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Michael Cahill

@michaelkinsell8.bsky.social
312 followers 241 following 488 posts

Conflict Archaeologist, Military Historian & Professional Actor under stage name of Michael Kinsella itsligo.academia.edu/michaelcahill

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RG Poulussen @rgpoulussen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
(1944, Italy.) A Universal carrier with some extra fire power. #WW2 #HISTORY
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 23h
Time to get "Breturn" trending. #Breturn
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Cormac Moore @cormacmoorehist.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In the latest The Irish History Boys episode, Tim McGarry and I are joined by @drgavinhughes.bsky.social again for another great episode, this time on the 1798 Rebellion. youtu.be/wnpzNDIPp-s?...
youtu.be
The Darkest Year in Ireland’s History: The Brutal 1798 Rebellion
YouTube video by The Irish History Boys
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 19h
If you're at a loose end this weekend and fancy a bit of #history #archaeology #Ireland chat - why not delve into 1798 for while... #fyp
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It is 7 years since Coillte committed to removing the plantation surrounding the Derryclare forest in Galway but still not a single conifer has been removed. We now have national restoration targets for 2030 but we'll need get a lot quicker if these are to be met www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Does Ireland have the will to undo the disaster of plantation forestry?
Plans to remove commercial plantation around native forest have stalled for years
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It doesn't matter that Ireland only has miniscule fragments of native forests left, or that these are mostly in a dying state. When it comes to fixing that, everything takes forever and is piecemeal, if it even happens at all. It's always plenty of talk and written reports, but little or no action.
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Tank Archives @tankarchives.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Factory #174 transitioned to producing T-34-85 tanks with improved armour #OTD in 1944. This was the last of Soviet factories to move to building tanks with new turrets with armour up to 90 mm thick. #tanks #history #WW2 #WWII
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RG Poulussen @rgpoulussen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
(1944, Holland.) Men from 49 Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment (formerly 49 Royal Tank Regiment) beside their LVTs (Landing Vehicle Tracked). #WW2 #HISTORY
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Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 02/10/2026
#Tibetan history, told by #Tibetans. “Four Rivers Six Ranges” brings the Chushi Gangdruk resistance to the big screen. Its director tells @apnews.com that the Indian release was delayed under pressure ahead of Xi’s visit.
apnews.com
As India and China repair ties, a Tibet film tells the story of a forgotten resistance
“Four Rivers Six Ranges” brings Tibet’s little-known resistance history to the screen through the story of ordinary Tibetans who helped the Dalai Lama escape to India in 1959.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I missed this in the Constitution.
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Michael Cahill @michaelkinsell8.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Why Peter Sellers gave up drumming and the best Alec Guinness impersonation you're likely to hear for finale 🙂 youtu.be/ExdVqEdNtw0?...
youtu.be
Peter Sellers Turned Up in a Nazi Uniform. Parkinson Carried On Regardless | Parkinson on BBC
YouTube video by The Michael Parkinson Channel
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A long journey home and it’s good to be back. Thinking of my friends & students in Kyiv who don’t have the privilege of having home as a safe space. Keeping my air alert app active for a while as a reminder of what they are living through. Here’s a snapshot from this Sunday afternoon. Slava Ukraini.
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Despite the grim topic, in this episode the Irish History Boys (the esteemed Dr @cormacmoorehist.bsky.social & legend Tim McGarry!) & myself chat our way across C17th Ireland - from Portadown to Wexford - and see why 1641 -1660 can truly be called the 'Bloodiest Chapter' of Irish history...
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
In my element today at the National museum of history of Ukraine being shown the amazing results of a battlefield archaeology project. A 1630s showdown between Cossacks and Poles. And for that piece of armour look no further than the Polish Hussar kit in the csse.
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Cormac Moore @cormacmoorehist.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
On this week’s The Irish History Boys episode, Tim McGarry and I are joined by @drgavinhughes.bsky.social for a really interesting episode on Oliver Cromwell’s legacy in Ireland. youtu.be/MdGrDx89dh8?...
youtu.be
The Bloodiest Chapter in Irish History: Drogheda, Wexford & Cromwell in Ireland
