Mark
@markglover.bsky.social
Heritage, mental health, media, and community development. Trustee of Belfast’s Oldest Charity @cliftonhousebelfast Belfast Charitable Society
Reposted by Mark
Well this 2,600-year-old clay letter was a journey.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
November 21, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Well this 2,600-year-old clay letter was a journey.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
This Thursday, join us at Clifton House or online for an intriguing look into the darker side of Belfast's history in the 19th century. A time in which body-snatchers were terrorizing local cemeteries, stealing bodies for medical dissection.
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
This Thursday, join us at Clifton House or online for an intriguing look into the darker side of Belfast's history in the 19th century. A time in which body-snatchers were terrorizing local cemeteries, stealing bodies for medical dissection.
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
As it’s on the news, sharing this again. The view of the pyramids at the top of the grand staircase is wonderful.
This is one of the most impressive pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen. And by a Dublin based couple of architects - Heneghan Peng Architects. Róisín Heneghan and her husband Shi-Fu Peng. Even the details of the many names of Egypt in the main door columns are perfectly placed.
November 4, 2025 at 11:04 AM
As it’s on the news, sharing this again. The view of the pyramids at the top of the grand staircase is wonderful.
Reposted by Mark
I've been getting back into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series after many years, and the most relatable part is how everyday objects like doors and elevators have been imbued with artificial intelligence and it just makes them obnoxious and frustrating to use and everyone hates it.
November 1, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I've been getting back into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series after many years, and the most relatable part is how everyday objects like doors and elevators have been imbued with artificial intelligence and it just makes them obnoxious and frustrating to use and everyone hates it.
Reposted by Mark
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Just arrived today. New book by @leannecalvert.bsky.social Something to share with the Kirk Session later!
October 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Just arrived today. New book by @leannecalvert.bsky.social Something to share with the Kirk Session later!
Reposted by Mark
Fantastic work by Liam!
It's important to be honest about origin stories even if it doesn't suit us.
It's important to be honest about origin stories even if it doesn't suit us.
I repost this each October in the hope that the complexity of Halloween's origins and customs are more widely appreciated. Claims of a simple historical & mononational genealogy for this celebration are themselves examples of contemporary folklore/mythmaking. limerick1914.medium.com/customs-vary...
“Customs vary wi’ the times, At Hallowe’en”
Customs, Myths and Messiness
limerick1914.medium.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Fantastic work by Liam!
It's important to be honest about origin stories even if it doesn't suit us.
It's important to be honest about origin stories even if it doesn't suit us.
Time for our next lecture in Clifton House.
October 23, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Time for our next lecture in Clifton House.
We’re still a feisty bunch in Rashee!
Really chuffed that over 40,000 folks have had a read of my piece on the "colourful sex lives of Presbyterians in 18/19 century Ulster" #ICYMI link here 👇#HistSex #NewBook @theconversation.com @unioflimerick.bsky.social @ria.ie
theconversation.com/the-sex-live...
theconversation.com/the-sex-live...
The sex lives of Presbyterians in 18th- and 19th-century Ulster were surprisingly colourful
The Presbyterian church closely regulated the intimate lives of its members through a system of church court discipline.
theconversation.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:37 AM
We’re still a feisty bunch in Rashee!
Having to update the firmware of a lightbulb. Truly, modern life is so efficient. Now. Where’s the app?
September 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Having to update the firmware of a lightbulb. Truly, modern life is so efficient. Now. Where’s the app?
Reposted by Mark
Timeless humour!
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
![The photo shows four images of the same Roman iron stylus pen, one below the other. The knib to the left. It has an inscription which runs along its length on four sides. The four images show the four lines of inscribed text which read:
‘ab urbe v[e]n[i] munus tibi
gratum adf(e)ro
acul[eat]um ut habe[a]s memor[ia]m nostra(m)
rogo si fortuna dar[e]t quo possem
largius ut longa via ceu sacculus est (v)acuus’
‘I have come from the City. I bring you a welcome gift
with a sharp point that you may remember me.
I ask, if fortune allowed, that I might be able (to give)
as generously as the way is long (and) as my purse is empty.’
The pen was used to write on wax-filled wooden writing tablets. Found in London (Roman ‘Londinium’) by MOLA. Photo by Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j56ydp325adovobhwpkzc6sp/bafkreifzhfymde7cyrv2i7fu7e2v33veporn5rsywwi2rqdgswkxpj6xre@jpeg)
September 6, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Timeless humour!
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
Just 1 week to go until #EHOD! Join us at Clifton House on Sat 13 Sept, 10am-12pm for a drop-in open day.
Explore Belfast’s historic gem, meet our guides, and discover its rich history—no booking needed. Onsite parking available.
Explore Belfast’s historic gem, meet our guides, and discover its rich history—no booking needed. Onsite parking available.
September 6, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Just 1 week to go until #EHOD! Join us at Clifton House on Sat 13 Sept, 10am-12pm for a drop-in open day.
Explore Belfast’s historic gem, meet our guides, and discover its rich history—no booking needed. Onsite parking available.
Explore Belfast’s historic gem, meet our guides, and discover its rich history—no booking needed. Onsite parking available.
BNH&PS Inaugural Lecture
3 September 2025
6.30pm Old Museum Building
Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society with Sir Ronnie Weatherup, President of the Belfast Charitable Society on ‘The Poorhouse, Poores Money and Poor Relief’- including the development of Clifton House.
