Elizabeth Boyle
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thecelticist.bsky.social
Elizabeth Boyle
@thecelticist.bsky.social
6.3K followers 3.1K following 760 posts
Historian/writer • @maynoothuniversity.ie • executive committee @mediumaevum.bsky.social • board member @dublinnorthwest.bsky.social • Fierce Appetites (Penguin, 2022) • rep'd by Robert Caskie • extreme metal fan • she/her
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thecelticist.bsky.social
Sunday dinner with my Syrian family, always the best conclusion to a weekend. ❤️
An array of Syrian dishes (rice dishes, salads, lamb, stuffed cabbage leaves and stuffed vine leaves), spread out on the floor. Two people's hands are visible reaching in to serve the food.
November 9, 2025 at 8:02 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
For those unfamiliar with grindcore, Wormrot are most famous for the set they played to Biquette, the goat rescued from a French slaughterhouse. For those of us more familiar with grindcore, Wormrot are famous for being Wormrot & that is beyond awesome. They were fucking brilliant tonight in Dublin!
An infamous photo of the vocalist of Wormrot playing a gig in a French squat with a white goat named Biquette standing front and centre in the audience. Live gig photo of Wormrot in Dublin this evening. A classic photo of a member of Wormrot playing in front of the goat, Biquette, who lived in a squat in France. Biquette seems to be enjoying the gig.
November 4, 2025 at 11:50 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Went to see Mono at the Button Factory this evening. 🎸
The Japanese band Mono on stage at the Button Factory this evening in Dublin. The band are in the distance, bathed in red light. The backs of the audience are visible in the bottom third of the picture. The lighting rig is visible on the ceiling in the top third of the picture.
November 1, 2025 at 10:24 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
This was one of David Drake's creations that was displayed. His poem refers to people grieving after Christmas has passed. Explanatory notes at the exhibition stated that this was because enslaved people were sold on in the New Year, & therefore families at Christmas would be separated thereafter.
A close-up of a pot created by the enslaved artist-poet David Drake. The transcription of the poem on the pot in the previous photo. It states "nineteen days before Christmas - Eve - Lots of people after its over, how they will greave. Lm December 6, 1858. Dave".
October 30, 2025 at 11:27 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
We will be launching Vikings in Early Medieval Ireland: Church-raiding, Politics and Kingship, by our late colleague Dr Colmán Etchingham, on Thursday 13th November in Maynooth. @maynoothuniversity.ie @ceilteachomn.bsky.social
Invitation to the launch of Vikings in Early Medieval Ireland: Church-raiding, Politics and Kingship by Colmán Etchingham. The book will be launched by Professor Alex Woolf (University of St Andrews) in the foyer of the TSI Building, North Campus, Maynooth University, at 6pm on Thursday 13th November. For catering purposes we would be grateful if you could indicate your intention to attend via email to earlyirish@mu.ie by 10th November.
October 29, 2025 at 10:09 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
On my way to the polling station to vote for a new president of Ireland 🇮🇪
An alley way on a sunny day, with an autumnal-looking hedge on the left and a street art-covered wall on the right.
October 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
My friends in Atlanta sent me these pictures. Beautiful day for a protest! #NoKings
A group of protesters in Atlanta, Georgia, holding banners and signs, including a large banner which states "Democracy doesn't defend itself - we do". Protesters in Atlanta, Georgia carrying a huge banner which states "Defend democracy - it's time for a general strike". Protesters in Atlanta, Georgia holding signs saying things like "No fascists, no tyrants, no Nazis, no kings" and "This is what democracy looks like".
October 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Just arrived. The posthumously published book of my late colleague, Dr Colmán Etchingham. Thanks to everyone who saw it through to publication. We plan to hold an event in Maynooth to mark its publication (details to follow). Available to order here: boydellandbrewer.com/book/vikings...
#MedievalSky
A copy of Colmán Etchingham, Vikings in Early Medieval Ireland: Church-raiding, Politics and Kingship (Boydell and Brewer, 2025).
October 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Reminds me of this excellent sign that I saw at the Tubman African American Museum in Macon, Georgia.
Piano, which once belonged to Little Richard, with a sign on it saying "Do not attempt to play Little Richard's piano. He will know."
October 8, 2025 at 2:11 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Thank you to everyone who participated in the excellent @ria.ie conference on the Book of Lecan. It was a fantastic couple of days. The talks were recorded and will appear on SoundCloud soon!
@scs-dias.bsky.social @ceilteachomn.bsky.social 📚
The speakers at the Royal Irish Academy conference on the Book of Lecan, standing on the stairs at the RIA. I'm at the front on the right.
October 4, 2025 at 11:51 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Portal tonight at Whelan's, Dublin, supported by Impetuous Ritual.
Australian death/black metal band Portal on stage at Whelan's, Dublin, with green lighting, and the backs of the first few rows of the crowd taking up the bottom third of the photo.
September 17, 2025 at 10:41 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Early Irish & Celtic Studies Research Seminars this semester at Maynooth. In person only, but everyone is welcome.

