Greg Daly
@gregdaly.bsky.social
Jack of all trades, master of some. Dublin-born and Drogheda-based author of Cannae: The Experience of Battle' and editor of ‘1916: The Church & the Rising', Nine-time CMA award winner. One-time future world leader. Mostly tired.
The assumption is that this is a pagan tradition, but that’s effectively saying “this must be a legacy from a thousand years earlier, a time from when we have no records, and unattested in the meantime”. Impossible, no, but let’s admit this is *almost* pure speculation. /3
November 11, 2025 at 11:24 AM
The assumption is that this is a pagan tradition, but that’s effectively saying “this must be a legacy from a thousand years earlier, a time from when we have no records, and unattested in the meantime”. Impossible, no, but let’s admit this is *almost* pure speculation. /3
The earliest known reference to this is in a manuscript in the Bodleian known as Rawlinson B. 512, including a piece titled ‘Senchus muici fheile Martain indso siss’ and dating to around 1500, probably about nine hundred to a thousand years after Ireland had become Christian. /2
November 11, 2025 at 11:13 AM
The earliest known reference to this is in a manuscript in the Bodleian known as Rawlinson B. 512, including a piece titled ‘Senchus muici fheile Martain indso siss’ and dating to around 1500, probably about nine hundred to a thousand years after Ireland had become Christian. /2
Pumpkins, like the notion that winter won’t start for another month and a half or so, are for the weak.
October 31, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Pumpkins, like the notion that winter won’t start for another month and a half or so, are for the weak.
Today we visited the Sainte Chapelle, met the wonderful @theefantomas.bsky.social, and learned that sometimes you just have to crush a duck.
October 11, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Today we visited the Sainte Chapelle, met the wonderful @theefantomas.bsky.social, and learned that sometimes you just have to crush a duck.
That’s how I roll ;) You’ll see I sold out when i reworked it as a book to be published, though.
August 30, 2025 at 10:59 AM
That’s how I roll ;) You’ll see I sold out when i reworked it as a book to be published, though.
M. Incroyable’s civilian look is a pretty decent disguise.
August 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM
M. Incroyable’s civilian look is a pretty decent disguise.
A funny thing about “peace deals” made over the heads of countries being carved up - Czechoslovakia didn’t have to accept Munich. Feeling betrayed, it did so, and so bolstered German power, feeling it owed even less to its treacherous supporters than to its obvious enemy.
August 9, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A funny thing about “peace deals” made over the heads of countries being carved up - Czechoslovakia didn’t have to accept Munich. Feeling betrayed, it did so, and so bolstered German power, feeling it owed even less to its treacherous supporters than to its obvious enemy.
Very reasonable behaviour by The Lord in the first reading at Mass today, persuaded as he is by Abraham that just people shouldn’t be killed alongside sinners, and saying he won’t wipe out whole cities if there are even ten good people there. I feel there might be a lesson worth heeding in this.
July 27, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Very reasonable behaviour by The Lord in the first reading at Mass today, persuaded as he is by Abraham that just people shouldn’t be killed alongside sinners, and saying he won’t wipe out whole cities if there are even ten good people there. I feel there might be a lesson worth heeding in this.
Not a bad day. Superb, challenging homily at Mass. Glorious weather with boats on the Boyne. Cinematic temptations resisted and enjoyed. Gentle afternoon views over the river. And an absolutely stunning book - a heartbreaking, heartwarming, imprecatory psalm of a book - finished.
July 13, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Not a bad day. Superb, challenging homily at Mass. Glorious weather with boats on the Boyne. Cinematic temptations resisted and enjoyed. Gentle afternoon views over the river. And an absolutely stunning book - a heartbreaking, heartwarming, imprecatory psalm of a book - finished.
Today I learned that a dear friend and the best lecturer I’ve ever had has died: rip.ie/death-notice... Vic Connerty shaped me as he did countless others, and regular coffee and other meetings with him over the decades since his retirement was always a joy. The world is so much poorer now. RIP.
June 21, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Today I learned that a dear friend and the best lecturer I’ve ever had has died: rip.ie/death-notice... Vic Connerty shaped me as he did countless others, and regular coffee and other meetings with him over the decades since his retirement was always a joy. The world is so much poorer now. RIP.
