Marion McGarry
@marionmcgarry.bsky.social
Irish heritage, folklore, material culture, design. Author of books: Irish Customs and Rituals & much more. Contributor to RTE Brainstorm. MA / PhD / SFHEA… Nunquam desiste 👋
All views my own.
https://www.rte.ie/author/1241485-marion-mcgarry/
All views my own.
https://www.rte.ie/author/1241485-marion-mcgarry/
Pinned
Lovely to pop into my local Easons and see this on the shelf… 5 years since it was published and still popular with readers… 🤓
Reposted by Marion McGarry
The roots and traditions associated with January 6th, the last day of Christmas and the day known as Nollaig na mBan. By @marionmcgarry.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
The roots and traditions of Nollaig na mBan
There are many Irish folk rituals associated with 6 January, the last day of Christmas and the day known as Nollaig na mBan
www.rte.ie
January 6, 2026 at 7:54 AM
The roots and traditions associated with January 6th, the last day of Christmas and the day known as Nollaig na mBan. By @marionmcgarry.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Really love this book Marion! Read it so many times now that the pages are falling out. ❤️
December 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Really love this book Marion! Read it so many times now that the pages are falling out. ❤️
Much as I love Mark Gatiss I did not like this year’s A Ghost Story for Christmas. There, I said it. It didn’t make any sense.
December 27, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Much as I love Mark Gatiss I did not like this year’s A Ghost Story for Christmas. There, I said it. It didn’t make any sense.
Lovely to pop into my local Easons and see this on the shelf… 5 years since it was published and still popular with readers… 🤓
December 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Lovely to pop into my local Easons and see this on the shelf… 5 years since it was published and still popular with readers… 🤓
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Ah sure you'll have one, tis the Christmas... From @3castlesburning.bsky.social and @newislandbooks.bsky.social - our Book of the Year (and, as of yesterday our bestselling book of the year also). The Dublin Pub. It's your shout.... #speirgorm
thebookshop.ie/donal-fallon...
thebookshop.ie/donal-fallon...
December 1, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Ah sure you'll have one, tis the Christmas... From @3castlesburning.bsky.social and @newislandbooks.bsky.social - our Book of the Year (and, as of yesterday our bestselling book of the year also). The Dublin Pub. It's your shout.... #speirgorm
thebookshop.ie/donal-fallon...
thebookshop.ie/donal-fallon...
Cranky man doesn’t like to be questioned by a woman he sees as his subordinate. Well done Louise Burne on doing your job fearlessly. We need more of this in Ireland 👏
Oh wow, just heard that clip on the radio of Micheál Martin getting super narky with Louise Burne from the Examiner… yikes. She was asking questions, simply doing her literal job as a decent journo.
Trying to insinuate she has no manners? Ick. What a deeply unpleasant man.
Trying to insinuate she has no manners? Ick. What a deeply unpleasant man.
December 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Cranky man doesn’t like to be questioned by a woman he sees as his subordinate. Well done Louise Burne on doing your job fearlessly. We need more of this in Ireland 👏
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Watching this reported on #rtept made me very angry.
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Mother of Niamh McNally (16) recalls death in Limerick hospital as HSE apologises – The Irish Times
https://www.newsbeep.com/273793/
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died at University…
https://www.newsbeep.com/273793/
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died at University…
Mother of Niamh McNally (16) recalls death in Limerick hospital as HSE apologises – The Irish Times - News Beep
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in January 2024 for the
www.newsbeep.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Watching this reported on #rtept made me very angry.
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Watching this reported on #rtept made me very angry.
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Mother of Niamh McNally (16) recalls death in Limerick hospital as HSE apologises – The Irish Times
https://www.newsbeep.com/273793/
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died at University…
https://www.newsbeep.com/273793/
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died at University…
Mother of Niamh McNally (16) recalls death in Limerick hospital as HSE apologises – The Irish Times - News Beep
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in January 2024 for the
www.newsbeep.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Watching this reported on #rtept made me very angry.
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
Another sick child failed by the state, and her poor mother is left without her. What the hell is going on in our hospitals.
If you’ve not read the story of 16 year old Niamh McNally please do so below
“What next, you may ask? A centrepiece of broccoli at the wedding reception? A head of cauliflower dangling from every church pew?”
I think you’ll find the Irish floral designer Constance Spry was including kale in flower arrangements from the 1930s 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i...
I think you’ll find the Irish floral designer Constance Spry was including kale in flower arrangements from the 1930s 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i...
