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Dr Robyn Atcheson

@robyninpink.bsky.social
263 followers 306 following 56 posts

Historian & history communicator - modern, social, medical, women's & Irish. Feminist. Headstrong, obstinate girl. Probably wearing pink.

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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Taking advantage of a quiet moment to read @leannemccormick.bsky.social work on the Ulster Female Penitentiary. Hits the nail right on the head when discussing how Rev Edgar railed against "foul seducers" but never once suggested men facing any repercussions for producing "fallen women". Yes!!
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
So, the major oak died. Then there was a solar eclipse. Can you imagine what in the world our ancestors would've thought was happening with such terrifying omens??
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Reposted by Dr Robyn Atcheson
Ramin Nasibov @nasibov.me · 12/08/2026
If you missed the solar eclipse, this is what it looked like:
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I am a public historian who decided to put on talks and walking tours during the Féile and the Fleadh. I am now a husk of a woman. Send chocolate.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
So pleased to have my new Junior Historians Club in the news today & super proud of the young historians-in-training who spoke to the BBC about their interest in history! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Friar's Bush: The graveyard telling the story of Belfast
Friar's Bush is the last resting place of Bernard Hughes, the famous creator of the Belfast Bap.
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 09/07/2026
'A woman’s body moved from female attendance into male medical testimony, then into print. In the mid-twentieth century, the direction turned again.' Haohao Zhang (they/he) explores an unlikely connection between doctor Edward Griffith and the Mary Toft affair.
historyworkshop.org.uk
Mary Toft and the Radical Birth Control Movement
Why was a twentieth-century doctor deeply involved in the radical birth control movement so interested in an eighteenth-century reproductive scandal?
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Do you have/know primary-aged children who love history? I'm running events this summer in the historic Friar's Bush graveyard aimed at kids 6-12 who love Horrible Histories. Early bird discount applied automatically at checkout with group concessions. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1992360697...
A group of children are looking at a picture held by a woman in colourful dungarees. They are standing in a green space with colourful bunting. 
The text reads Junior Historians Club presents Grim Graveyards at Friar's Bush
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I had a great time presenting new research at @mellonmigration.bsky.social Ulster American Heritage Symposium yesterday. Huge thank you to the organisers & participants.
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 26/06/2026
"There's been a reticence to acknowledge that there are ethical difficulties in doing certain kinds of historical research and very few resources for historians who are dealing with accounts of other people's pain." @ruthbeecher.bsky.social and Julie Wheelwright on writing difficult histories.
historyworkshop.org.uk
Writing Difficult Subjects
How can historians write with compassion and ethical clarity about issues of sexual violence?
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Hiya, I'm Robyn, I have a PhD in history and I talk about history for a living. If you're an historian, archaeologist or work in related fields, based in NI & you'd like to talk about it to a wider audience... Please come say hi!
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I was in Dublin on Sunday for my first event with Seed Talks talking about the history of witchcraft and women in Ireland. Then I came home to Belfast on Monday night...
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Some 19th-century doodles from the archives.
Folded up paper with pencil markings in the shape of faces in profile.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
My latest newsletter now on Substack - covering cholera pits & with the details of some exciting new events over the next few weeks. open.substack.com/pub/robynatc...
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 29/05/2026
We are stronger, and better historians, together. Historical societies abound in the UK, and we've listed 150 with BlueSky accounts in this updated Starter Pack. go.bsky.app/AZaYQDd Other societies appear on a new listing of subject societies on the RHS website bit.ly/4ebwP9r #Skystorians
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Today the memorial for the Belfast workhouse burial ground was unveiled. Huge thanks to all those who have worked with me in making this happen. There are tens of thousands of people buried here and now their resting place is finally marked.
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Reclaim the Agenda @reclaimtheagenda.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
What is feminism? A simple guide to an often-misunderstood topic: Learn about women’s fight for equality and what it means for feminist movements today. 'Feminism is the belief that everyone, regardless of gender, should have equal rights and opportunities.' www.unwomen.org/en/articles/...
