Frank Courtney
@frankcourtney.bsky.social
Photography 📷, Science 🧪, Travel 🌍, Radio 📻, Music 🎼, Books 📖, Art 🖼️, Wine🍷
Dalkey/Trim Co. Meath : Ireland
https://frankcphoto.com/
Follow => real bio and posts | No Crypto/NFT
Dalkey/Trim Co. Meath : Ireland
https://frankcphoto.com/
Follow => real bio and posts | No Crypto/NFT
Reposted by Frank Courtney
The purpose of any honest writing competition can only be to support and encourage the craft and industry of writing by *human beings*
Nice piece by @vinography.com
Nice piece by @vinography.com
Is That the Death Rattle of Wine Writing I Hear?
My thoughts on the controversy that is roiling the wine-writing world at the moment in the wake of the recent 67 Pall Mall Awards.
www.vinography.com
September 22, 2026 at 5:32 PM
The purpose of any honest writing competition can only be to support and encourage the craft and industry of writing by *human beings*
Nice piece by @vinography.com
Nice piece by @vinography.com
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Fabulous John Minihan exhibition at the National Gallery that runs till October but worth going twice as they are changing the display soon to show more of his photos
May 1, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Fabulous John Minihan exhibition at the National Gallery that runs till October but worth going twice as they are changing the display soon to show more of his photos
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Once again: your kids should be reading things that shock and excite them, that scare them and widen their perspective on life, and that will make them read more, not sanitising their reading until it’s totally bland. I don’t have words for the bias of the list. Poor librarian, poor kids.
My excellent colleague @katiedd.bsky.social has just published this remarkable investigation into rampant book banning in a Greater Manchester secondary school library.
193 books including The Da Vinci Code, Twilight, White Teeth and 1984 Graphic Novel
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...
193 books including The Da Vinci Code, Twilight, White Teeth and 1984 Graphic Novel
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...
School book banning escalates in the UK as Greater Manchester secondary school censors scores of books - Index on Censorship
A school librarian faced a disciplinary hearing and scores of books were removed from her school library after she stocked Laura Bates’ Men Who Hate Women
www.indexoncensorship.org
March 21, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Once again: your kids should be reading things that shock and excite them, that scare them and widen their perspective on life, and that will make them read more, not sanitising their reading until it’s totally bland. I don’t have words for the bias of the list. Poor librarian, poor kids.
Reposted by Frank Courtney
FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?
March 5, 2026 at 7:15 AM
FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Periodic gentle reminder that Liking a Bluesky post doesn't raise its visibility. You need to repost
Also here to say that my own Bluesky experience has been hugely enhanced by hitting the bell and plus sign icon on other people's profiles and choosing to be notified re their posts and/or replies
Also here to say that my own Bluesky experience has been hugely enhanced by hitting the bell and plus sign icon on other people's profiles and choosing to be notified re their posts and/or replies
February 12, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Periodic gentle reminder that Liking a Bluesky post doesn't raise its visibility. You need to repost
Also here to say that my own Bluesky experience has been hugely enhanced by hitting the bell and plus sign icon on other people's profiles and choosing to be notified re their posts and/or replies
Also here to say that my own Bluesky experience has been hugely enhanced by hitting the bell and plus sign icon on other people's profiles and choosing to be notified re their posts and/or replies
Reposted by Frank Courtney
“Nobody in Ireland should be exposed to hate speech, bullying, or child sexual abuse images on X just to find out if their train is delayed”
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Government bodies need to get off X, now
Nobody in Ireland should be exposed to hate speech, bullying, or child sexual abuse images on X just to find out if their train is delayed, writes Clare O'Donoghue Velikic
www.irishexaminer.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM
“Nobody in Ireland should be exposed to hate speech, bullying, or child sexual abuse images on X just to find out if their train is delayed”
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Today is the Eve of St Agnes 💙
How better to celebrate than revisiting one of Harry Clarke’s strikingly blue watercolour studies that he made in preparation for his The Eve of St. Agnes Window (1924), inspired by John Keats’ poem.
#CrawfordArtGallery #HarryClarke #EveofStAgnes
How better to celebrate than revisiting one of Harry Clarke’s strikingly blue watercolour studies that he made in preparation for his The Eve of St. Agnes Window (1924), inspired by John Keats’ poem.
#CrawfordArtGallery #HarryClarke #EveofStAgnes
January 20, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Today is the Eve of St Agnes 💙
How better to celebrate than revisiting one of Harry Clarke’s strikingly blue watercolour studies that he made in preparation for his The Eve of St. Agnes Window (1924), inspired by John Keats’ poem.
