John Gallagher
@earlymodernjohn.bsky.social
Irishman in Yorkshire. Historian of language, education, migration at the University of Leeds. Co-editor of the Historical Journal; from 2026, editor of Renaissance Studies. Occasional BBC radio presenter. Currently learning Amharic. Dad!
Really is amazing how good the tech is getting these days.
October 4, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Really is amazing how good the tech is getting these days.
Clicked that link by the way to get the brand new BBC App that will get me all those podcasts and other things. It isn't available to me! #GlobalBritain
September 16, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Clicked that link by the way to get the brand new BBC App that will get me all those podcasts and other things. It isn't available to me! #GlobalBritain
We're away from the UK at the moment and I just got this when I tried to access BBC Sounds (on a UK phone and as a licence fee payer, not that either seems to matter). I think this is such a stupid, shortsighted, move. It baffles me that the BBC is willingly abandoning its global reach.
September 16, 2025 at 6:17 AM
We're away from the UK at the moment and I just got this when I tried to access BBC Sounds (on a UK phone and as a licence fee payer, not that either seems to matter). I think this is such a stupid, shortsighted, move. It baffles me that the BBC is willingly abandoning its global reach.
When your language class notes read like a Sappho fragment.
September 12, 2025 at 12:02 PM
When your language class notes read like a Sappho fragment.
Starting to wonder if this means @mrfw17thc.bsky.social is getting sick of WhatsApp messages about my book.
September 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Starting to wonder if this means @mrfw17thc.bsky.social is getting sick of WhatsApp messages about my book.
Currently wondering what this merry crew are doing in the water by Grantham Lane (a bit upriver from London Bridge, just past the Steelyard) on the Agas map. Any early modern London people have any idea? @janellejenstad.bsky.social @tracelarkhall.bsky.social @williamcavert.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Currently wondering what this merry crew are doing in the water by Grantham Lane (a bit upriver from London Bridge, just past the Steelyard) on the Agas map. Any early modern London people have any idea? @janellejenstad.bsky.social @tracelarkhall.bsky.social @williamcavert.bsky.social
Rare to see one of these: a warning sign that alerts you to the presence of the rock band Queen.
July 12, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Rare to see one of these: a warning sign that alerts you to the presence of the rock band Queen.
From the parliamentary report on Iran. Just quickly — does anyone know if the UK has places that teach languages to a high level, and if so, what the government policy on them is?
July 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM
From the parliamentary report on Iran. Just quickly — does anyone know if the UK has places that teach languages to a high level, and if so, what the government policy on them is?
You call it chilling with my Protestant friends, we call it
June 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
You call it chilling with my Protestant friends, we call it
Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht bhúr dteachtaireachtaí faoi Sloinne ar TG4. Bhain mé an-sult as an taifeadadh agus bhí ádh an domhain orm bheith in ann oibriú le foireann den scoth ó Abú Media. Tá an chlár fós le feiceáil ar shuíomh TG4.
June 24, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht bhúr dteachtaireachtaí faoi Sloinne ar TG4. Bhain mé an-sult as an taifeadadh agus bhí ádh an domhain orm bheith in ann oibriú le foireann den scoth ó Abú Media. Tá an chlár fós le feiceáil ar shuíomh TG4.
Speaking of time travellers...
June 12, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Speaking of time travellers...
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693):
June 9, 2025 at 1:44 PM
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693):
Last week I spent a few days at the Università degli Studi dell'Insubria in Como for the International Inter-Association Conference on the History of Language-Learning and Teaching. An honour to be asked to give a keynote lecture and to meet international & interdisciplinary researchers!
June 9, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Last week I spent a few days at the Università degli Studi dell'Insubria in Como for the International Inter-Association Conference on the History of Language-Learning and Teaching. An honour to be asked to give a keynote lecture and to meet international & interdisciplinary researchers!
tfw you're a good Protestant clerk but you can't get transubstantiation off your mind
May 15, 2025 at 3:30 PM
tfw you're a good Protestant clerk but you can't get transubstantiation off your mind
It was quite late in the research for this article — I'd long been seduced by North's multilingual musical gourmet personality — that I started finding out about the times he literally stabbed people.
May 13, 2025 at 6:30 PM
It was quite late in the research for this article — I'd long been seduced by North's multilingual musical gourmet personality — that I started finding out about the times he literally stabbed people.
Just to say that it's definitely the case here that the people marking the AI-generated work were lazy or stupid (or both). There's no reason to think they might not have "flagged" it because it's almost impossible to prove or because they wouldn't be supported by their institution.
May 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Just to say that it's definitely the case here that the people marking the AI-generated work were lazy or stupid (or both). There's no reason to think they might not have "flagged" it because it's almost impossible to prove or because they wouldn't be supported by their institution.
Now reading — a gift from my mother-in-law. Enjoying it so far, and it made me think that one day I too should make my Jesuit confessor towel me down after he interrupts my bath.
May 2, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Now reading — a gift from my mother-in-law. Enjoying it so far, and it made me think that one day I too should make my Jesuit confessor towel me down after he interrupts my bath.
THIRST
FORKNO
WLEDGE
FORKNO
WLEDGE
May 2, 2025 at 8:37 AM
THIRST
FORKNO
WLEDGE
FORKNO
WLEDGE
Picked this up from a community book swap to replace a copy I lost years ago. Read it first when I dreamt of being an actor — entirely seduced by the idea of having Trevor Nunn come over to your table at Joe Allen to compliment your 1982-3 Tartuffe and suggest you do Richard III at the RSC.
April 27, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Picked this up from a community book swap to replace a copy I lost years ago. Read it first when I dreamt of being an actor — entirely seduced by the idea of having Trevor Nunn come over to your table at Joe Allen to compliment your 1982-3 Tartuffe and suggest you do Richard III at the RSC.
Superb choice of pronunciation examples in this Amharic phrasebook, no notes.
April 15, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Superb choice of pronunciation examples in this Amharic phrasebook, no notes.
An impassioned argument against activist and politically motivated history from *checks notes* founder editor of culture war website History Reclaimed, Professor Robert Tombs
April 15, 2025 at 6:59 AM
An impassioned argument against activist and politically motivated history from *checks notes* founder editor of culture war website History Reclaimed, Professor Robert Tombs
In happier news, I'm (slowly) reading this — a present from one friend, and recommended by another — and I think it's wonderful.
April 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM
In happier news, I'm (slowly) reading this — a present from one friend, and recommended by another — and I think it's wonderful.