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Really interesting project in QUB archaeology on Landscapes of Catastrophe looking at the period of the Great Famine. Here's hoping for some workhouse burials... 🤞 www.qub.ac.uk/schools/NBE/...
qub.ac.uk
Landscapes of Catastrophe: Archaeology, Social-ecological and Biological contexts for the Great Irish Famine, 1845–52 | School of Natural and Built Environment | Queen's University Belfast
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Watching the Artemis II launch countdown a few days after Project Hail Mary was a choice. A lot more space this week than normal.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
I'm bringing some in progress research to the Imagine! Festival this weekend & inviting participants behind the scenes to how historians reconstruct lives of ordinary people & the worlds they inhabited. imaginebelfast.com/event/findin...
imaginebelfast.com
Finding Jane: Fallen Women in Victorian Belfast - Imagine! Belfast
Join historian Dr Robyn Atcheson as she reconstructs the life of Belfast woman the ‘notorious Jane McCance’.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Its 2 days later and I'm still annoyed at myself for leaving a teams meeting before looking at the chat and now I can't see it
media.tenor.com
a woman is sitting in an elevator and saying i respectfully decline this feeling .
ALT: a woman is sitting in an elevator and saying i respectfully decline this feeling .
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
I presented my research and public history work last night in the Workhouse Lives seminar series. Some really interesting and thought-provoking questions - keeping me up last night thinking about them!
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
My car battery was dead yesterday. My husband tried to push it to get it going. Nothing. We had jump leads. Knocked a few doors. Nothing. Knew our next door neighbours would help but they have hybrids. No one stopped to help. Depressing.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
My latest piece for The Irish News all about man-midwives and my upcoming event on the history of pregnancy and childbirth. www.irishnews.com/life/health/...
irishnews.com
Man-midwives and their instruments of disease
Ahead of her talk at this year’s NI Science Festival, Dr Robyn Acheson explores how childbirth, once firmly in women’s hands, was transformed by the arrival of male doctors, medical instruments and ho...
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
My first piece for @theconversation.com is now online! Is it weird to have a favourite natural disaster? Mine is the Night of the Big Wind. theconversation.com/how-a-feroci...
theconversation.com
How a ferocious 19th-century hurricane helped Irish people get their British pension
The devastating 1839 hurricane that hit the island of Ireland had unexpected benefits for some decades later.
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Reposted by Dr Robyn Atcheson
Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 05/12/2025
"Of the 991 history exam questions set in 2023, 357 featured a named individual, but only 31 were women – and nine of those were references to Elizabeth I or her reign." Dr Natasha R. Hodgson of Nottingham Trent University writes this week in The Conversation bit.ly/49ZqTiq
bit.ly
Women are still absent from how history is taught and assessed in England
Over a third of GCSE, AS and A-level exam papers in 2023 made no mention of women at all.
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History at Queen's University Belfast @qubhistory.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Another great project developed by the Centre for Public History at QUB
qub.ac.uk
Lisa Rea Currie appointed AHRC Community Innovation Practitioner on BeHere Project
Queen’s has been awarded a Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) Award for 2025-26, as part of the Creative Communities programme, funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and ...
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National Trust Research @ntresearch.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
🎨 Apply by 29 Sept 2025 for a £10,000 Artist Residency at Mount Stewart, Co. Down! Part of the Historic Houses, Global Crossroads research, the 6-week residency (May–June 2026) invites artists to explore global plant networks & reimagine the site’s ecological legacy🌿See link in thread.
A green garden with a circular pond in the centre, with stairs leading up to a large house in the backdrop. - View of the house from the Spanish garden at Mount Stewart, County Down ©National Trust Images/James Dobson
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Another week, another workhouse! Last night I attended the unveiling of a new memorial at Magherafelt workhouse. The Loup & District Historical Society, with the expert guidance of Dr Ciaran Reilly, did an excellent job with this project.
