Matthías Aron Ólafsson
@matthiasaolafsson.bsky.social
Icelander in Ireland. Historian. PhD Candidate @historytcd.bsky.social
and Early Career Research Fellow @tlrhub.bsky.social. Researching the commissioning of governance and policymaking in the global Danish Oldenburg Empire in the long 18th c.
and Early Career Research Fellow @tlrhub.bsky.social. Researching the commissioning of governance and policymaking in the global Danish Oldenburg Empire in the long 18th c.
Pinned
The myth of Icelandic insularity
As Icelanders prepare to vote on resuming EU talks, the island's elites have spent centuries managing external influence to their advantage.
engelsbergideas.com
In light of the EU referendum in August, I wrote this short piece on Iceland’s relationship with Europe over the centuries and the enduring myths surrounding the island’s insularity.
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
🕵️♀️🏰 One of Dublin’s “lost” medieval castles has been found hiding in plain sight inside University College Dublin’s Roebuck Castle.
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social #archaeology
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social #archaeology
September 18, 2026 at 10:08 AM
🕵️♀️🏰 One of Dublin’s “lost” medieval castles has been found hiding in plain sight inside University College Dublin’s Roebuck Castle.
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social #archaeology
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social #archaeology
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
🎉 The 2026 Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival starts TODAY!
Join us for a day of conversation, ideas and research - from medical and health humanities and the Vatican Archives to imagining Ireland’s future and exploring great lost inventions.
www.tcd.ie/trinitylongr...
Join us for a day of conversation, ideas and research - from medical and health humanities and the Vatican Archives to imagining Ireland’s future and exploring great lost inventions.
www.tcd.ie/trinitylongr...
September 18, 2026 at 9:39 AM
🎉 The 2026 Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival starts TODAY!
Join us for a day of conversation, ideas and research - from medical and health humanities and the Vatican Archives to imagining Ireland’s future and exploring great lost inventions.
www.tcd.ie/trinitylongr...
Join us for a day of conversation, ideas and research - from medical and health humanities and the Vatican Archives to imagining Ireland’s future and exploring great lost inventions.
www.tcd.ie/trinitylongr...
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
The schedule for the TCD Early Modern History Research Seminar is now up. Join us for the first seminar on the 5 October: Fara Dabhoiwala (Princeton University): “Race, Slavery, Religion, and Citizenship in the Atlantic World, 1655-1762: Ireland, Jamaica, and the family of Francis Williams”.
This term's schedule for the Early Modern History Research Seminar is here: www.tcd.ie/history/rese...
Early Modern History Research Seminar - Department of History - Trinity College Dublin
www.tcd.ie
September 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM
The schedule for the TCD Early Modern History Research Seminar is now up. Join us for the first seminar on the 5 October: Fara Dabhoiwala (Princeton University): “Race, Slavery, Religion, and Citizenship in the Atlantic World, 1655-1762: Ireland, Jamaica, and the family of Francis Williams”.
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
Oct 1st, Save the date!
Rosamund Oates will be talking about ‘Silent Histories: Deafness in Early Modern England' at @ihrscb.bsky.social in-person @ihr.bsky.social & online. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Booking details will soon be on: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/ihr-seminars/society-culture-belief-1500-1800
Rosamund Oates will be talking about ‘Silent Histories: Deafness in Early Modern England' at @ihrscb.bsky.social in-person @ihr.bsky.social & online. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Booking details will soon be on: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/ihr-seminars/society-culture-belief-1500-1800
September 14, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Oct 1st, Save the date!
Rosamund Oates will be talking about ‘Silent Histories: Deafness in Early Modern England' at @ihrscb.bsky.social in-person @ihr.bsky.social & online. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Booking details will soon be on: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/ihr-seminars/society-culture-belief-1500-1800
Rosamund Oates will be talking about ‘Silent Histories: Deafness in Early Modern England' at @ihrscb.bsky.social in-person @ihr.bsky.social & online. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Booking details will soon be on: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/ihr-seminars/society-culture-belief-1500-1800
On the morning of 22 September I will finally be presenting my 'Thesis in Five [minutes]' if you want you are around and want to hear a proper 'elevator pitch' of my research!
What is democracy made of? Can machines know you better than you know yourself? Who gets to decide what matters?
The Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival returns from 18-28 September, exploring some of the biggest questions of our time.
The Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival returns from 18-28 September, exploring some of the biggest questions of our time.
September 14, 2026 at 4:11 PM
On the morning of 22 September I will finally be presenting my 'Thesis in Five [minutes]' if you want you are around and want to hear a proper 'elevator pitch' of my research!
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
What is democracy made of? Can machines know you better than you know yourself? Who gets to decide what matters?
The Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival returns from 18-28 September, exploring some of the biggest questions of our time.
The Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival returns from 18-28 September, exploring some of the biggest questions of our time.
September 14, 2026 at 2:53 PM
What is democracy made of? Can machines know you better than you know yourself? Who gets to decide what matters?
The Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival returns from 18-28 September, exploring some of the biggest questions of our time.
The Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival returns from 18-28 September, exploring some of the biggest questions of our time.
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
This term's schedule for the Research Seminar in Modern and Contemporary Irish History is here www.tcd.ie/history/rese...
Trinity Research Centre for Contemporary Irish History Seminars - Department of History - Trinity College Dublin
www.tcd.ie
September 14, 2026 at 11:00 AM
This term's schedule for the Research Seminar in Modern and Contemporary Irish History is here www.tcd.ie/history/rese...