@ceilteachomn.bsky.social
Schedule for the Early Irish & Celtic Studies Research Seminars at Maynooth University. 23 October, Dr Nia Wyn Jones, "The Welsh Legendary Triads: Trioedd Ynys Prydein"; 27 November, Dr Riona Doolan, "Three Women, Three Pregnancies, Three Punishments"; 4 December, Dr Sparky Booker, "Law and Narrative in Fifteenth-century Petitions to the Irish Parliament". All seminars at 5pm in Room 2.31, Iontas Building, North Campus, Maynooth University.
September 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
So saddened by the news of the death of Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg (At The Gates, Lock Up, etc). One of the greatest extreme vocalists of all time. Thoughts with all his family, bandmates and loved ones.

📸 credit: Andy Hayball

www.decibelmagazine.com/2025/09/16/t...
Portrait photo of Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg (1972-2025)
September 16, 2025 at 2:01 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Happy new academic year, everyone! Here is Jack, accurately representing my level of enthusiasm for the start of the semester. 👇🏻
My family's black cat, Jack, sleeping face-first in the back of the chair, looking both uncomfortable and unconscious.
September 1, 2025 at 9:16 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Today was my 45th birthday. My daughter made me a cake. My sister-in-law gave me an interesting packet of instant noodles. I went to see the new Lubaina Himid exhibition at Kettle's Yard. And then I had dinner with people I love. An excellent day. I am full of gratitude and wine. ❤️
A slice of cappuccino cake on a white plate. A packet of Thai instant noodles. I'm pretty sure they might be some sort of offal flavour. My Thai sister-in-law gave them to me, but I can't read the label because I can't read Thai. An acrylic and charcoal on canvas painting by Lubaina Himid, featuring two Black men, one standing and one seated. A wooden board with "Happy birthday" written in chocolate sauce, and a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
August 19, 2025 at 10:13 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Went to London, hung out with Redd Kross & Melvins, wandered around Greenwich, saw where St Alfege was martyred, ate good food, drank good drink. All extremely awesome: I love London.
Picture taken from side of stage at Electric Ballroom, London, of the band Melvins taking a bow at the end of their set. Picture taken from side of stage of Redd Kross playing Electric Ballroom, London. The tea-clipper Cutty Sark, with a red-purple sunset sky behind it. The memorial for the eleventh-century martyr St Alfege, with the epitaph "He who dies for justice dies for Christ."
August 16, 2025 at 8:10 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
If you're in Dublin between now and late October, don't miss the Words on the Wave exhibition at the National Museum on Kildare St. Some of our most important medieval Irish manuscripts are on loan from the Abbey of St Gallen & are back in Ireland for the first time in c. 1200 years. #MedievalSky
A close-up of a decorated initial P, with human and zoomorphic figures, in the early medieval Insular style, from the St Gall Priscian. Some of Priscian's Latin text is visible as are interlinear and marginal glosses in Old Irish. A close-up of a letter P in a highly decorated and colourful style characteristic of early medieval Insular Gospel books, with dots, geometric designs and zoomorphic figures. A highly decorative early medieval Irish Gospel book, open at the beginning of the Gospel of John: "In principio erat uerbum ...", with interlace and zoomorphic designs. Four manuscript fragments, dated to the seventh century, which formed part of the earliest known copy of Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae.
August 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Today I went with my daughter to get her latest tattoo. Ever since she was little, her favourite album has been Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (slightly random since her father & I are both metal fans but not particularly into Rainbow). This is her tribute to that album. [Tattoo artist: Joseph Deegan]
