#Irish Volunteers

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1858 – The Irish Republican Brotherhood was co-founded by James Stephens in Dublin.

The original IRB oath, as quoted by Thomas Clarke Luby and John O’Leary, and which is among several versions in James Stephens’s own papers, ran: ‘I, AB., do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will do my utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to make [other versions, according to Luby, establish in’] Ireland an independent Democratic Republic; that I will yield implicit…

[werewolfetone]

All of the 18thC conservative unionist politicians who went "I saw Goody Proctor with the paramilitary" or whatever towards Grattan & co were so funny because SO many of them were in the Volunteers

[mseirtaku]

Everyone has a breaking point.

[cherry-blossomtea]

I hope I am not just the Horn guy to you, but also the Harmonie guy

[allinllachuteruteru]

Duolingo is NOT what it used to be.

“Duolingo is ‘sunsetting the development of the Welsh course’ (and many others)”.

I’ve used Duolingo since 2013. It used to be about genuinely learning languages and preserving endangered ones. It used to have a vibrant community and forum where users were listened to. It used to have volunteers that dedicated countless hours and even years to making the best courses they could while also trying to explain extremely nuanced and complex grammar in simple terms.

In the past two years it feels like Von Ahn let the money talk instead of focusing on the original goal.

No one truly had a humongous problem with the subscription tier for SuperDuolingo. We understood it: if you can afford to pay, help keep Duolingo free for those who couldn’t.

It started when the company went public. Volunteers were leaving courses they created because they warned of differing longterm goals compared to Duolingo’s as a company; not long after it was announced that the incubator (how volunteers were able to make courses in the first place) would be shut down. A year goes by and the forums—the voice of the users and the way people were able to share tips and explanations—is discontinued. A year or two later, Duolingo gets a completely new makeover—the Tree is gone and you don’t control what lesson you start with. With the disappearance of the Tree, all grammar notes and explanations for courses not in the Big 8 (consisting of the courses made before the incubator like Spanish/French/German/etc. and of the most popular courses like Japanese/Korean/Chinese/etc.) are removed with it. Were you learning Vietnamese and have no idea how honorifics work without the grammar notes? Shit outta luck bud. Were you learning Polish and have absolutely no clue how one of the declensions newly thrown at you functions? Suck it up. In a Reddit AMA, Von Ahn claims that the new design resulted in more users utilizing the app/site. How he claims that statistic? By counting how many people log into their Duolingo account, as if an entire app renovation wouldn’t cause an uptick in numbers to even see what the fuck just happened to the courses.

Von Ahn announces next in a Reddit AMA that no more language courses will be added from what there already is available. His reasoning? No one uses the unpopular language courses — along with how Duolingo will now be doing upkeep with the courses already in place. And here I am, currently looking on the Duolingo website how there are 1.8 million active learners for Irish, 284 thousand active learners for Navajo, and even 934 thousand active learners for fucking High Valyrian. But yea, no one uses them. Not like the entire Navajo Nation population is 399k members or anything, or like 1.8 million people isn’t 36% of the entire population of Ireland or anything.

And now this. What happened to the upkeep of current courses? Oh, Von Ahn only meant the popular ones that already have infinite resources. Got it. Duolingo used to be a serious foundational resource for languages with little resources while also adding the relief of gamification.

It pisses me off. It really does. This was not what Duolingo started out as. And yea, maybe I shouldn’t get invested in a dingy little app. But as someone who spent most of her adolescence immersed in language learning to the point where it was literally keeping me alive at one point, to the point where languages felt like my only friend as a tween, and to the point where friendships on the Duolingo forums with likeminded individuals my age and other enthusiasts who even sent me books in other languages for free because they wanted people to learn it, the evolution of Duolingo hits a bitter nerve within me.

~End rant.

[pirefyrelight]

absolutely love the wording "I've always hated slavery, since the day that I was born" and "I was born among old Erin's bogs, when I was but a child."

Different songs but damn do they both have that vibe. "I was born here when I was very young." Hell yeah you were! "Even a baby can see how wrong slavery is." So correct. Based even.

[punkwasp]

Free Palestine - ceasefire now!

EDIT: the strike is over but I am leaving this post up in case any of these resources are helpful

There is currently a strike for Palestine taking place from February 18th, 2024, to February 25th, 2024. During this time, I will only be posting about Palestine on this account and doing what I can to spread awareness. If you are able, I highly recommend participating in the strike in whatever way you are able - something is always better than nothing. Staying home from work and/or school, not buying anything that isn't strictly necessary, using your social media platforms only to boost posts about Palestine, etc., are all ways to help the efforts!

Below are various links for ways you can help Palestine, including educational resources, petitions, fundraisers, etc. If you have any to add on, please do, these are just the ones I've found so far.

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

eSims For Gaza

Decolonize Palestine (Patreon)

Jewish Voice For Peace

Help Gaza Children

Islamic Relief Canada's Palestine Emergency Appeal

Medical Aid For Palestinians

Gisha (Israeli organization working to protect Palestinians' rights to the freedom of movement)

Click to help Palestine daily

Palestine Action

Attend an upcoming protest for Palestine (remember to mask up if possible, COVID isn't over)

Sign a petition to urge governments to invoke the genocide convention to stop the war on Gaza

Sign a petition from Amnesty calling for a ceasefire

Check this list of ways to demand a ceasefire in Gaza

Sign the petition for Canada to take urgent action for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza

Download these posters to print out and put up in your area and/or share on socials to build awareness

Join the BDS boycott

Check out resources and ways to help from Justice For All

Donate to the Gofundme for medical expenses for Hisham, a Palestinian-Irish-American who was shot in an anti-Palestinian hate crime in Burlington, Vermont

The Palestine Academy's Palestine 101

Palestinian literature recommendations

Check out Independent Jewish Voices Canada and their campaigns to help Palestine

Join Palestine Action to help bring down Israel's weapons trade

Shop Palestine (online store where your purchases support artisans in Palestine and in refugee camps in Lebanon, proceeds go to Middle East Children’s Alliance's work supporting Palestinian children)

Donate direct aid to Gaza (run by a longtime activist and volunteer who has been carrying out donations and humanitarian projects in Gaza since 2021)

Buy from the Hirbawi factory (this is the last kufiya factory in Palestine that is still active, purchasing helps support the Palestinian economy, which has not been in a great state for a while)

Spreadsheet listing mutual aid

[sayruq]

They were volunteers for the International Kitchen Relief Organization. Their nationalities are Palestinian, Irish, Polish, Australian, and British.

[seachranaidhe]

Police incease in 'Public Interest Immunity' material linked to LVF murder of Seamas Dillon had not been completed eight-years-ago the coroner Court was told.

Police incease in ‘Public Interest Immunity’ material linked to LVF murder of Seamas Dillon had not been completed eight-years-ago the coroner Court was told.

http://seachranaidhe-irishandproud.blogspot.com/2022/09/police-incease-in-public-interest.html #SayNoToPII #JusticeForNoahDonohoe

[iluvzaddies]

imma need some tommy shelby w equestrian!reader omg like anything

(i’m a sucker for this man)

admiration

pairing: thomas shelby x equestrian!reader

warnings: none, just tommy fanboying over reader

summary: you are the first woman to ever join and win a horse-racing competition. thomas shelby, who loves horses, deeply admires you and your skills. you meet him in a pub called the garrison and there, you witness his admiration.

“well, i’ll be… win after win. victory after victory. all in different places. proud to say this woman’s a birmingham resident.” arthur shelby said as he held up a newspaper, a cigar in his mouth.

“i’m guessing it’s about that (y/n) (l/n) girl, eh?” polly gray or aunt poll as the shelbys liked to call her, asked as she downed a glass of whiskey. “she’s become quite the hot topic.”

“oh, she’s hot, alright.” john shelby smirked, fiddling with the cigarette in between his two fingers. “still a turn on despite wearing fucking trousers all the damn time.”

“john.” thomas shelby warned, not wanting to hear sexual remarks about you, especially from his own brother.

thomas admired you. how could he not? you were the one who raced his beloved horse, monaghan boy, and brought victory to his name.

he hadn’t gotten the chance to meet you yet. unfortunately. he wondered when you would be done with your little world tour and back in birmingham.

but lo and behold, you stood there at the entrance of the pub, wearing a loose blouse and a pair of trousers as you always do.

“what can i get for you?” grace, the new irish barmaid, noticed your presence and asked.

“you choose. i’m fine with anything.”

“you look worn out.” grace pointed out.

you did look worn out, like you hadn’t had a wink of sleep in ages, but you were beautiful nonetheless. actually, more beautiful than thomas imagined. he stared at you, mouth slightly agape, captivated by the mere sight of you.

“been rough for the past couple of months.” you sighed. “traveling, competing, attending social events. haven’t gotten much sleep.”

“i see.” grace nodded, pouring whiskey into a glass and handing it to you.

thomas couldn’t believe it.

you were here.

in the garrison.

in the flesh.

“well, aren’t you gonna talk to her?” aunt poll raised her brow at thomas, who couldn’t get his eyes off you.

“if you aren’t then i will.” john volunteered.

thomas quickly snapped out of his daze, whipping his head to john. “no.” he pushed his seat back and stood up.

“i never thought i’d see the day tommy boy falls in love.” arthur chuckled.

“i thought he was in love with the new barmaid.” john scoffed, taking a long drag from his cigarette. he was upset that his older brother wouldn’t allow him to talk to you let alone talk about you.

“apparently not.” aunt poll shook her head as thomas eagerly made his way towards you.

“how much for the drink?” you questioned.

“it’s–“ grace was cut off by a deep voice, belonging to the one and only thomas shelby.

“–it’s on the house, ms (l/n).”

“mr shelby.” you shot him a look of surprise. you had forgotten the shelbys practically owned the place.

“leave us be, grace.” he ordered the barmaid and she followed, resuming back to her duties and leaving you two alone.

“here. take a seat.” he pulled out a chair.

you did as told and he pulled out another chair, sitting across from you.

you took a sip out of your glass. “you’ve some fine whiskey, mr shelby.” then looked around the dimly lit pub. “nice looking place as well.”

“please, call me thomas.”

“okay… thomas. call me (y/n) then.” it felt weird to call him by his actual name. you had only just met and he already wanted to be on a first name basis.

“so, what brings you here, (y/n)?”

“felt a little homesick.” you shrugged.

“no, i mean, in the garrison.”

“oh, it’s been a while since i drank. i wanted a drink, so i went to the nearest pub. why?”

“nothing. just curious.”

“is that all you have to say to me, mr sh– thomas?”

“do you enjoy racing horses?”

you hesitated. “the fame can be overwhelming. i love racing horses, it’s my passion, it’s what i do… but i want to be away from people… just for a little while.”

“fame can be overwhelming, yes. i know a thing or two about that feeling. only difference is i’m not famous for being a horse jockey, i’m famous for being a gangster.” he joked. the thomas shelby, the man who always had a straight face, made a joke.

you let out a laugh. a sincere one.

god, your laughter sounded like music to his ears.

“i can’t believe i’m having a decent conversation with one.”

“we gangsters are capable of having decent conversations only with the ones who deserve it.”

you let out another laugh. “goodness. if that’s the case, i’m glad you approve of me.”

“you raced my horse, after all.” he reminded.

“monaghan boy.“ you remembered the beautiful, black horse that you were assigned to race. the horse that led you to fame. “he’s a good boy.”

“aye, that he is.” he agreed.

“you know, thomas, you’re not half-bad.”

he found himself gleaming, enjoying every bit of the conversation, whilst the two shelby siblings and their aunt watched the scene unfold from afar.

you took another sip of the whiskey, humming at the taste, while thomas lit up a cigarette.

then, came silence.

none of you spoke a word, but you enjoyed each other’s company. it was evident in the way you looked at each other. you looked at each other as if you were the only people in the room.

“i’d like to take you somewhere tomorrow.” he suddenly said, breaking the silence.

“oh.” you perked up. “where?”

“the stables. let’s race, you and i. no audience. it’ll be just the two of us.” he proposed.

“is that a date?” when he didn’t deny it, you couldn’t fight off the smile that was making its way to your lips. “you’re rather bold, aren’t you, thomas?”

“what’s your answer?”

“i’ll have to check my schedule first…” you trailed off, but then you decided, why not? it sounded like a good offer. “you know what. fuck it. sure.”

thomas grinned at your rebellious behavior.

“what do you think about two in the afternoon?”

“fine with me.”

uncharacteristically, thomas’ heart fluttered. it had never done that before. it was an odd sensation yet it felt good at the same time.

you informed him your address, so he knew where to pick you up. “need me to write it down or you got it?”

“i got it.” he reassured.

you finished your drink and got up. “it was lovely talking to you. thank you for the drink.” you began walking towards the exit, but before stepping outside, you turned to look at him and uttered. “see you at my doorstep tomorrow, thomas.”

“see you tomorrow, (y/n).”

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1913 – Irish Citizen Army is formed.

The Irish Citizen Army was founded in at the height of the Dublin Lockout of 1913 to protect strikers from the police. Three years later it took part, alongside the Irish Volunteers, in the insurrection of Easter 1916. Its leader James Connolly along with his second, Michael Mallin, were executed for their part in the rising. The ICA has therefore long had a special place in left-republican…

[werewolfetone]

"Every" creed is it

[kamotecue]

i’m okay when i’m loving you ❖ o. batlle

pairing: ona batlle x reader

another blurb that i saw on tiktok, “it has made me better, loving you.” - grumpy and sunshine.

a soft smile made it’s way to your face as you analyzed the photo album that your girlfriend, ona of two years made. there were several photos of you with a little eye smile, something that only happened when you were extremely happy.

other than that, there were silly photos of you grinning, cheeky smiles, and the grumpy faces you’d make, after a tired or long day.

“¿qué es lo que estás haciendo, amor? [what are you doing, love?]” ona’s voice rang throughout the shared apartment, she settled her training kit near the couch, looking at you with a small smile.

“solo mirando a través de nuestras fotos, amor. [just looking through our photos, love.]” you replied, as ona hummed—sneaking her arms around your waist as her front was closer to you.

“cuando eras mi admirador secreto, ¿verdad? [when you were my secret admirer, right?]” a little chuckle escaped your lips, as ona groaned it was a bit embarrassing as she says—but for you it was so sweet.

you tore your eyes away from the photo album, and turned—so that she could see your eyes. but your lover simply buried her face into the crook of your neck.

“tienes que admitir el amor, esas son fotos lindas. [you have to admit love, those are cute photos.]” you said, slightly teasing her. maybe it’s the way you wanted her to admit it, her secret admirer phase was something you loved.

there was something you loved besides football, and it was none other than—photography. so, when you became closer with ona, you had gifted her one of your favorite cameras.

that’s the one she used to take pictures of you, you didn’t know that she was the secret admirer—because that’s the point for it to be a secret unless she admitted it was her, or—you had found out.

which you did, it was volunteering at a local hospital. you taught them a little bit about football, and while you were in the middle of a story—you looked around to see where your partnered teammate went.

ona was sitting behind the crowd of kids, some were gifted barcelona jersey’s. but you paid attention to how her smile was, how her eyes were set on you. and, you made her a bit flustered when you posed for a picture.

safe to say, she had asked you on a date the day later. that’s were the love story began.

“muy bien, esas son fotos lindas. son los que solo nosotros podemos ver. [alright, those are nice photos. they are the only ones that we can see.]” her implying that it was only for your eyes, and nobody else made you laugh, before giving her a few pecks on the lips.

“me ha hecho mejor, amándote. [it has made me better, loving you.]” a contented smile made it’s way on ona’s face, while you had gotten a bit shy.

after all, you were a troubled girl, with a troubled past. always getting red or yellow cards on the field, similar to a certain irish defender.

but you wouldn’t change a thing.

[quasi-normalcy]

Just thinking about that one episode of TNG where they come across a planet of clones where they're suffering genetic degradation from too many generations of cloning, so they request genetic material from the crew to keep their population viable and Riker just says no categorically, because of course no one would *ever* volunteer for *that*, and they just don't bother to like. Poll the crew to ask if any volunteers are willing to take a cheek swab or whatever to prevent this civilization from dying out. And it wasn't even the dumbest thing in that episode, because it was also the one where the Enterprise picked up a bunch of 19th century Irish stereotypes, together with their pigs and chickens and so forth, and also Riker slept with one of them because of course he did

[weebsinstash]

consider; multiverse shenanigans with a spider!reader where they make some offhand comment about how their heat/rut is coming up soon and they'll need some volunteers to cover patrols while they're down and half the society is like 'o damn that sucks, yeah i can swing a tuesday' and the other half is like 'your WHAT is coming up???'

and it turns out that a decent chunk of the multiverse has no idea what a/b/o orientations even are and it somehow just got totally lost in translation until that very second that this was a thing. what do you mean omega???? what the fuck do you mean you just thought i was a really boring smelling beta?????????? y'all motherfuckers are SNIFFING PEOPLE?!?!?!?!

now consider a miguel that is not from an a/b/o verse hearing about this and doing a little research to figure out exactly what a heat/rut is and just getting sucked down a rabbit hole and going feral for the idea that you're going to be in a highly suggestible and vulnerable state for nearly a WEEK and he's going to miss it!!! he didn't get invited!!!! what the fuck!!! the man spends a solid 48 hrs immersed in really bad multiversal porn and comes out the other end hungover and weeping that he nearly missed out on this

so he takes it upon himself to do a little rearranging, some scheduling, some scheming, and lo and behold you find yourself stuck in this crappy half-built nest in nueva york with miguel, who has no real idea how he's supposed to actually perform for you while ur like this and is just making it up as he goes- and totally ignoring the cultural and consent issues he's digging up doing this bc its biology right? so its fine? people in ur universe do this all the time, he has no idea why ur complaining just let him help u out jeez-

Some rando Spiderperson intending to be transphobic: --and they want us to accept everyone as whatever they say they wanna be now, as if men can get pregnant!

Reader, without skipping a beat: what the actual fuck are you talking about, my father carried me and my siblings for 6 months

Miguel is just starting to know you and is actively trying to learn more about you and one day you just, I dunno, you two do a mission together and he gives you praise and you just look at him with a big smile 😊 and your ass straight up PURRS for a few moments and he's just like 🥺❤️ gatito... ❤️

The man sees you talking to Jess and Peter B one day and O'Hara is watching from a distance because he's, awkward and not sure how to approach you, and suddenly his super hearing can pick up someone in the room talking idly about you, or even explaining ABO stuff to another person. "Yeah, see em over there, holding Peter Bs kid? Those Omega always have nurturing instincts. It's cause they're wired to spit out tons of babies. They're the breeders. They even have natutal pheromones to calm down their mates and friends and children" and suddenly Miguel's ears are burning "youre tellin me my darling might wants lots of little babies running around? Fantastic."

Mexican/Irish and also Catholic Miguel who wants one of those STUPID HUGE families where people have at least 6 kids and it's like "oh a typical Omega pregnancy usually has at least two or three babies in one go and theyre shorter than normal human pregnancies huh? Interesting :)"

Some members of the Spider Society are like "why is Miguel kind of lowkey being a dick to me all the time now" oh well its very simple you see, Miguel read your file and found out you're an Alpha and you share this weird connection and also natural biological attraction to HIS lil honeybee and He Hates You Now. Fuck off out his house and don't let him see you talking to his baby or else

He gets really close to you one day, I mean like physically, or hey maybe emotionally too, and he's hugging you and he gets a whiff of your scent and it's something he can't even describe, something that has a carnal biological effect on his where he just wants to keep holding you and hearing your voice like a drug, like it's oxytocin on crack, and suddenly in true scientist fashion he's researching you, your universe, its history, its medicine, its culture.

Can't help but imagine a Miguel who goes full yandere and gives no fucks about doing what he wants for darling and splices his DNA with Alpha DNA so he can officially claim you as a mate, scenting, knotting, and everything. Lyla gives you instructions to meet him in a specific place and it turns out he's been experimenting on himself and he's deep in a rut and suddenly your knees are getting pushed into your chest and you're getting passionately knotted and filled up by a grunting growling purring Miguel who's leaving love bites and kisses all over your skin, just, his size alone would make him hard to get away from, you don't even need to add Alpha instincts and being able to track your pheromones on top of that 😳

Miguel "just let me 'help you as a friend'" O'Hara who tracked when your next heat was going to kick in and maybe even drugged you so it comes at a specific time and he makes it where the two of you are together or even trapped or something when it happens and, here he is, "oh just let me help you, isn't it hurting" but like. We all know it's because he wants to. Like could you even imagine he's, you know, using his fingers and he goes to remove his pants or free himself or whatever and you're just like "no I'll get pregnant" and he just kind of has a Microsoft error window in his brain because it's like. Oh you'll get almost DEFINITELY pregnant? Guaranteed? You're trying to tell the man you dont want to and instead at least internally he's like "promise? 👉👈"

[theineffablecon]

📢 THIS WEEKEND! 📢

📗 A Nice and Accurate Guide to The Ineffable Con 4 📗

Where: Online

When: Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October 2023

Why: Raising money for Alzheimer's Research UK in memory of Sir Terry Pratchett and to celebrate all things Good Omens!

📺 What's on? 📺

You can find our programme here: https://www.theineffablecon.org.uk/the-ineffable-con-4/tic4-programme/

We have special guests Peter Anderson, Rory Kurtz, Colin Smythe at Irish Discworld Con, Rob Wilkins, Alzheimer's Research UK, Colleen Doran, Gavin Finney and Sandy Higgins!

❓ What if it's my first time? ❓

All welcome, whether it's your first time or your fourth!

You can check out our FAQs here: https://www.theineffablecon.org.uk/the-ineffable-con-4/tic4-faqs/

You can also drop us a DM if you have any other questions!

⏰ Am I too late to get involved? ⏰

NOT AT ALL!

We are still very much in need of volunteers for games and for support in the lounge!

You can find out more and volunteer here: https://www.theineffablecon.org.uk/the-ineffable-con-4/tic4-volunteer/

🎟 I've got my ticket! 🎟

Remember that you need to have a Zoom account in the same email address as your Con ticket. That will allow you to log in to the Zoom Events platform when the time is right!

You will receive this information by email, too!

💸 Keep an eye out for the AUCTION! 💸

We have nearly 30 lots - a first for TIC! - and all money raised from the auction will be donated to Alzheimer's Research UK.

Check out our recent posts to see some of the goodies coming up and we'll post when it's live for bidding!

🛑 That's all, folks...for now! 🛑

If you'd like to buy a TIC 4 ticket, you can do so here: https://www.theineffablecon.org.uk/events/the-ineffable-con-4/

See you SOON!!!