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If I - some asshole - quickly understood that this was what was happening, then I am reasonably sure that the Foreign Office and the security services also spotted it early on.
October 26, 2025 at 3:50 PM
From the book: the C18th Irish Volunteers:
October 26, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reposted
My favourite view at Harcourt Arboretum. Truly stunning.
October 26, 2025 at 7:57 AM