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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc

@solanga.bsky.social
222 followers 782 following 325 posts

No hay banda.

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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Today (October 9) is Hangul Day 한글날 in South Korea. One of only a very few official holidays that celebrate a writing system! To mark the day, I'm reposting a thread that originally appeared in April, 2024 over on the other site. I've made minimal edits, so apologies for any outdated references!
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
'Hedgehog' is something of a neologism. A hedgehog was called an 'irchoun' (urchin) in Middle English. A metaphore yet retained in other Germanic languages eg Swedish 'Igelkott' - literally 'Urchin Cat'. A cat that looks like a sea urchin.
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 27/09/2026
“How explain that a work so singular and so enlightening … how explain that such a work should have failed to become famous?” —André Gide, in his Introduction to James Hogg’s THE PRIVATE MEMOIRS & CONFESSIONS OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER (1947 edition)
How explain that a work so singular and so enlightening, so especially fitted to arouse passionate interest both in those who are attracted by religious and moral questions, and, for quite other reasons, in psychologists and artists, and above all in surrealists who are so particularly drawn by the demoniac in every shape – how explain that such a work should have failed to become famous?
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The 15 year-old tells me he wants to be an electrician - get a high paid FIFO job as a tradesman in an Australian mine. Then return after 6 or 7 years and buy a house in Dublin...
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
He drove a white Rolls Royce around Dalkey when I was a kid and the local wags referred to him as 'the ice cream man'. Something I later found out he revelled in.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
'Is treasa tuatha na tighearna', as they say in Gigha. www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/...
theguardian.com
Feudal overload of Gigha people in Oz jail
Stephen Khan gauges the reaction on Gigha to the end of the murder plot trial of the island's former owner.
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
LAFAYETTE @lastudiolafayette.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"Most users have trained themselves (in AI use)". One wonders how many employers have carried out the mandatory risk assessments & understand employers *and* workers legal obligations for deployment and AI use, especially in high risk areas. I suspect we already know the answer to that...
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 08/09/2026
Dolly Parton's sister slams 'fake AI garbage' following icon's death: 'Show more compassion'
latimes.com
Dolly Parton's sister slams 'fake AI garbage' following icon's death: 'Show more compassion'
In a Sept. 4 Instagram statement, Dolly Parton's sister Stella Parton thanked fans for the “genuine” support, urging supporters to use her sister’s life as an “example for tolerance and respect towards others.”
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What is it like inside your head?
Signage of thhe former Birmingham City Children's Hospital controversily converted into a casino.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
youtu.be/HaSi2Z74Ou8?...
youtu.be
The Fatima Mansions-Only Losers Take The Bus
YouTube video by ThatchersBaby
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
"Let constitutions and institutions say what they will, this fact will be stronger and prevail against them: the fact that those who own your land will make your laws and command our liberties and our lives.” James Fintan Lalor
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The will to a system is a lack of integrity. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
THE MECHANICAL DAUGHTER OF RENE DESCARTES: THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF AN INTELLECTUAL FABLE | Modern Intellectual History | Cambridge Core
THE MECHANICAL DAUGHTER OF RENE DESCARTES: THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF AN INTELLECTUAL FABLE - Volume 14 Issue 3
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
In Ancient Greece, a meniskos was a bronze disk mounted above the head of a statue on an iron nail. Its purpose was to prevent birds from fouling the head of the statue. It is likely that this is the origin of the halo in Christian art...
Reconstruction of the Peplos Kore statue with meniskos.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
If I'm not mistaken this in breach of the Statute of Liveries 1504 (Henry VII)... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard...
en.wikipedia.org
Bastard feudalism - Wikipedia
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Tumbledown Dick...
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 03/09/2026
I hereby declare the "learn to code" era officially dead: Big declines in the number of people studying computer science in the last year or two 📉 Chart from this week’s edition of our newsletter on AI and the labour market www.ft.com/content/9183...
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
An old man travels by ride-on lawnmower to visit his sick brother.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
New definition doesnt apply in every part of the UK. www.rte.ie/news/ulster/...
rte.ie
Devastation after NI homes set alight by bonfire embers
Families whose homes were destroyed when burning embers from a bonfire near Belfast set them alight last night have spoken of their devastation.
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 26/08/2026
a surprising positive outcome from this reporting: yesterday, in direct response to my piece, @proton.me announced that it would grant a free one-year Drive subscription to any nonprofit affected by Microsoft's switch-up: proton.me/business/blo...
proton.me
Nonprofits report data loss after Microsoft software grant ends | Proton
A new report alleges Microsoft locked nonprofits out of years of data. Here's what you need to know and what you can do about it.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I was radicalsed when my new dishwasher started sending me notifications that it needed more rinse aid...
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
'Arth' is the Welsh for bear - from *rkto in Proto Indo European. The word 'bear' is a historical taboo replacement (used in many European languages) ie the real name is substituted with a nickname so it doesnt summon 'the bear'. Obviously the Welsh werent scared of bears....