YouTube video by The Irish History Boys
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Out & about at TCD, but there's always time to pause by FSL (Lyons) looking across to WEH (Lecky) & the Campanile - I'm also thinking of the great NI historian & scholar we lost this week in Gordon Lucy; a lovely, friendly gentleman in every sense & a true font of knowledge. We will all miss him.
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RG Poulussen @rgpoulussen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Ruins and a caste. Between them is the Rhine River. 7 Hampshire secured the area opposite the ruins, occupied by Germans. From 23 September until 1 October 1944, the battalion lost 42 men here. (Doorwerth Castle is where the Airborne Museum initially was located.) #WW2 #HISTORY
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Correction: windthrow is only the biggest threat to deadzone tree plantations. Windthrow is massively ecologically enhancing to actual Irish forest ecosystems. www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
rte.ie
How windthrow is the biggest threat to Irish forests
Windthrow can reduce the climate benefit of forestry by removing trees that would have kept growing and disturbing the carbon-rich soils beneath them
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Patrick Bresnihan @pbresnihan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ireland has highest domestic electricity bills in Europe, directly linked to runaway growth in data centres since 2015. Ireland could be a world leader in clean energy, which would insulate us from energy price volatility. These are policy decisions. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
irishtimes.com
Households ‘put on the hook’ for cost of data centre expansion to electricity grid
Irish consumers pay disproportionately more for electricity than large data centres, report suggests
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Tank Archives @tankarchives.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The DS-39 machine gun was accepted into service #OTD in 1939. It could have replaced both the bulky Maxim gun for infantry and DT machine gun for tanks, but sufficient production was not reached before the German invasion and so it replaced neither. #guns #history #WWII #WW2
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RG Poulussen @rgpoulussen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This picture always makes me sad. (#OTD in 1944. Operation Market Garden. Men - risking their lives being outside the Hartenstein Hotel - displaying a yellow parachute to signal planes where to drop supplies. Most fell in German hands. #WW2 #HISTORY)
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Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Sadly no longer posting here, but this from from the inspirational @mmcfadyen.bsky.social (h/t: @sarahmay1.bsky.social LinkedIn) weaves together key themes & topics that have occupied much of my thinking in recent years. If you read nothing else this week: mairimcfadyen.substack.com/p/cultural-d...
mairimcfadyen.substack.com
Cultural Darning: Rewilding with People and Place
A talk given at ‘The Big Picture Conference,’ Scotland’s Rewilding Event, which took place in Perth Concert Hall on Saturday 19th September 2026
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The timing might have been pretty much perfect, but having the musketry part of my lecture on Culloden momentarily interrupted by an air defence salvo is definitely going down as an unusually immersive teaching experience.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Rebuilding our relationship with the EU “is the cheapest way to boost the economy, the fastest way to unite Europe in the face of security threats and the best way to get leverage on a global system that no longer has an American anchor.” So obvious it hurts. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
independent.co.uk
Brexit has left Britain ‘impotent – a bobbing cork in the sea,’ says David Miliband
Exclusive: Former foreign secretary adds to mounting pressure for a new UK deal with EU to repair Brexit damage
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Capitalism sees the natural world as nothing but 'resources' to exploit and profit from. When one is exhausted it moves on, inexorably, seeking out the next 'business opportunity' to wipe out. We won't arrest the murder of our living planet without recognising and acting on this basic premise.
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hobby update klaxon!! So, the homemade hedges are finished, as are some French Napoleonic officers (2 artillery, 1 Imperial Guard) and a 'tweaked' Treebeard... more to come 🙂
Hedges made from pan scourers with foliage and fronds from big packs of florists greenery and cut down! These Hedges are for 10mm to 15mm scale and I may try some bigger versions next...28mm French Napoleonics;  L-R Perry Miniatures (Artillery officer), Wargames Foundry (Artillery officer) and Wargames Foundry mounted Imperial Young Guard officer...As previous photo - but I'm adding descriptive titles on as many figures as I can now, just for ease of recognition! Heroflix 'Treebeard' which, I think, is slightly bigger scale than 28mm... I really like using this range for the larger creatures (you should see the Balrog lol) as they fit in to the current Citadel Lord of the Rings range very well indeed... and you can pick them up at half the price 😉
