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Laura McAtackney

@lauramca.bsky.social
2.8K followers 1.5K following 1.3K posts

Working on archaeology, heritage, memory, and knowing the past as Prof in Radical Humanities at UC Cork. Specializes in post/conflict and post/colonial contexts inc fieldwork in Ireland and Caribbean. Unapologetic focus on social justice.

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Reposted by Laura McAtackney
Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
One from the archives In 1984 Dunnes shop worker Mary Manning refused to handle South African goods & was backed by her shop steward, Karen Gearon. Both were suspended. 9 colleagues came out in support. The strike lasted 3yrs & forced the Irish govt to ban the import of all SA goods. All heroes
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Who is writing these reports for RTÉ, DUP press office? “Under parading legislation in the region, protests against parades must be notified and approved by the Parades Commission adjudication body. The weekend blockade on the Garvaghy Road is an unnotified gathering” www.rte.ie/news/ulster/...
rte.ie
No resolution after NI Secretary meets political leaders
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant held talks with political leaders in Northern Ireland last night following a tense stand-off over an Orange Order parade, but no resolution emerged.
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Reposted by Laura McAtackney
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
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Harry Burton @hbtoons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
My cartoon in today's @independent.ie.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Across the political divide do WM govts specifically look for people who know nothing about NI and are tone death to its history to hold the position of SoS? Because they’re amazingly consistent if they aren’t trying.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
For people of my age (old) and my background (CNR) who grew up in NI during the 90s, Drumcree was the nadir of community relation & differences in our perceptions of ‘rights’. We just could not conceive how a group of snarling, angry men thought their ‘right to march’ surpassed our ‘right to exist’.
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Centre for the Sciences of Place and Memory @memoryplace.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For postgraduate researchers working on place, memory, heritage, anthropology & difficult histories Methodologies for Place and Memory Loss 📍 University of Stirling 📅 11 November ⏰ Apply now tockify.com/sgsah/detail... @uoe-sps.bsky.social @uofgges.bsky.social @standrewssgsd.bsky.social
tockify.com
Methodologies for Place and Memory Loss: Advanced Postgraduate Training
This one-day intensive training offers advanced methodological support for postgraduate researchers (PhD and MA) working at institutions in Scotland at the inte
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As an anthropological archaeologists i’m just dying to find out what Suella thinks makes ‘English’ an ‘ethnicity’ that she doesn’t belong to (dya think it is whiteness????)
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Dónal Hassett @donalh.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I wrote a short blog piece on provision for disabled veterans of the World Wars in French-ruled West Africa. You can read it here: maynoothhistory.wordpress.com/2026/06/23/t...
maynoothhistory.wordpress.com
‘The Infinitely Sad Spectacle of Our Cripples’: Disabled War Veterans in French-ruled West Africa
Prof Dónal Hassett In October 1948, the leader of the Federation of Veterans of French West Africa, Pape Seck Douta, wrote to the Governor General of France’s West African colonies to complain abou…
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This happened to me except not med emergency (pilot timed out as we waited out a storm), it was Dulles and the airline tried to pretend it wasn’t their problem. Eventually got a voucher for a hotel but no address, at least three hotels with that name. Most of us went to the wrong one. Looong night.
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Dónal Hassett @donalh.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It is mad to see the impunity with which far right activists have been able to operate especially in the context of mass arrests of the Palestine solidarity movement. This is particularly alarming across the water in Britain where fascist thugs are running riot. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes dinghy in Channel with blade while rescue worker onboard
Thomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
As one might expect from an imposed British govt initiative, which advertised for historians nearly 18 months ago and haven’t updated their website since. 5 year job replacements ads are appearing, which seem to suggest positions have been filled. TRANSPARENCY, key obv. niofficialhistory.org.uk
niofficialhistory.org.uk
Northern Ireland Official History
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I love the pure danger of senior ppl!
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
An absolute disgrace that these small number of humanitarian visas for Gazan students to attend university in Ireland are not being prioritized by the govt. The places are funding, the universities are full supportive. The govt should do their job. www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster...
irishexaminer.com
Gaza student misses start of UCC course amid visa appeal delays
Some 58 students from Gaza granted scholarships to Irish third-level institutions remain unable to travel after visa refusals, despite many having lodged appeals months ago
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Stephen O'Neill @oneillsb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Thanksto @lauramca.bsky.social, Kylie Thomas, Gema Kloppe-Santamaría, and Brian Ngwenya for a great panel and day yesterday. Maybe people from Cork are right about how good it is after all
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Dónal Hassett @donalh.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Really happy to share the schedule for this semester's History Research Seminar in Maynooth. A fantastic lineup of speakers covering a wide range of geographic and temporal contexts. All are welcome to attend.
September 24
16:10-18:10        	Rocque Lab              	Dr Patrick Doyle, (University of Limerick),  ‘The Occupation of Heaven’: Catholic Political Economy, Land, and the Irish World, 1880-1930’.

October 01 
16:10-18:10
	Rocque Lab
	Dr Bernadette Cunningham, (Maynooth University), ‘Medieval Irish Women as Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela’.

Launch of the new School of History and Ancient Classics, featuring launches of the new books Irish Townspeople: The Early Modern Urban Experience, c.1400-c.1640 by Prof Emeritus Colm Lennon and Akrasia and the Catullan Lover: Resisting Reason in Republican Rome by Dr Leah Hearn.

October 08
16:10-17:10
	Rocque Lab	Dr Zhouxiang Lu, (Maynooth University), ‘Yellow River Piano Concerto: History, Politics and Identity’.

October 15
16:10-17:10	Rocque Lab
	Dr Idriss Jebari, (Trinity College Dublin), ‘Leaping Decolonization: North Africa in the Global Sixties and Seventies’.

October 22
16:10-17:10	Rocque Lab	Dr Laura McAtackney, (University College Cork), ‘Material Worlds and Contested Histories: material revelations related to gender and class in Ireland’s recent past’.

November 05
16:10-17:10	Iontas Building
MUSSI Seminar Room
	Dr Angel Alcalde, (Melbourne University), ‘Four Global Moments in the History of Fascism’.

November 12
16:10-17:30	Rocque Lab
	Dr Clodagh Tait, (Mary Immaculate College), ‘Robert Perceval’s wraith: death omens, family folklore, and male violence in late seventeenth-century London’. 

November 19
16:10-17:10
	Rocque Lab
	Dr Lea Horvat, (University of Jena) ‘Coffee, gender, and labour on the southern semi-periphery of the Habsburg Empire (1867-1918)’. 

November 26
16:10-17:10
	Rocque Lab
	Dr Siobhán Doyle, (National Museum of Ireland), ‘Irish Sport in 100 Objects: Writing a Public and Material History of Sports in Ireland’.
December 03
16:10-17:10
	Rocque Lab
	Dr Mina Hristova, (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), ‘Printing the Nation, Timing the Bloc: Temporalities of Money in Socialist Bulgaria, with Comp…
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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes:
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Reposted by Laura McAtackney
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
'Governments must not ignore the social sciences when they marshal researchers to address grand challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, housing pressures, energy security and social inequality, a new report says...'
timeshighereducation.com
Grand challenges ‘require social science response’
Sustainability issues too often framed as technical challenges, researchers say
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Does anyone have any faith in the NI state to police itself, especially re the nuances of collusion? A 15 year delay in publishing a report that exonerates the RUC even while finding a suspect was tipped and allowed to destroy evidence. Bryant is absolutely shameless. www.rte.ie/news/2026/09...
rte.ie
Inquiry finds no RUC collusion in murder of Catholic man
RUC officers did not collude with loyalist attackers involved in the 1997 murder of Robert Hamill in Co Armagh, an inquiry has found
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This was absolutely inevitable in my opinion, younger people aren’t as tied to tribal identities in NI and all they can see is a loss of opportunity with Brexit. Likewise migrants to NI, who are often forgotten in people’s discussions.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Really looking forward to this event with Stephen coming from Trinity and Dr Brian Ngwenya from Maynooth to talk with us about ‘Disrupting Historical Amnesia’. It’s open to anyone interested at the Shtepps, HUB Building at UCC (Fri 18 Sept, 2-4pm).
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Dr. Nick Posegay @nposegay.northsky.social · 12/09/2026
There are 147 professors on this list. They all, without exception, reject the overwhelming consensus of Genocide Studies scholars and the expertise of global human rights organizations. You could not pay me enough to collaborate with any of them.
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Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I've been saying for years they walk amongst us. What we see isn't nearly as scary as what we don't see. That's personally why I react very strongly when I see it!!
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Reposted by Laura McAtackney
Mike Finnerty @mikecjf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
On the beat at the anti-Trump protest in Dublin city centre.
Poster at an anti-Trump protest that reads "No fáilte for genocide funders. Also... your tan is shite"
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
How cringe are RTE with a whole morning’s worth of tv dedicated to Trump’s visit to Ireland? Bad enough we’ve let him in the country without executing an arrest warrant never mind bowing and scrapping to him.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is a really important read about the realities of end of life care and the need for assisted dying. Thank you Tess. I have to say my mum’s experiences with NI NHS were even more traumatizing due to the absolutely broken nature of healthcare there. That’s a separate thread.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
And yet another example of everyday sexism women have to navigate!
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
omg, was saying to my students today to check out authors they are reading via wikipedia (if they have a page dedicated to them) to know more about them as researched. I then reminisced that wikipedia was considered a great threat to students learning back then. Oh how times have changed!
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Sam Rutherford (he/him) @echomikeromeo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The window of my local queer bookshop was smashed last week. They're fundraising to install shutters so they can keep themselves and their community safe. Support this one-of-a-kind place, its one-of-a-kind proprietors, and the whole Glasgow queer & trans community: www.gofundme.com/f/categoryis...
gofundme.com
Donate to Help Category Is Books Get Shutters!, organized by Category Is Books
For the past eight years, Category Is Books has been able to comfortably oper… Category Is Books needs your support for Help Category Is Books Get Shutters!
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Nothing like a bad night sleep due to ‘cat shenanigans’. Woke up by a wee (big) cat trying to break into the house via the (closed) cat flap. Wee burglar didn’t stop until i came downstairs to shoo him. I then had to settle our cat who was in for the night (with view out to cat burglar). Drama!
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The Irish govt have done a sweep of the EU - I recognise alot from Denmark - and took on some especially nasty ideas to make naturalization an even harder process. Extending 5 yrs to 8 yrs, a possible Irish language and civics test. To what end? Make ppl feel unwelcome? www.rte.ie/news/ireland...
rte.ie
Citizenship a privilege, says minister ahead of overhaul
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said "citizenship is a privilege, not a right" ahead of new rules for people seeking Irish citizenship.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Best ad for being a buildings archaeologist!
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
i’m just not ready for the xmas trees yet (Brown Thomas, repeat offender), and what is it with four leaf clover instead of shamrock?!
picture of christmas trees and decorations at brown thomas cork. Chocolate lindt teddies in the foreground. close up of hanging display of ‘novelty’ xmas tree decorations with an inordinate number of four leaf clovers.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I am no boxing aficionado but the starting sequence with the view over a bog and the coastline, the very slow walk on song, and fireworks before the fight all seem a bit odd and for an ?American audience?! I must have a heart of stone but just feels such a weird way to start a fight #KatieTaylor
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"The Bodleian is delighted to collaborate with University College Cork to exhibit the Annals of Inisfallen in Ireland for the FIRST time," Mmm. Define ‘first’. www.rte.ie/news/regiona...
rte.ie
The Annals of Innisfallen exhibition opens at UCC
The Annals of Innisfallen is on public display in Ireland for the first time 40 years, in an exhibition that has opened at University College Cork.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I’ve never been more tempted by a completely unsuitable ‘heri-tat’ object as this cast plaque from the Acropolis Museum. Only €75! Take my money and bring a bigger suitcase next time (it would be for my garden :))!
Rectangular vertical orientation cast plaque of a snake / serpent-type creature. against an orange wall backdrop. Divine.
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Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Ireland is facilitating ICE to undertake horrifically violent and in some cases likely illegal third-country deportations.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Having a grt time in Athens preparing a major funding application (w/ thax to EI) and musing changing tourist behaviors. For not the first time i’ve gone to the Acropolis on a wildly hot day thinking the crowds won’t be too bad (they arent!). But how ppl act now is much more driven by social media.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Anyone having luck with the Fontaines DC presale? Been sitting watching the wheel of ‘don’t refresh’ for nearly an hour. My hope is fading.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Who’d have thought that a duplicitous Brexiter would turn out to be an utterly unpleasant shit?
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Having just survived the worst check in at Dublin airport in quite sometime - broken machines, staff shortages, the usual nightmare - there is nothing open in duty-free and the air con is cranked to winter arctic breeze. Feel like i’ve done something very wrong in a past life.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Always good to reveal that maps are enduring power negotiations Not unexpected that google maps would be hedging their bets re Trump. I heard if you look up ‘Lake Ontario’ in the US it shows ‘Lake America’ (all the eye rolls). But it also shows ‘Lake Ontario (Lake America)’ for the rest of us.
Screen shot of a google maps search for ‘Lake Ontario’ showing the term ‘Lake Ontario (Lake America)’ in red over the water.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Friday night, completely in denial about the forthcoming semester, Atlantic bliss x
Picture through a long horizontal window of a garden and sea view on the horizon. Picture through a long horizontal window of a sea view in the dusk. Photo of a white sandy beach, grey-blue sea and a lightly cloudy sky.
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Astrid M. Eckert 🇺🇦 @astridme.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Call for postdocs at the Mahindra Humanities Center (Harvard) in Environmental Humanities (e.g. humanistic approaches to climate change, biodiversity, social justice, env justice, food justice, landscape, and animal studies) Due date Nov. 20, 2026 #EnvHist #EnvHum networks.h-net.org/jobs/70205/h...
networks.h-net.org
Harvard University - 2027-28 Mahindra Humanities Center Postdoctoral Fellowships | H-Net
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(Mar)Chella Ward @luxmea.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Quick reminder that instead of giving your time and expertise to these institutions we could be building something like @socstudyofthepast.bsky.social that stands unequivocally on the side of the occupied and the oppressed. ✊🏻🇵🇸
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Kieran Glennon @drnightdub.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Wee bump for this. Part 2 coming this Saturday, which looks at the siege of the Four Courts, the background to McKelvey's application to join the Communist Party of Ireland, and his execution.
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Daniel Abraham @abraham.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
You know who else has an unfair advantage in sport? Naturally talented athletes. And people with high hemoglobin. And rich people with money for sports camps and coaches. Why should they be allowed to compete? “Fairness in sports” my ass. Never since NFTs have I heard such bullshit.
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Nothing says ‘left wing Labour’ like being a good old fashioned colonial administrating and denying self-determination.
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RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Starting college soon? Here's your guide to Irish campus novels, from Caroline O'Donoghue's The Rachel Incident from @ucc.ie to Louise's Nealon's Snowflake from @tcddublin.bsky.social. By @deirdreflynn.bsky.social MIC Limerick www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
rte.ie
Starting college soon? Here's your guide to Irish campus novels
If you're eagerly anticipating university life, what better way to prepare than to read one of Ireland's campus novels?
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
What a great advertisement for a really interesting, cross-disciplinary module on dolls, lucky Princeton students! One of my fav archaeologists - Professor Paul Mullins - wrote amazing stuff on the materiality of Barbie. Imagine some bitcoin dude thinking he was kicking down with that?!
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