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
This term's schedule for the Early Modern History Research Seminar is here: www.tcd.ie/history/rese...
Early Modern History Research Seminar - Department of History - Trinity College Dublin
www.tcd.ie
September 14, 2026 at 10:59 AM
This term's schedule for the Early Modern History Research Seminar is here: www.tcd.ie/history/rese...
Term begins!
September 10, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Term begins!
If you are interested in the larger historical currents behind the EU referendum and Icelandic history generally:
August 29, 2026 at 10:51 AM
If you are interested in the larger historical currents behind the EU referendum and Icelandic history generally:
Today’s result will mark a watershed moment in Icelandic history.
Icelanders go to polls in EU membership talks referendum
Voters in Iceland will take part in a referendum on whether or not to revive membership talks with the European Union, more than a decade after they were frozen.
www.rte.ie
August 29, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Today’s result will mark a watershed moment in Icelandic history.
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
Tim Curry 🌹 1946 - 2026 🥀
August 26, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Tim Curry 🌹 1946 - 2026 🥀
Finally got myself a copy of this! Can't wait to get started and rediscover my adopted city.
August 24, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Finally got myself a copy of this! Can't wait to get started and rediscover my adopted city.
The Dalkey Lobster Festival was incredible. I was completley lobstered
August 24, 2026 at 11:02 AM
The Dalkey Lobster Festival was incredible. I was completley lobstered
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
A tour of history's great republics, ancient and modern, shows that civic education is the best defence against decay.
Republics fall when they forget the past | Max Skjönsberg
engelsbergideas.com/reviews/repu...
Republics fall when they forget the past | Max Skjönsberg
engelsbergideas.com/reviews/repu...
Republics fall when they forget the past
A tour of history's great republics, ancient and modern, shows that civic education is the best defence against decay.
engelsbergideas.com
August 20, 2026 at 11:06 AM
A tour of history's great republics, ancient and modern, shows that civic education is the best defence against decay.
Republics fall when they forget the past | Max Skjönsberg
engelsbergideas.com/reviews/repu...
Republics fall when they forget the past | Max Skjönsberg
engelsbergideas.com/reviews/repu...
At Jhonny Paranza’s kiosk by the harbour in Livorno you get the world’s best fritto di paranza. This place only opens when the catch comes in, and then it’s fried and sold while supplies last. First come, first served. Sapori di mare!
July 25, 2026 at 8:35 PM
At Jhonny Paranza’s kiosk by the harbour in Livorno you get the world’s best fritto di paranza. This place only opens when the catch comes in, and then it’s fried and sold while supplies last. First come, first served. Sapori di mare!
Went on my own Odyssey early this morning and drove to Prato to see the 9:10 undubbed screening of The Odyssey. Definitely a different experience witnessing something like this before noon on a Monday. If you haven’t already, see it on the biggest IMAX screen you can find!
July 20, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Went on my own Odyssey early this morning and drove to Prato to see the 9:10 undubbed screening of The Odyssey. Definitely a different experience witnessing something like this before noon on a Monday. If you haven’t already, see it on the biggest IMAX screen you can find!
A hidden gem in Pisa. On display inside the Church of San Sisto is the Kufic Epitaph of Emir Ibn Aglab al-Murtaḍā of the Balearic Islands, from 1094. It ended up here as plunder from an 1114 Catalan-Pisan crusade waged against the islands but was only discovered in 1937. Anyone here know Kufic?
July 19, 2026 at 3:15 PM
A hidden gem in Pisa. On display inside the Church of San Sisto is the Kufic Epitaph of Emir Ibn Aglab al-Murtaḍā of the Balearic Islands, from 1094. It ended up here as plunder from an 1114 Catalan-Pisan crusade waged against the islands but was only discovered in 1937. Anyone here know Kufic?
Catch of the day in Livorno
July 16, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Catch of the day in Livorno
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
As Icelanders prepare to vote on resuming EU talks, the island's elites have spent centuries managing external influence to their advantage.
The myth of Icelandic insularity | Matthías Aron Ólafsson
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The myth of Icelandic insularity | Matthías Aron Ólafsson
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The myth of Icelandic insularity
As Icelanders prepare to vote on resuming EU talks, the island's elites have spent centuries managing external influence to their advantage.
engelsbergideas.com
July 13, 2026 at 9:03 AM
As Icelanders prepare to vote on resuming EU talks, the island's elites have spent centuries managing external influence to their advantage.
The myth of Icelandic insularity | Matthías Aron Ólafsson
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The myth of Icelandic insularity | Matthías Aron Ólafsson
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
Best Goodreads review of all time.
July 13, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Best Goodreads review of all time.
In light of the EU referendum in August, I wrote this short piece on Iceland’s relationship with Europe over the centuries and the enduring myths surrounding the island’s insularity.
The myth of Icelandic insularity
As Icelanders prepare to vote on resuming EU talks, the island's elites have spent centuries managing external influence to their advantage.
engelsbergideas.com
July 11, 2026 at 10:32 AM
In light of the EU referendum in August, I wrote this short piece on Iceland’s relationship with Europe over the centuries and the enduring myths surrounding the island’s insularity.
Office of the day!
July 10, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Office of the day!
Reposted by Matthías Aron Ólafsson
Great new job as Professor of Early Modern Irish History at Dublin City University advertised today. universityvacancies.com/dublin-city-...
Professor in Early Modern Irish History | University Vacancies Ireland
universityvacancies.com
June 26, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Great new job as Professor of Early Modern Irish History at Dublin City University advertised today. universityvacancies.com/dublin-city-...