A granite headstone sits on grass. The words read "Magherafelt workhouse site. To the memory of all those who sought shelter within these walls 1842 - 1945"
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Had a great excuse this week to revisit a workhouse. Limavady (or Newtownlimavady) was opened in 1842 as a medium model capable of holding 500 paupers. It is now better known in the area as Roe Valley Hospital where some outpatient services are still in operation. #workhouse
A long two storey brick building with 3 story blocks either ends. Green grass in front.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
You may have heard me on Radio Ulster yesterday morning chatting with Anna Curran about a very interesting Belfast woman - Flora Lewis. The full story of this woman and her life is now up on my website. #womenshistory www.robynatcheson.com/articles/flo...
robynatcheson.com
Florence Augusta Hamilton: mother and mathematician — Robyn Atcheson - Historian
Florence Augusta Hamilton Lewis Mother and mathematician
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Reclaim the Agenda @reclaimtheagenda.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
We are closed 11-14 July. While we are away, here are some important things to remember!
NOTE
TO
SELF
It’s OK
to Start Over and TRY AGAIN

You are
doing the BEST you can
You are WORTHY and LOVABLE
It’s OK
to ask
for Help
You are capable of AMAZING things
Your boundaries are
IMPORTANT
Your
FEELINGS
are Valid
You are ALLOWED to say 
NO
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, I chatted sex history & the Georgians earlier this year for a new podcast - Austen After Dark This is very NSFW and also NSFMF (Not Suitable For My Family) (You've been warned) open.spotify.com/episode/0zQJ...
open.spotify.com
Sex in Jane Austen's World with Dr. Robyn Atcheson
Austen After Dark · Episode
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 11/07/2025
Join us! We are advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop in 2025-27. Our fellowships support early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history & to gain experience of working in an editorial team. www.historyworkshop....
historyworkshop.org.uk
Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop, 2025
History Workshop is advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships in 2025, open to early career historians.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Finished up exam marking today and fitted in some prep for a radio interview tomorrow. Pre-recording some women's history for BBC Radio Ulster. Looking forward to chatting about women's education in Belfast & a special mathematician.
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Kim Mawhinney @kimcmawhinney.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
I got an enquiry from a US academic about an exhibition held in Belfast in 1935. We had the catalogue in our archive. Who knew the Belfast Museum & Art Gallery @ulstermuseum.org were so forward thinking! #WaltDisney
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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
BIG EMBROIDERY-NOT-A-TAPESTRY NEWS! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Bayeux Tapestry to return to British Museum on loan after 900 years
Bayeux Tapestry will be shown at the British Museum, which will lend treasures to Normandy museums.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Appreciation post for my wee man Ben, pictured here helping me prepare a chapter a few years ago. We had to say goodbye on Friday and I miss him so much already. My husband had him for 9 years (a rescue of indeterminate age) & I was lucky enough to become his second human.
A black and white Springer spaniel has his mouth around the top edge of an A4 page with typed text on it. POV of a person trying to read the page.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
As a historian, I research the history I'm passionate about. My PhD was on poor relief in 19th-century Belfast and it left me with a passion for the stories of the marginalised. The poor, the sick, the have-nots.
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Last year I acted as historical consultant for this film about the workhouse burial ground in Newtownards and the impact of the Famine. So pleased to see it out in the world. #history #irishhistory #famine youtu.be/3i6-cHvtP6c?...
youtu.be
The Forgotten Famine
YouTube video by Hearts of Down
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Dr Robyn Atcheson @robyninpink.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Hello! I'm new here. I'm Robyn, I talk about workhouses a lot and wear a lot of pink. One is kinda my job as a professional historian. The other is a way of life.
media.tenor.com
a woman is laughing and giving a thumbs up while saying welcome to me .
ALT: a woman is laughing and giving a thumbs up while saying welcome to me .
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