My daughter's freshly-tattooed upper arm. The large tattoo, stretching from shoulder to elbow, depicts a gothic-style castle with a guitar neck emerging from the top as if it were a turret. The image is based on the cover art for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, but has been reinterpreted in blackwork by the Irish tattooist Joseph Deegan. The artwork for the 1975 album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. The main foreground image is a castle, with a guitar neck rising out of the top as if it were a turret. A rainbow arcs across the background.
August 1, 2025 at 10:31 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
12 yrs ago today since I moved back to Dublin from Cambridge! I made the unfortunate driver from the removal company trek across fields to see Pillar of Eliseg. For some unfathomable reason he was not captivated by my informative lectures on 9th-century political relations between Powys & Gwynedd!
A photo from the day I moved back to Dublin 12 years ago today. A white van emblazoned with the logo of VanTasks.ie is parked by the side of a road in North Wales. Mountains are visible on the right side of the road. The sky is blue with some white clouds.
July 25, 2025 at 6:25 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
I was browsing in Books Upstairs in Dublin, & my heart did a little leap when I saw my own book amongst the titles. That feeling never gets old, & it gave me a much-needed lift amidst general feelings of frustration about my writing at the moment. 😊
Books stacked vertically on a shelf, by authors with surnames beginning with B. In the centre is a copy of my book, Fierce Appetites by Elizabeth Boyle.
July 16, 2025 at 10:02 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Today I visited the seventeenth-century gardens, designed by Bernini, at Valsanzibio. They were visually spectacular and full of allegorical meaning. Thankfully I was with a friend with a better sense of direction than me - otherwise I would still be lost in Bernini's boxwood maze.
A rectangular lake, lined with trees, with neo-Classical statues visible in the background. This is part of the historic gardens at Valsanzibio, designed by Bernini in the seventeenth century. A circular artificial island in a lake. This is the so-called "rabbit island", which is part of the historic gardens at Valsanzibio. A neo-Classical statue that is a reflection on time. This is part of the historic gardens at Valsanzibio. A boxwood maze, designed by Bernini. This is part of the historic gardens at Valsanzibio.
July 12, 2025 at 9:20 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Visited the house of the poet Petrarch today in Arquà. It's beautiful. There are some fifteenth-century alterations & sixteenth-century frescoes depicting scenes from his works, but otherwise the house is more or less architecturally as it was when he moved there in the 1360s.
Exterior of a fourteenth-century Italian house, with a balcony that was altered in the fifteenth century. Formal gardens are visible at the bottom of the picture and at the top the sky is very blue, with a wisp of cloud. This house is in Arquà and was home to the poet Petrarch at the end of his life. It is now a museum. The ceiling and the top of the interior walls in one of the rooms of Casa del Petrarca. The walls have frescoes, done in the sixteenth century, which feature scenes from Petrarch's works. The ceiling is timber painted with medallions. An interior shot of another room in Casa del Petrarca, which shows more of the sixteenth-century frescoes and ornate ceiling. The room is dominated by a large fireplace and there is also a small replica of Petrarch's tomb on a plinth. A corner of an interior room in Casa del Petrarca, with sixteenth-century frescoes showing scenes from Petrarch's works, and the ornate ceiling also visible.
July 11, 2025 at 3:38 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
Timeline cleanse: I'm getting a free holiday in Italy in return for looking after a friend's cats, geese & ducks while she's away, so here's a clip of me herding the geese & ducks to their beds tonight. 😍
July 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
thecelticist.bsky.social
I am in Italy. It is extremely hot but extremely beautiful.
A landscape photo of the village of Arquà overlooking the Po Valley.
July 4, 2025 at 10:47 AM
thecelticist.bsky.social
My co-editor: why haven't you sent me that file yet?

Me: I'm having some trouble accessing my laptop.

The trouble 👇🏻
A calico cat asleep on a laptop.
June 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM