iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 19/09/2026

Here I am on the banks of Lake Geneva, where I’ve traced a family with a fascinating story of anti-Nazi resistance. I also discovered an unlikely thread linking Hotel Lux to my new project. Some deep cut trivia for any Lux heads out there.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 19/09/2026

I’m in Geneva for research. Beautiful city. The address that housed the printing press of the Bolsheviks in Exile now does an excellent almond croissant. Layers of history, layers of pastry.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 31/08/2026

For my Comintern history module next semester each student will be assigned an activist whose career they follow throughout the course. To liven up tutorials I've decided the Comintern activists will exist as trading cards.

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Gender & History Journal @genderandhistory.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Recovering a forgotten voice in the history of lesbian visibility and activism in Ireland, this new OA article by Maurice J. Casey explores the writings of Lorna Gulston and her place in the ‘homophile’ generation of activists. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #SkyHistorians #IrishHistory

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 24/08/2026

Just finished a week of research in Berlin on anti-Nazi resistance networks. Many discoveries but easily the most moving was this: A small paper flower a resistance organiser crafted in Luckau prison and included in a letter to his daughter – 1936

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 17/08/2026

My latest article — kindly shared and described here by Tom — exams a hitherto obscure bridging figure between the early 20th century Sapphic world and post 1968 queer activism in Ireland

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Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

A fun and provocative investigation by @mauricejcasey.com of the spread of international sexological ideas in Ireland through personal connections - dead and alive (!) - rather than institutions of the medical profession or state. Draws on archives across the world. academic.oup.com/hwj/article/...

academic.oup.com

‘I want to be to Ireland what Walt Whitman was to America’: Esotericism and Queer Sexuality in an Irish Social Circle, 1890s–1920s

Abstract. This article traces a transnational current of thinking on sexuality that flowed through Ireland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centu

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 17/08/2026

My latest article — kindly shared and described here by Tom — exams a hitherto obscure bridging figure between the early 20th century Sapphic world and post 1968 queer activism in Ireland

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Peter Mandler @petermandler.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Going through some of my father's papers I came across - what in my professional life I'd tout as a great archival discovery - a letter from the (unrelated, and I think not Jewish) Mandlers who sponsored my father's and his family's visas to the US in 1939, out of the goodness of their hearts. (1/3)

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

This is such a good piece by @jaseokundaye.bsky.social. Excuse the long extract in the screenshot, but these points are really important.

But what happens when an academic’s story is sold through him being the “youngest black ever” (sitting alongside familiar monikers such as “the first black” or “black excellence”) and asterisked by a tale of hardship? You are not encouraged or invited to engage with the substance of their scholarship; instead, you are invited to clap. Instead of his appointment conjuring the question “what new opportunities for research will this lead to?”, it was “doesn’t this make you feel good?”

What this means is that Arday was treated not as a scholar but as a mascot, one who was particularly expedient for an institution that had been regularly embarrassed by its historic record on race: too few black students (in my cohort at Cambridge matriculating in 2015 there were only 15 black males out of 3,449 students); single-figure black academics (which is still the case); allegations of institutional racism. Independent of the merits or pitfalls of his own scholarship, what success looked like for Arday in this role was limited; what accountability could look like if misconduct occurred was constrained by him being a vehicle for Cambridge to signal its institutional progress.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 05/08/2026

This piece by @joemoransblog.bsky.social is essential. Perfect reading ahead of an upcoming archival trip, where I will enjoy spending time immersed in a world 'almost incomprehensibly full of people and incident.'

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 30/07/2026

Don't know why I find it cute that the Wiki icon for "Individualism" is just this one dude

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 28/07/2026

“The architect of the German V-2 rockets, Werner von Braun, entitled his autobiography ‘I Aim for the Stars’. Londoners, however, will remember that he usually hit London” Easily the most stone-cold zinger I’ve encountered all year.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 26/07/2026

This was excellent, I thought, and returns to an insight already hard won by the computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum in the 1960s: anthropomorphising a computer is only ever self delusion or a cynical ploy www.ft.com/content/bdb3...

ft.com

Why this philosopher turned down Anthropic

The AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions

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RTÉ News @news.rte.ie · 26/07/2026

Mayo have ended a wait of 75 years to become All-Ireland football champions, beating Kerry 1-20 to 1-17 at Croke Park www.rte.ie/sport/footba...

rte.ie

All-Ireland SFC final: Kerry v Mayo updates

Follow how the 2026 final unfolds as Kerry, chasing a 40th title, take on a Mayo side who again will seek to end the county's long drought for Sam Maguire.