3 September 2025
6.30pm Old Museum Building
Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society with Sir Ronnie Weatherup, President of the Belfast Charitable Society on ‘The Poorhouse, Poores Money and Poor Relief’- including the development of Clifton House.
September 1, 2025 at 10:45 AM
BNH&PS Inaugural Lecture
3 September 2025
6.30pm Old Museum Building
Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society with Sir Ronnie Weatherup, President of the Belfast Charitable Society on ‘The Poorhouse, Poores Money and Poor Relief’- including the development of Clifton House.
3 September 2025
6.30pm Old Museum Building
Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society with Sir Ronnie Weatherup, President of the Belfast Charitable Society on ‘The Poorhouse, Poores Money and Poor Relief’- including the development of Clifton House.
Just chillin in Athens
August 31, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Just chillin in Athens
This is one of the most impressive pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen. And by a Dublin based couple of architects - Heneghan Peng Architects. Róisín Heneghan and her husband Shi-Fu Peng. Even the details of the many names of Egypt in the main door columns are perfectly placed.
August 28, 2025 at 6:58 PM
This is one of the most impressive pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen. And by a Dublin based couple of architects - Heneghan Peng Architects. Róisín Heneghan and her husband Shi-Fu Peng. Even the details of the many names of Egypt in the main door columns are perfectly placed.
One of the fun things about the Grand Egyptian Museum is the buggy that takes you from ticketing to the main entrance. Every museum needs buggies!
August 28, 2025 at 9:40 AM
One of the fun things about the Grand Egyptian Museum is the buggy that takes you from ticketing to the main entrance. Every museum needs buggies!
Visited Great Egyptian Museum today, with its official opening in October. Stunning. Hard to show scale of place with phone pics. Wonderful collection of artefacts.
August 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Visited Great Egyptian Museum today, with its official opening in October. Stunning. Hard to show scale of place with phone pics. Wonderful collection of artefacts.
Let’s just say the main thought going through my mind watching this was, “Why?!”
August 13, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Let’s just say the main thought going through my mind watching this was, “Why?!”
Great day today at Belfast Potters’ Market in No2 Royal Avenue. And picked up an early Halloween gift from @jamesstanleywatson.bsky.social Brilliant to see No2 Royal Avenue packed out.
August 9, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Great day today at Belfast Potters’ Market in No2 Royal Avenue. And picked up an early Halloween gift from @jamesstanleywatson.bsky.social Brilliant to see No2 Royal Avenue packed out.
Just pedestrianise it. No more faffing #HillStreet #Belfast
August 3, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Just pedestrianise it. No more faffing #HillStreet #Belfast
Meet Baroness May Blood, the third remarkable woman in our Belfast Women’s Talk! She left school at 14 to work in Blackstaff Linen Mill, proud to be a Milly for 38 years.
Join us on August 5 at Clifton House, 1pm—few tickets left!
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Join us on August 5 at Clifton House, 1pm—few tickets left!
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
August 1, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Meet Baroness May Blood, the third remarkable woman in our Belfast Women’s Talk! She left school at 14 to work in Blackstaff Linen Mill, proud to be a Milly for 38 years.
Join us on August 5 at Clifton House, 1pm—few tickets left!
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Join us on August 5 at Clifton House, 1pm—few tickets left!
cliftonhousebelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
BELFAST’S REMARKABLE WOMEN TALK: MARY ANN MCCRACKEN, WINIFRED CARNEY AND BARONESS MAY BLOOD
Clifton House Belfast 1pm
5 Aug 2025 visitbelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Clifton House Belfast 1pm
5 Aug 2025 visitbelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
July 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM
BELFAST’S REMARKABLE WOMEN TALK: MARY ANN MCCRACKEN, WINIFRED CARNEY AND BARONESS MAY BLOOD
Clifton House Belfast 1pm
5 Aug 2025 visitbelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Clifton House Belfast 1pm
5 Aug 2025 visitbelfast.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Reposted by Mark
Table football (futbolín). The classic version was invented by Galician anarchist poet Alejandro Finisterre. While convalescing in Montserrat, Catalonia after wounded by a fascist bomb in Madrid in 1936. He felt sorry that the amputee kids couldn't play real football, so he came up with idea.
July 14, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Table football (futbolín). The classic version was invented by Galician anarchist poet Alejandro Finisterre. While convalescing in Montserrat, Catalonia after wounded by a fascist bomb in Madrid in 1936. He felt sorry that the amputee kids couldn't play real football, so he came up with idea.
Reposted by Mark
Clifton House will be closed from tomorrow, Friday 11th July, through to Monday 14th July. There will be no tours this weekend.
But don’t worry — we’ve got some exciting tours coming up soon!
Check out our upcoming schedule and plan your visit to enjoy the history of Clifton House with us.
But don’t worry — we’ve got some exciting tours coming up soon!
Check out our upcoming schedule and plan your visit to enjoy the history of Clifton House with us.
July 10, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Clifton House will be closed from tomorrow, Friday 11th July, through to Monday 14th July. There will be no tours this weekend.
But don’t worry — we’ve got some exciting tours coming up soon!
Check out our upcoming schedule and plan your visit to enjoy the history of Clifton House with us.
But don’t worry — we’ve got some exciting tours coming up soon!
Check out our upcoming schedule and plan your visit to enjoy the history of Clifton House with us.