Alison Healy on some regrettable wedding celebration traditions
Pelting newly married couples with cabbage stalks never seemed like the best idea
www.irishtimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
“What next, you may ask? A centrepiece of broccoli at the wedding reception? A head of cauliflower dangling from every church pew?”
I think you’ll find the Irish floral designer Constance Spry was including kale in flower arrangements from the 1930s 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i...
I think you’ll find the Irish floral designer Constance Spry was including kale in flower arrangements from the 1930s 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i...
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Restoring cultural invention doesn’t require upending the current industries—it just needs a small vanguard to change its direction, writes W. David Marx:
21st-Century Culture Has Hit a Wall. Here’s How to Break Through.
Even failures and half steps will be more interesting than the boring stuff.
bit.ly
December 1, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Restoring cultural invention doesn’t require upending the current industries—it just needs a small vanguard to change its direction, writes W. David Marx:
If Ireland is to succeed into the future, “there needs to be a concerted effort to encourage graduates to stay here.”
👇
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...
👇
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...
Ireland’s graduates: ‘Everyone I know is thinking of moving abroad or has gone’
Many find it tough to find work in their desired sector upon leaving college - a harsh situation each year that doesn’t seem to improve
www.irishtimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:18 AM
If Ireland is to succeed into the future, “there needs to be a concerted effort to encourage graduates to stay here.”
👇
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...
👇
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...
Reposted by Marion McGarry
I absolutely deplore everything that Israel is doing.
I also think renaming Herzog Park is a disgraceful move.
As usual, shallow performative bullshit from Dublin City Council.
I also think renaming Herzog Park is a disgraceful move.
As usual, shallow performative bullshit from Dublin City Council.
September 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
I absolutely deplore everything that Israel is doing.
I also think renaming Herzog Park is a disgraceful move.
As usual, shallow performative bullshit from Dublin City Council.
I also think renaming Herzog Park is a disgraceful move.
As usual, shallow performative bullshit from Dublin City Council.
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Resistant to fever, bird flu viruses are a threat to humans #BBSRC #AcademicSky
Resistant to fever, bird flu viruses are a threat to humans
New study led by the University of Cambridge and the University of Glasgow finds that bird flu viruses are a major threat to humans.
BBSRC MRC
www.ukri.org
November 28, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Resistant to fever, bird flu viruses are a threat to humans #BBSRC #AcademicSky
After a rather stressful week, why not enjoy a Friday treat by rewatching this documentary about the cultural attaché to Greece 😍
November 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
After a rather stressful week, why not enjoy a Friday treat by rewatching this documentary about the cultural attaché to Greece 😍
Reposted by Marion McGarry
My stance at this point is that I don't trust ANYTHING written by ANYONE that is positive about #LLMs. If the supposed author is praising LLMs then it's likely that they use it and have used it to generate the text.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03506-6
#ai #academia #academicchatter
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03506-6
#ai #academia #academicchatter
November 27, 2025 at 10:37 PM
My stance at this point is that I don't trust ANYTHING written by ANYONE that is positive about #LLMs. If the supposed author is praising LLMs then it's likely that they use it and have used it to generate the text.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03506-6
#ai #academia #academicchatter
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03506-6
#ai #academia #academicchatter
For a start, this Guardian TV review has confused Ken Clarke with Kenneth Clark. Basic fact checking has gone out the window here. The irony as they’re talking of the imminent fall of western civilisation. What a time to be alive
@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Civilisations: Rise and Fall review – TV that will make you despair for our own plummeting society
The mightily stressful and incredibly close-to-the-bone BBC show traces the demise of four ancient worlds – and it’s wildly prescient stuff. Will we never learn?
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:23 AM
For a start, this Guardian TV review has confused Ken Clarke with Kenneth Clark. Basic fact checking has gone out the window here. The irony as they’re talking of the imminent fall of western civilisation. What a time to be alive
@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Annagh Stone Row • Mayo
Though typically thought of as a place of Christian pilgrimage, the hinterland of Croagh Patrick has long been a sacred place.
This can be inferred from the number of prehistoric monuments in the immediate hinterland of the mountain. Like this stone alignment at Annagh.
Though typically thought of as a place of Christian pilgrimage, the hinterland of Croagh Patrick has long been a sacred place.
This can be inferred from the number of prehistoric monuments in the immediate hinterland of the mountain. Like this stone alignment at Annagh.