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It's referred to as "RoT" in the trade...
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Once an important salmon spawning river, full of smolt this time of year....
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I had the great fortune to have studied the Odyssey under Prof. Kevin O'Nolan in UCD in the early 80s. Prof O'Nolan was the brother of Flann O'Brien, Ireland's Homer. 'What a word to escape the barriers of your teeth, my child'
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
This track pioneered the use of digital sampling in pop music - using a Fairlight CMI synth to trigger the iconic crashing glass sound effect right before the chorus. Kate Bush, a genius indeed.
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 26/07/2026
‘James Joyce stands out​ among the great modernist writers for his belief in tolerance, equality, democracy, progress and the preciousness of the everyday. If he is outrageously experimental, he is also in thrall to the mundane and disregarded.’ Terry Eagleton: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Terry Eagleton · Starveling Rabblement: Joyce’s Politics
Joyce stands out​ among the great modernist writers for his belief in tolerance, equality, democracy, progress and the...
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Oskar Werner as Guy Montag in the 1966 movie adaptation of Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Missing in action: Les Années lumière (1981) dir Alain Tanner - Calary, Co Wicklow & Gardiner Street, Dublin. The Lion in Winter (1968) Cloghlea Church, Kilbride, Co Wicklow The Blue Max (1966) Weston Airport, Dublin A Very Unlucky Leprechaun (1998) dir Roger Corman - Tully, Connemara, Galway
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan LeFanu
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Samuel Beckett is the only Nobel prize winner in Wisden. www.cricinfo.com/cricketers/s...
cricinfo.com
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
museumofchildhood.ie/a-sadder-sig...
museumofchildhood.ie
‘A sadder sight it would be impossible to witness’: Criticism of the hiring fair and child labour in County Donegal in the early twentieth century. – The Museum of Childhood Ireland
By Megan McAuley, History Team, Museum of Childhood Ireland, Músaem Óige na hÉireann
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Before the welfare state, free 2nd level education in 1967 etc - putting kids in domestic service was the only option for the poor. At hiring fairs, kids were 'sold' . My grandma was a maid from age 12. Child exploitation extended beyond religious orders & permeated the whole society.
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
Fintan Kelly @fintankelly.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Gold plated environmental standards? In a country where: 90% of protected habitat types are in unfavourable conservation status 371,884 t of peat exported in 2025, with no compliance with env or planning law At least 9 env cases in the CJEU & 16 infringements www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...
irishtimes.com
Top Government adviser calls for action to roll back ‘gold-plated’ environmental legislation
Laws exempting key projects from national climate goals should be followed by moves to curtail environmental screening, says taskforce chief
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
'Tá na Francaigh teacht thar sáile' ars' an t-seanbhean bhocht.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
"The bigger the bible, the bigger the scoundrel", as grandma used to say.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Isaiah 32:7
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The idea that you are a poor if you don't aspire to be a home owner and drive a private vehicle is probably why we dont have any decent public housing, public transport or other public services.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
You cant compare petrol/diesel prices with public charging. Its apples and oranges. You cant fill up on petrol/diesel at home and most people charge at home at reduced rates or at work for free. Any EV driver relying solely on public charging doesnt understand what they've bought.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
'Litres of Pee' as they were known back in the day.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Werewolves and other assorted doppelgangers have a distinctly Presbyterian flavour rather than being generally Protestant imho. cf Hogg's 'Confessions of a Justified Sinner' & Stevenson's 'Dr Jeckyl & Mr Hyde'
'The sleep of Reason gives birth to monsters' Francisco Goya, wood cut
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Reposted by Diarmuid Ó Cuirc
Unseen Japan @unseenjapan.com · 27/06/2026
A single Japanese word often doesn't have one meaning, especially verbs. The verb 取る (toru) has 17 separate English meanings in the Jisho dictionary. You can 取る an object like a salt shaker, but you can also grow old (年を取る) and take something the wrong way (悪く取る).
unseen-japan.com
Japanese Sentence Mining: How to Learn in Context - Unseen Japan
Have your Japanese studies gotten tired and boring? Here's how Japanese sentence mining can break you out of your rut.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I blame declining standards in English language education following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Coupled with Reform's implied plans for a hard border between NI and the Republic, could be an interesting time for Irish nationals in Great Britain and the CTA...
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Pope Innocent II made the use of crossbows against fellow Christians punishable by excommunication during the Second Lateran Council in 1139.
Pope Innocent II Wood Print British Museum CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Clearing the skies for Ireland's immanent EU presidency - and lack of defence against drones manifest during Zelensky's recent visit - may have something to do with it... foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/18/i...
foreignpolicy.com
Ireland Is Becoming a French Military Protectorate
Literally defenseless, Dublin is outsourcing security to Paris.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
The world has changed Adrian. The elephant in the room is the security issue posed by having drones wizzing around urban areas in a country with demonstrably no defences against drone attack. Especially during an EU presidency.
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Diarmuid Ó Cuirc @solanga.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Soylent Green is people...
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