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petergray47.bsky.social
Peter Gray
@petergray47.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.3K following 380 posts
Historian of 19thC Ireland; Director of Irish Studies, QUB. Last book: William Sharman Crawford and Ulster Radicalism (2023); working on politics of Irish land reform and the Tenant League(s). Chair of @Irishhistorians.bsky.social There may also be cats.
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Peter Gray @petergray47.bsky.social · Dec 10
Part II at go.bsky.app/DgGqBqW
Reposted by Peter Gray
irishstudiesqub.bsky.social
On Monday 19 Jan we’ll be hosting the booklaunch of Veronique Altglas’s new book Judaizing Christianity and Christian Zionism in Northern Ireland. All welcome www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Iris...
Booklaunch: Veronique Altglas, Judaizing Christianity and Christian Zionism in Northern Ireland
www.qub.ac.uk
January 7, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
robyninpink.bsky.social
My first piece for @theconversation.com is now online!
Is it weird to have a favourite natural disaster? Mine is the Night of the Big Wind.

theconversation.com/how-a-feroci...
How a ferocious 19th-century hurricane helped Irish people get their British pension
The devastating 1839 hurricane that hit the island of Ireland had unexpected benefits for some decades later.
theconversation.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
seamas.bsky.social
In what's now become an annual tradition, I've written another piece for The Gist about how and why I hate A.I.

On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Guest Gist: 2026, Our Already Rotting Future
Seamus O'Reilly warns of AI maximum bubbledrive this year.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
irishtimes.com
‘Some nights I do not sleep’: Families remember 16 sectarian killings in 24 hours in North
‘Some nights I do not sleep’: Families remember 16 sectarian killings in 24 hours in North
Relatives reflect on 50th anniversary of Kingsmill, O’Dowd and Reavey murders
www.irishtimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 6:25 AM
petergray47.bsky.social
A wee dash of Wigtown book and kitten porn to welcome in the new year
The Book Shop, Wigtown Kitten patrolling the Scottish Room Kitten on the lookout for booklifters First edition MacNeice
January 1, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
emilymfg.bsky.social
Maxwell Otter monument in Galloway, Scotland - defo in my top three otter monuments worldwide
December 31, 2025 at 2:14 PM
petergray47.bsky.social
Portpatrick - once ‘Ireland’s Gretna Green’
View of Portpatrick from north Sunset behind Portpatrick lighthouse Dunskey Castle - once owned by Montgomerie of the Airds Portpatrick harbour - the Donaghadee Packet is long gone
December 30, 2025 at 6:03 PM
petergray47.bsky.social
Stormy in - cosy out
Stormy coastline near Wicklow Head 30+ seals lounging in a pebble beach
December 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
andrewgault.bsky.social
As if the workhouse circumstances weren't bad enough, add in some strong #AdventHorror vibes for good measure.
Happy Christmas! 🎅🎄
December 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM
petergray47.bsky.social
Seasonal visitor to Belfast’s finest cheese emporium
Window display at Mike’s Fancy Cheeee Free cheese samples for those waiting in line
December 23, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
dorianlynskey.bsky.social
I reviewed a very big book about a very big idea
December 23, 2025 at 8:14 AM
petergray47.bsky.social
Singalong family outing to north Down’s smallest farmyard cinema 🎦
Ticket office of the regent cinema (accessed through the farmyard and past the basket of kittens) 30 seater cinema interior Cousins plotting to appropriate at least one kitten The main event - Muppet Christmas Carol (combining full anti-Malthusian polemic with singing vegetables)
December 23, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
sjamcbride.bsky.social
When we sit down to Christmas dinner next week, none of us want to be told that our actions are poisoning Lough Neagh — but much of what we choose to eat is hastening the death of this great body of water. The lie of cheap meat hides a vast hidden cost.
How your Christmas turkey is killing Lough Neagh: The lie of cheap meat contains a hidden cost which can no longer be ignored
When we sit down to a sumptuous Christmas dinner next week, none of us want to be told that our actions are poisoning Lough Neagh — but for many of us, what we choose to eat at Christmas is hastening ...
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
irishstudiesqub.bsky.social
If you missed Patrick Walsh's talk yesterday on 'A colonial sinew of power? Rethinking the 18th-century Irish state', a recording is available at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=haJr...
Irish Studies Seminar: Patrick Walsh
YouTube video by QUB Irish Studies
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
emilymfg.bsky.social
This was such a brilliant gig — beg, borrow or steal to get your hands on a ticket for their upcoming dates!
paviliontheatre.bsky.social Pavilion Theatre @paviliontheatre.bsky.social · 24d
🚨 Ye Vagabonds this evening is completely SOLD OUT!