Wise words here, well worth keeping in mind: “Today we are felled by destiny - tomorrow this could be your destiny.”
June 20, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Wise words here, well worth keeping in mind: “Today we are felled by destiny - tomorrow this could be your destiny.”
Settling in for an evening at the (amphi)theatre. Looking forward to the gladiators most of all.
June 20, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Settling in for an evening at the (amphi)theatre. Looking forward to the gladiators most of all.
I’ve enjoyed reading their texts of late - among others, and in a general immersion into Irish Catholic writing over the centuries. It’s amazing how much is out there, but bizarrely not in popular editions. And yes: it’s very much neither Pagan nor Protestant!
June 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
I’ve enjoyed reading their texts of late - among others, and in a general immersion into Irish Catholic writing over the centuries. It’s amazing how much is out there, but bizarrely not in popular editions. And yes: it’s very much neither Pagan nor Protestant!
Right, so. Enough of this madness. Avanti!
June 17, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Right, so. Enough of this madness. Avanti!
My dad’s not much of a man for Father’s Day stuff - he deems it nonsense - but still, days like today are useful occasions to underline how lucky we are to have had him all these years.
June 15, 2025 at 11:20 AM
My dad’s not much of a man for Father’s Day stuff - he deems it nonsense - but still, days like today are useful occasions to underline how lucky we are to have had him all these years.
What’s wrong, hon? You’ve hardly touched your souvenir traditional Irish gummy eggs.
June 8, 2025 at 10:18 AM
What’s wrong, hon? You’ve hardly touched your souvenir traditional Irish gummy eggs.
Took a selfie on the way to work this morning. It felt appropriate.
May 29, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Took a selfie on the way to work this morning. It felt appropriate.
Enjoyed my pre-work stroll this morning. The birds seemed to be having a good time.
May 23, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Enjoyed my pre-work stroll this morning. The birds seemed to be having a good time.
I think that sort of thing is pointed to here.
May 18, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I think that sort of thing is pointed to here.
Well, Dublin. You were great. Good to be back on the Boyne now, though.
May 15, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Well, Dublin. You were great. Good to be back on the Boyne now, though.
This, fwiw, is definitely worth a look. The City on a Hill idea was never initially envisaged as a political vision - arguably that was a hijacking by 1980s Republicans of a rather more authentically Christian idea, and a hijacking that’s borne poisonous fruit. The Augustinian optic is vital here.
May 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This, fwiw, is definitely worth a look. The City on a Hill idea was never initially envisaged as a political vision - arguably that was a hijacking by 1980s Republicans of a rather more authentically Christian idea, and a hijacking that’s borne poisonous fruit. The Augustinian optic is vital here.
Enjoyed strolling along the Boyne this afternoon. Always worth keeping your eyes open. Fun especially seeing the heron and the cormorant working away.
May 10, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Enjoyed strolling along the Boyne this afternoon. Always worth keeping your eyes open. Fun especially seeing the heron and the cormorant working away.
This week I have had randoms address me as “Doctor Who” and “Phileas Fogg”. It might be the coat. Weirdly, they seemed impressed more than scornful, but in fairness they may have been drunk.
May 9, 2025 at 8:39 PM
This week I have had randoms address me as “Doctor Who” and “Phileas Fogg”. It might be the coat. Weirdly, they seemed impressed more than scornful, but in fairness they may have been drunk.
I was enthralled to inspect this chap today. It’s an iPod case, about four parts Shrek to one part Noseybonk. No, I didn’t buy it. Some temptations are easily resisted.
May 3, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I was enthralled to inspect this chap today. It’s an iPod case, about four parts Shrek to one part Noseybonk. No, I didn’t buy it. Some temptations are easily resisted.
It’s weird to be reminded of anniversaries - this was fifteen years ago today, at the end of a profoundly tiring week after four gruelling years - and to think that we can have massive achievements, demonstrating what we can do and what we stand for, that’ll never appear on any CV.
April 29, 2025 at 7:16 AM
It’s weird to be reminded of anniversaries - this was fifteen years ago today, at the end of a profoundly tiring week after four gruelling years - and to think that we can have massive achievements, demonstrating what we can do and what we stand for, that’ll never appear on any CV.