#CrawfordArtGallery #HarryClarke #EveofStAgnes
How better to celebrate than revisiting one of Harry Clarke’s strikingly blue watercolour studies that he made in preparation for his The Eve of St. Agnes Window (1924), inspired by John Keats’ poem.
#CrawfordArtGallery #HarryClarke #EveofStAgnes
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Anyone who wants to mount their high horse and gallop around proclaiming that their leaving Twitter risks it becoming an echo chamber for racists, misogynists and paedophiles, should be invited to cite examples of where their posts resulted in people renouncing their racism, misogyny or paedophilia.
January 10, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Anyone who wants to mount their high horse and gallop around proclaiming that their leaving Twitter risks it becoming an echo chamber for racists, misogynists and paedophiles, should be invited to cite examples of where their posts resulted in people renouncing their racism, misogyny or paedophilia.
Reposted by Frank Courtney
These two stories are somehow connected. Apparently, if you lobby tirelessly for more pollution & ecological wreckage, that’s exactly what you get.
December 11, 2025 at 8:46 AM
These two stories are somehow connected. Apparently, if you lobby tirelessly for more pollution & ecological wreckage, that’s exactly what you get.
Reposted by Frank Courtney
“If they were alive, all 10 would certainly salute this gifted writer who has done so much to restore women to our lopsided historical narrative.”
Thank you to Clodagh Finn for such a brilliant piece on Nicola Pierce’s newest title.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
Thank you to Clodagh Finn for such a brilliant piece on Nicola Pierce’s newest title.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
September 22, 2025 at 4:11 PM
“If they were alive, all 10 would certainly salute this gifted writer who has done so much to restore women to our lopsided historical narrative.”
Thank you to Clodagh Finn for such a brilliant piece on Nicola Pierce’s newest title.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
Thank you to Clodagh Finn for such a brilliant piece on Nicola Pierce’s newest title.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Quite spectacular victim blaming from the Taoiseach when asked about the clearly illegal large scale commercial abuse of mobile phone location data. Reflective of institutional cluelessness about privacy throughout the Irish state.
www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...
www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...
September 19, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Quite spectacular victim blaming from the Taoiseach when asked about the clearly illegal large scale commercial abuse of mobile phone location data. Reflective of institutional cluelessness about privacy throughout the Irish state.
www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...
www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Happy Birthday, Harry Clarke... our documentary on his masterpiece, The Geneva Window, is linked here (along with more detailed clips exploring each panel). Thanks to @oireachtasnews.bsky.social & @Coimisiún na Meán Digital First initiative. www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachta...
March 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Happy Birthday, Harry Clarke... our documentary on his masterpiece, The Geneva Window, is linked here (along with more detailed clips exploring each panel). Thanks to @oireachtasnews.bsky.social & @Coimisiún na Meán Digital First initiative. www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachta...
Meanwhile - enjoying the Edinburgh ones here in @nationalgalleryirl.bsky.social
PSA for Edinburgh friends:
We went to the Turners in January exhibition today. The queue is 45 mins to an hour long. If you’re planning to go, it’s best to go when the Gallery opens at 10 and even then there’s a queue!
We went to the Turners in January exhibition today. The queue is 45 mins to an hour long. If you’re planning to go, it’s best to go when the Gallery opens at 10 and even then there’s a queue!
January 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Meanwhile - enjoying the Edinburgh ones here in @nationalgalleryirl.bsky.social
Reposted by Frank Courtney
This is the anniversary of the death of much loved Irish stained glass artist and illustrator Harry Clarke. This unfinished portrait was made by his wife Margaret when she visited him in a TB sanatorium in Davos.
January 6, 2025 at 1:31 PM
This is the anniversary of the death of much loved Irish stained glass artist and illustrator Harry Clarke. This unfinished portrait was made by his wife Margaret when she visited him in a TB sanatorium in Davos.
Reposted by Frank Courtney
So, let's try doing #duvetknowitschristmas here this evening? People are literally Driving Home For Christmas right now, which MIGHT JUST mean that they'll be sleeping somewhere unusual. 1/
December 24, 2024 at 9:14 AM
So, let's try doing #duvetknowitschristmas here this evening? People are literally Driving Home For Christmas right now, which MIGHT JUST mean that they'll be sleeping somewhere unusual. 1/
A Christmas photo from Dún Laoghaire - a few years ago now, but still one of my favourites
December 24, 2024 at 9:10 AM
A Christmas photo from Dún Laoghaire - a few years ago now, but still one of my favourites
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Some extraordinary landscape images here.
13 jaw-dropping International Landscape Photographer of the Year images
The beauty of Earth—from Namibia to Canada.
www.popsci.com
December 9, 2024 at 1:56 PM
Some extraordinary landscape images here.