We are thrilled to welcome Brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn who bring their rich harmonies and timeless folk to the stage tonight.

Enjoy this evening of contemporary folk mastery.
December 15, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
emilymfg.bsky.social
Great to see a big review of @wmmjenkins.bsky.social’s new edited book on the Famine in Canada in the Irish Times this morning, by Breandan Mac Suibhne 🙂

How Canada coped with an influx of destitute and diseased Irish people during the Famine

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
December 13, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
speakerconolly.bsky.social
Looking forward to presenting this paper on my current book project @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social on Monday.
irishstudiesqub.bsky.social Irish Studies at QUB @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social · Nov 25
Our last seminar for this year, on 15 Dec. will be Patrick Walsh (TCD) speaking on 'A colonial sinew of power? Rethinking the 18th-century Irish state' (joint event with CECS). All welcome in-person and online. www.ticketsource.co.uk/institute-of...
December 11, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
lucynoakes1.bsky.social
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:

Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.

Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
royalhistsoc.org
What does Gen AI mean for the work of the historian and the value of historical experience, skills and craft?

'The Historian in the Age of AI' by @chriscampbell1.bsky.social.

New Comment article now available in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' bit.ly/4atErTB #Skystorians 1/2
Front page of 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' Comment article, title 'The Historian in the Age of AI', by Chris Campbell. Full abstract: "This comment interrogates the methods and conclusions of Working with AI, a recent report conducted under the auspices of Microsoft, which identified historians as the profession with the second-highest ‘AI applicability’. It finds that the authors’ conclusions are based on an erroneous simplification and misrepresentation of a historian’s typical professional tasks, which have been publicly amplified by extensive media coverage. This comment then offers a wider provocation about the report’s conception of a professional historian, and whether it is related to the public application of ‘historian’ to a number of different practitioners with varied training and qualifications. In particular, it seeks to highlight a paradox which the report exposes: that we cannot defend the specialist training and expertise of professional historians against the encroachment of AI without also separating the academic skills and qualifications of historians from those engaged in more popular forms of historical writing and communication. The comment questions how we might grapple with this paradox without reverting to academic elitism."
December 11, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
kevinhorourke.bsky.social
The @echistsocreview.bsky.social has just published an online virtual issue in honour of Joel Mokyr, featuring a very nice introduction by @mdrelichman.bsky.social, available here:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

#econhist
<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library
Click on the title to browse this issue
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 11, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
hetanshah.bsky.social
We have a whole report on this
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/univers...
University course closures leave students unable to study many SHAPE subjects close to home - report
A new report shows that students are shut out of SHAPE education in their home regions, as large swathes of the UK are ‘cold spots’ for humanities, social sciences and arts degrees.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
December 10, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
brionyneilson.bsky.social
This is the earliest known representation of the potato plant in Western and Central Europe. Drawn in 1587 by artist unknown. Held in the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. You're welcome.
image shows a drawing of a flowering potato plant
December 10, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Reposted by Peter Gray
royalhistsoc.org
This morning Research England announced the end of its pause to REF2029 bit.ly/4oHh9wJ. The announcement includes changes to earlier plans and resumption of criteria setting by subject panels.

There's much to digest and we'll review and update with reference to the discipline of history 1/3
REF 2029 publishes updates and resumes criteria setting following pause  – REF 2029
bit.ly
December 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Peter Gray
irishstudiesqub.bsky.social
On Thursday 12 Feb. we will be sponsoring a conference on THE ULSTER PLANTATION, linked to the 'People of Plantation Ulster' database project (QUB/Maynooth). This is a free event open to all, held at PRONI (11-4). Registration and programme is at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conference...
December 9, 2025 at 9:26 PM