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Day 3 in Kyiv. First of my short series of lectures at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy today. Delighted at the enthusiasm and engagement from students and look forward to our second session tomorrow. Thanks to my colleagues here for helping to make this happen.
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Heavy Metal. Kyiv.
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Hooray!!!
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 18/09/2026
'Why Does Academic History Matter?' bit.ly/4yB8MYQ With contributions from historians Martha Vandrei, Susan-Mary Grant, Joy Porter and @davidandress.bsky.social Free to read for 7 days @historytoday.com #Skystorians
bit.ly
Why Does Academic History Matter?
The study of history at UK universities appears to be under existential threat. Should anyone care?
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This is a beautiful spot... and a beautiful photograph to go with it.
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I spoke to the @independent.ie about my new book, Setting the Land Free, and the desperate need for rewilding on both land and at sea in Ireland. Both nature and people are crying out for what has the potential to be utterly transformative. www.independent.ie/videos/autho...
independent.ie
Author Eoghan Daltun with Hilary White at his Irish Rainforest
‘An Irish Atlantic Rainforest’ author and ecological activist sets out his radical vision.Early blackberries have appeared on the Beara Peninsula. Between these and a friendly border collie, our eight...
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RG Poulussen @rgpoulussen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
#OTD in 1944. Second day in operation Market Garden. British paras have captured the Arnhem Rhine Bridge. At Nijmegen, the Americans failed to take advantage of the element of surprise, the main weapon of paras: the large Waal Bridge is now firmly in German hands. #WW2 #HISTORY
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
If it’s Thursday it must be Warsaw! After leaving Glasgow this morning at 3.30am to fly from Edinburgh l’d thought of chilling in my hotel room this pm. Instead, l spent 3 hours in the amazing Warsaw Uprising Museum (Aug 1 - Oct 2 1944). So much to see that 3 hours wasn’t enough. Highly recommended.
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Surprised to turn on Radio 4 to find dramatisation of ‘The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien. Even as fiction it’s one of best books on the Vietnam War from the perspective of the ‘grunt’. Just last week l put it on a recommended reading list for clients on Vietnam tour l’m co-leading in Oct-Nov.
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
And we wonder why the system is unreformable www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
irishtimes.com
Minister for Agriculture has largest farmlands among TDs and Senators
Irish Times investigation finds FG TD has largest landholding among Oireachtas members and is among highest EU Cap fund recipients
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Day 2 Keynote at CIESCA III in Bilbao this morning by Alfredo González-Ruibal, one of the smartest thinkers working in conflict archaeology today. Looking forward to his book launch this evening.
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Bryan Behar @bryanbehar.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Could you imagine anyone else in the history of history, let alone the President of the United States, so blatantly defiling the memory of our fallen brethren? What a terrible, broken person.
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Ella McSweeney @ellamcsweeney.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I met Wendell Berry on his Kentucky farm in 2015 while making a BBC Radio 4 doc about him. His legacy is immense. www.irishtimes.com/life-style/2...
irishtimes.com
What is the acceptable price, in people and in land, of producing food?
Kentucky farmer and author Wendell Berry spent six decades arguing that agriculture is an act of stewardship, community and care
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
If it's Tuesday it must be Bilbao. Enjoyed some famous Basque hospitality and with Keynote at CIESCA III delivered it's time to practice some Spanish by listening to a wonderful array of papers over the next few days. I expect this to be like that scene from The 13th Warrior and be fluent by Friday.
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
At 12pm today, a 21-round Royal Gun Salute was fired from Hillsborough Castle & Gardens to mark 4th anniversary of His Majesty The King's accession to the throne. It was hosted in partnership with 38 (Irish) Brigade & fired by 206 (Ulster) Battery, 105th Regt Royal Artillery.
Today at 12pm a 21-round gun salute was fired from Hillsborough Castle and Gardens to mark the anniversary of His Majesty The King's accession to the throne.