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Sunday heart lift - Coldplay's Chris Martin creates a tender love song with 99 year old Dick Van Dyke dancing and celebrating life, family and caring - #AllMyLove #Christmas
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/a...
Spike Jonze behind the camera
youtu.be/o4OlL0OpbW8?...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/a...
Spike Jonze behind the camera
youtu.be/o4OlL0OpbW8?...
Coldplay - ALL MY LOVE (Official Video) (Directors' Cut)
YouTube video by Coldplay
youtu.be
December 8, 2024 at 5:56 AM
Sunday heart lift - Coldplay's Chris Martin creates a tender love song with 99 year old Dick Van Dyke dancing and celebrating life, family and caring - #AllMyLove #Christmas
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/a...
Spike Jonze behind the camera
youtu.be/o4OlL0OpbW8?...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/a...
Spike Jonze behind the camera
youtu.be/o4OlL0OpbW8?...
Reposted by Frank Courtney
William Butler Yeats. Born No. 2 Georgeville, Dublin (1865)
Flora H. Mitchell (1890-1973)
Watercolour, pen and ink
©️ Estate of the artist
#Dublin #artofDublin #femaleartists #art #DublinHistory #womenartists #DublinHistory #irishwriters
Flora H. Mitchell (1890-1973)
Watercolour, pen and ink
©️ Estate of the artist
#Dublin #artofDublin #femaleartists #art #DublinHistory #womenartists #DublinHistory #irishwriters
December 6, 2024 at 7:54 AM
William Butler Yeats. Born No. 2 Georgeville, Dublin (1865)
Flora H. Mitchell (1890-1973)
Watercolour, pen and ink
©️ Estate of the artist
#Dublin #artofDublin #femaleartists #art #DublinHistory #womenartists #DublinHistory #irishwriters
Flora H. Mitchell (1890-1973)
Watercolour, pen and ink
©️ Estate of the artist
#Dublin #artofDublin #femaleartists #art #DublinHistory #womenartists #DublinHistory #irishwriters
Reposted by Frank Courtney
For #artadventcalendar today, another painting by my mum, Anne, whilst she gets to creating a Bluesky account — this one a portrait of a hare, using watercolour & pen.
December 5, 2024 at 6:44 PM
For #artadventcalendar today, another painting by my mum, Anne, whilst she gets to creating a Bluesky account — this one a portrait of a hare, using watercolour & pen.
It's a mystery - but people do like some of the stuff they sell
@rteone.bsky.social does anybody actually like #thehappypear?
I mean I've heard opinions ranging from indifference to absolute hatred. But I can't remember anybody saying they actually like this guys. And yet they are all over the bloody Place!
I mean I've heard opinions ranging from indifference to absolute hatred. But I can't remember anybody saying they actually like this guys. And yet they are all over the bloody Place!
December 5, 2024 at 4:36 PM
It's a mystery - but people do like some of the stuff they sell
Will miss the column
Today, exactly 27 years & 7 days after I wrote my first Net Results column, I'm retiring it (& me, though I'll still do occasional pieces & book reviews). I've been incredibly honoured to write the IT's tech column for such an amazing expanse of tech history. 🖥️ www.irishtimes.com/technology/2...
Tracking the path of the internet revolution
Alongside the technology sector’s many benefits have come new and insidious threats, damages and dangers
www.irishtimes.com
December 5, 2024 at 11:36 AM
Will miss the column
Will miss your writing - always an interesting and informative read.
December 5, 2024 at 11:35 AM
Will miss your writing - always an interesting and informative read.
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Spanish masterpiece resurfaces after being hidden for more than a century
Spanish masterpiece resurfaces after being hidden for more than a century
Joaquín Sorolla’s Paris Boulevard was sold to a private collector in 1890 and disappeared from public view
A painting by Joaquín Sorolla, the Spanish artist renowned for his mastery of light, is on public show for the first time since it disappeared…
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2024 at 1:02 PM
Spanish masterpiece resurfaces after being hidden for more than a century
Reposted by Frank Courtney
Someone sang The River by Joni Mitchell at a party I was at last night and I introduced them to this beautiful little gem - Snoopy ice skating to it on the soundtrack. youtu.be/aBpw3SEfJSs?...
Joni Mitchell & Peanuts - The River (Blue, June 22, 1971)
YouTube video by TheSuperEnigmatic
youtu.be
December 1, 2024 at 12:53 PM
Someone sang The River by Joni Mitchell at a party I was at last night and I introduced them to this beautiful little gem - Snoopy ice skating to it on the soundtrack. youtu.be/aBpw3SEfJSs?...