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Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

love this review of Belfastmen! Happy Pride (tomorrow!) 🏳️‍🌈

A book review that reads:

Sapphos wrote:

Someone will remember us

I say

even in another time

This book does just that. The lives of gay men in Belfast were just as full of love, joy and tragedy as our own.

It was a privilege to spend a few hours with them and learn about their incredible lives.

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Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie · 24/07/2026

‘Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism's Forgotten Radicals’ by @mauricejcasey.com @wearefootnote.bsky.social is one of the shortlisted books for the 2026 Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction.

Cover of "Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten Radicals" by Maurice J. Casey. The background is red with bold black text. A vintage photo shows people seated at tables in a sunlit room. The cover includes a quote by Hallie Rubenhold at the top.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 23/07/2026

I'm reading debates between historians about whether the profession should use computers (from the early 1980s). So much of the writing, which must have seemed groundbreaking at the time, is now remarkably quaint.

Screenshot of PDF article with text: The exponential movement of postage rates will interest editors in the possible use of electronic mail delivery. This is now technically feasible. Nationwide common carrier services, such as CompuServe and The Source, can link together any two microcomputer users by telephone, regardless of the machine or operating system that they use. Not enough historians yet own microcomputers to make electronic mail feasible, but that may well change by the end of the decade as more and more homes are equipped with two-way video systems that can handle electronic mail.

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 15/07/2026

The @britishacademy.bsky.social resource also shows significant and v. concerning trends in recruitment of academic historians. The period 2018/19 to 2024/25 has seen a 25% fall (435 FPE) of staff with the contract type 'early career'. This compares to a 4% rise for senior staff #Skystorians 3/3

Screen shot of British Academy mapping staff in SHAPE showing decline in History staff (contract type 'early career' for 2018-19 to 2024-25 in all institutions: 25% decline (435 FPE).

Screen shot of British Academy mapping staff in SHAPE showing rise in History staff (contract type 'Professors' and 'Senior Career' for 2018-19 to 2024-25 in all institutions: 4% increase (30 FPE).

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Of interest to UK university #Skystorians: Royal Historical Society open online meeting on 'The crisis in UK higher education: The future for History'. 4 August 2-4 pm.

eventbrite.co.uk

The Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History

An open meeting for historians in UK higher education on what is needed to best support and protect the profession and discipline.

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Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie · 06/07/2026

📚 The Royal Irish Academy, in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs, has revealed the six shortlisted titles for the 2026 Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction! www.ria.ie/2026/07/03/s...

ria.ie

Six books shortlisted for the €10,000 Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction - Royal Irish Academy

The Royal Irish Academy in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs has today, 3 July, announced the six shortlisted titles for the 2026 Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 06/07/2026

An unsettling research first for me this week: cancelling a much anticipated archive trip due to extreme heat.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 06/07/2026

This was a very well done doc on an important topic: AI in UK Higher Education. I'm writing about this topic at the moment, so I'll add another perspective that was not covered in the show: how AI tools give US tech giants further leverage over UK universities.

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - Currently, The Artificial University

Can university education survive AI?

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 04/07/2026

I maintain a running list of unusual nouns Belfast natives describe to me as “wee”. Yesterday I collected an all timer: “wee crypt”

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

The launch of this on Wed was one of the best things I've attended in a while. It's a very - *very* - powerful exhibition; the personal testimonies are simultaneously heartbreaking, anger-inducing (at the institutions), and hopeful. If you're in Galway, I highly recommend you go and take a look.