November 23, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Annagh Stone Row • Mayo
Though typically thought of as a place of Christian pilgrimage, the hinterland of Croagh Patrick has long been a sacred place.
This can be inferred from the number of prehistoric monuments in the immediate hinterland of the mountain. Like this stone alignment at Annagh.
Though typically thought of as a place of Christian pilgrimage, the hinterland of Croagh Patrick has long been a sacred place.
This can be inferred from the number of prehistoric monuments in the immediate hinterland of the mountain. Like this stone alignment at Annagh.
This is an absolute outrage!
Asba Meats owner went to home of female worker looking for a “massage”, WRC told
Asba Meats owner went to home of female worker looking for a “massage”, WRC told
Neither worker nor businessman were named in decision
www.irishtimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
This is an absolute outrage!
“We need to have a proper look at infrastructure in the west of Ireland”
Great discussion about the wider impact of Galway’s traffic problems - now widely acknowledged to be worsening - I can attest to this: my own commute has extended by 30m since September.
open.spotify.com/episode/5tgp...
Great discussion about the wider impact of Galway’s traffic problems - now widely acknowledged to be worsening - I can attest to this: my own commute has extended by 30m since September.
open.spotify.com/episode/5tgp...
Nightmare Commutes: Galway
open.spotify.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
“We need to have a proper look at infrastructure in the west of Ireland”
Great discussion about the wider impact of Galway’s traffic problems - now widely acknowledged to be worsening - I can attest to this: my own commute has extended by 30m since September.
open.spotify.com/episode/5tgp...
Great discussion about the wider impact of Galway’s traffic problems - now widely acknowledged to be worsening - I can attest to this: my own commute has extended by 30m since September.
open.spotify.com/episode/5tgp...
Reposted by Marion McGarry
“Who knows how many children I & my friends would have with [secure high quality affordable housing] certainly enough to maintain pension-paying workforce. Govt’s strategy of pinning pension hopes on migrant workers is short-sighted & a tragedy for Irish women” 💯 www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
‘I cannot express how seriously the housing crisis has impacted me (35 years old and female) and my friends’
On a recent visit to a friend in Copenhagen, I was struck by how many couples in their young 20s had multiple babies
www.irishtimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:34 PM
“Who knows how many children I & my friends would have with [secure high quality affordable housing] certainly enough to maintain pension-paying workforce. Govt’s strategy of pinning pension hopes on migrant workers is short-sighted & a tragedy for Irish women” 💯 www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
Heartening to see growing interest in these topics and thanks to @rte.ie allowing me a platform to educate the public about old Irish traditions:
another ‘most read’ piece on @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
@atu-ie.bsky.social @oflynnatu.bsky.social
another ‘most read’ piece on @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
@atu-ie.bsky.social @oflynnatu.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Heartening to see growing interest in these topics and thanks to @rte.ie allowing me a platform to educate the public about old Irish traditions:
another ‘most read’ piece on @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
@atu-ie.bsky.social @oflynnatu.bsky.social
another ‘most read’ piece on @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
@atu-ie.bsky.social @oflynnatu.bsky.social
Reposted by Marion McGarry
Why November 11th was a day for blood sacrifice rites in Ireland. @marionmcgarry.bsky.social ATU on how blood sacrifices involving pigs, sheep or geese were practiced in Ireland well into living memory on Martinmas www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
Why November 11th was a day for blood sacrifice rites in Ireland
Blood sacrifices involving pigs, sheep or geese were practiced in Ireland well into living memory on Martinmas
www.rte.ie
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Why November 11th was a day for blood sacrifice rites in Ireland. @marionmcgarry.bsky.social ATU on how blood sacrifices involving pigs, sheep or geese were practiced in Ireland well into living memory on Martinmas www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
@mcculld.bsky.social nice scoop having Ivan Yates on as first guest! Great listening while I’m stuck in STANDSTILL traffic jam
November 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
@mcculld.bsky.social nice scoop having Ivan Yates on as first guest! Great listening while I’m stuck in STANDSTILL traffic jam
Reposted by Marion McGarry
‘Stop, that’s my case’ - Áine Ryan on adventures on the Westport non-express
‘Stop, that’s my case’ - Áine Ryan on adventures on the Westport non-express
I was joined by two young bucks worse for wear and, in the case of the one ... appear to be experiencing some very psychedelic thoughts
www.irishtimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:10 AM
‘Stop, that’s my case’ - Áine Ryan on adventures on the Westport non-express