The Royal Gun Salute was hosted in partnership with 38 (Irish) Brigade and fired by the 206 (Ulster) Battery. The Lord Lieutenant for County Down took the salute on behalf of the Sovereign.

- Bulletin from Hillsborough Castle, 8th September, 2026; 13.32 hrs.
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Tank Archives @tankarchives.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It took a long time for information about the Tiger tank to spread through the Red Army, but not so for the King Tiger. #OTD in 1944, less than a month after the tanks were first seen, detailed specifications were distributed to all unit commanders. #tanks #history #WW2 #WWII
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
""How dangerous is Elon Musk to the world's democracies?" Gibney is asked. "Extremely," he answers..." Alex Gibney's documentary MUSK, about guess who, has its premiere this afternoon CET in Venice. The response to it, especially from Elon and especially on X-Twitter, could be very entertaining.
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A huge big thank you to all those involved @glasgow.ac.uk for hosting / organising #fieldsofconflictXIII (& @glasgowcitycouncil.bsky.social !) - superb scholarship, papers & venues and a wonderful chance to catch up with old pals and meet new ones 🙂
Dr Euan Loarridge kicks off proceedings on Friday 3rd September!Dr Iain Banks' introduction to Prof Tony Pollard's keynote!The wonderful reception at Glasgow City Chambers in honour of Prof Tony Pollard on the occasion of his retirement...
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
An early C19th map (in PRONI) of the Belfast Mountains, showing Altigarron, Divis, Black Mountain, Babbystone Hill, and Hannahstown. In 1953, Divis and Black Mountain were leased by the Ministry of Defence and, in 2004, ownership transferred to @nationaltrust.org.uk . PRONI Ref - D3566/1
Here's a lovely map of the Belfast Mountains - courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland...

The map was "... surveyed by Thomas Patterson in 1820 and belonged to the William Hunter Estate. It shows Altigarron, Divis, Black Mountain, Babbystone Hill, and Hannahstown, as well as a reference listing the total number of acres, roods, and perches in each area."

PRONI Ref - D3566/1
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Dr Gavin Hughes FRHistS FRGS @drgavinhughes.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Currently dipping my toe into the murky waters of the Dark Ages / Early Medieval Irish... but I have Annals, Linguistics & Archaeology to guide my way 🙂! #archaeology #Ireland #history
Map of Ireland c.750 AD/CE showing the main clan kingdoms and provinces...Illustration from Col. Ward-Martin, 1882 of the 'Grave of the Kings' at Toomour - following the 'sanguinary battle' of Ceis Corran (Keshcorran) 971 AD/CE...
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A wrap on 13th Fields of Conflict Conference at University of Glasgow. As someone said, one of my catch phrases is everyday’s a school day. And it was. I learned so much over last 3 days. Good to know the field is in safe and imaginative hands with next generation. Congratulations to organisers.
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Big day yesterday. Panel on Waterloo Uncovered then delivering keynote at Fields of Conflict conference in Glasgow. Followed by retirement bash at the city chambers where it was wonderful to see so many ex students and colleagues gathered together. Love my pressie from my students.
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Tony Pollard @tonypollard.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
10,000 words delivered for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Conflict Archaeology. I've made it as interesting as I can. Methods in Battlefield Archaeology: Metal Detector Survey and Projectile Analysis in the USA and Europe.
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Hagatha @Hagatha42.bsky.social @hagatha42.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In Australia governments support clear fell logging that is a financial loss to the public purse, has done for decades. Then there is the devastation of the little we have left...
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