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Michelle Gwynn @michgreig.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

This is the best personal website for so many reasons but the tetris is inspired.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 27/06/2026

Hopefully releasing sometime before GTA 7.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 26/06/2026

I graduated! Proud to say I’m now a graduate of @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social in addition to being a historian here. I just finished a PgCert in game development to support my Digital Humanities/Public History work.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 19/06/2026

A while back I created my own note-taking application by using code + Obsidian. It's a way of organising research grounded in social networks/collective biography. I've since refined it and I'm working on an open source version I'll share more widely. Here is a quick preview:

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ah lads @popeurbanfox.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

screwfix dot ie you have ideas above your station

selection menu for your style when creating an account with screwfix (which they make you do to buy anything online, i just want a doorstop ffs). alongside mr, mrs, dr etc they have sir, captain, lord, lady, dame

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Colman O'Sullivan @colmanos.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Thousands have turned out for an Anti-Racism rally in Belfast city centre, organised by United Against Racism and supported by Trade Unions

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Dublin Review of Books @dubreviewofbooks.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Many millennials (born c 1900) thought they knew better than their parents, bosses and priests - some even than their husbands. They joined trade unions and political parties and dreamed of brotherhood and sisterhood. Tom Wall, from Issue 158, on great hopes of liberation: drb.ie/article/spur...

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 11/06/2026

In New York an important part of Belfast — and Irish—history is being told on stage in a form that feels so sharply resonant with the moment we face right now: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/t...

nytimes.com

Frederick Douglass Asked, What Is Home? New York Teens Answer.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Why is The World At One reading out Rupert Lowe's posts on the Northern Ireland attack, at the start of the bulletin? He leads a party that is polling at about 3%. This is not about "censorship": it's about the choices media outlets make concerning which voices to amplify.

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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Fascists in Belfast set fire to buildings with people inside them. People of colour left work early to stay indoors. This is being actively encouraged by the world’s richest man whose openly pro-white nationalist platform X is still used by the UK government www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

theguardian.com

‘There’s wee girls inside’: panic as masked men storm house in Belfast

Protests across the city turned violent on Tuesday night – with some police officers acting as if it wasn’t safe to intervene

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 13/05/2026

My first time today doing the whole “mic-arm podcast studio” aesthetic — with the brilliant Shane Todd.

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Dean Buckley @deanbuckley.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I highly recommend the Gavin Arthur episode of @badgayspod.bsky.social feat. @mauricejcasey.com open.spotify.com/episode/2n1U...

open.spotify.com

Special Episode: Gavin Arthur (with Maurice Casey)

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 10/05/2026

Kate Nash gave Hotel Lux a REALLY great shout in today’s Observer! Thanks to @mcculld.bsky.social for spotting

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David McCullagh @mcculld.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

@mauricejcasey.com A mention in The Observer. Very posh!

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Today is publication day for my book, Prestige Drama. It's a funny, angry book about Derry, memory and Troubles-scented television. I think it's quite good, however I can *confirm* that it's quite short. But don't take my word for how great it is, look at all these lovely people saying that.

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 03/05/2026

It was lovely to chat with Danny and Jim of the Anarchist Book Club about left memory, tragedy and the paragraph on Jamie’s Italian I edited out of my book open.spotify.com/episode/1CIB...

open.spotify.com

46. Hotel Lux, with Maurice J. Casey

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 01/05/2026

Happy May Day from "La Guinguette", successor to the Alpenpost, published (well, hand drawn) on this day in 1938 in a town outside Paris.

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Laura C Forster @lauracforster.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

HAPPY MAY DAY✊🟥 For Radical May, 'Friends in Common' is half price! Treat yourself! It's a book about friendship & radical struggle, historically & today. It argues that friendship has revolutionary potential in the face of a profoundly anti-social capitalist system (1/8)

plutobooks.com

Friends in Common - Pluto Press

Friendship is potent and full of possibilities for social change

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Maurice J. Casey @mauricejcasey.com · 29/04/2026

Back at it* *Sending a letter to the most recently listed Swiss address of an anti-Nazi resistance leader’s daughter, hoping she still resides there and will write back to me.

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

You can now read an *exclusive excerpt* from my debut novel, PRESTIGE DRAMA over at Electric Literature, free to read and preceded by a very sweet and funny letter of recommendation from the inimitable Caroline O'Donoghue. I'm biased but both are very good. electricliterature.com/prestige-dra...

electricliterature.com

Our Wee Town's Violent History Is Having Its Hollywood Moment - Electric Literature

An excerpt from PRESTIGE DRAMA by Séamas O'Reilly, recommended by Caroline O'Donoghue

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