Kate Sheehan-Finn

Thanks so much to the judges who have selected my novel in progress for the Historical Adventure category in the #HNSFirstChaptersCompetition. #Manumission is set in the years following the global pandemic that ancient historians call the Antonine pandemic. #HNS2026 #AmWriting #HistoricalFiction

We all face many daily pressures, big and small. And our world is troubled, massively so. Division politics makes it worse. I’m fed up of media that claims it’s balanced, but gives every view, every lie, equal weight, critical analysis deemed unnecessary. 📷 my own, Brancaster Beach an antidote 😊

The buildings in photos 1 and 3 are on the Palatine Hill and overlook the Circus Maximus (photo 2, and foreground of 1), where the chariot teams raced before thousands of fans in Ancient Rome. #Rome #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology 📷 my own, October 2025.

A dream visit to #GrimesGraves, prehistoric flint mines, at Lynford, near Thetford. Fascinating exhibition plus an opportunity to descend into a flint mine with a brilliant audiovisual. From about 2650 BCE, this site is breathtaking. 📷 2,3,4 are mine, 1 English Heritage. #Archaeology

My #Bookstack comes from the secondhand bookshop at Blickling Hall, which is in the care of @nationaltrust.org.uk #AmReading #AncientRome #Books

Fragment of a ceramic lustral basin with a beautiful painted figure. It was discovered in a sanctuary on the northeast slope of Rome’s Palatine Hill. Basins like these were perhaps used for washing or purification in a religious context. 📷 my own, Capitoline Museum #FindsFriday #Rome #Archaeology

Finally got to see Burgh Castle, one of 3 Saxon Shore Roman forts on the coast of Norfolk. 9 forts dot the South East Coast. Burgh was a harbour for sea-going ships and a town (vicus) too, as well as military base in the 3rd C AD, and beyond. 📷 my own #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain

Finally got to see Burgh Castle, one of 3 Saxon Shore Roman forts on the coast of Norfolk. 9 forts dot the South East Coast. Burgh was a harbour for sea-going ships and a town (vicus) too, as well as military base in the 3rd C AD, and beyond. 📷 my own #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain

Warham Camp is the best preserved Iron Age Hill Fort in East Anglia. It has double-banked circular defences and lies within a bend in the River Stiffkey. Built more than 2000 years ago by Iceni people. Iron Age pottery found here dates 200 BC- 1st C AD. 📷 my own #HillfortWednesday #Archaeology

October in Wells-Next-The-Sea is holding onto #summer. 📷 my own. #norfolk

Warham Camp is the best preserved Iron Age Hill Fort in East Anglia. It has double-banked circular defences and lies within a bend in the River Stiffkey. Built more than 2000 years ago by Iceni people. Iron Age pottery found here dates 200 BC- 1st C AD. 📷 my own #HillfortWednesday #Archaeology

Always exciting to hear about the discovery of a Roman fort. But be cautious, I think, in linking story to archaeology. Will be watching developments with interest. #Archaeology #RomanBritain www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Enjoying an autumn break in Norfolk, England. The weather was very kind for an early evening Sunday walk on Brancaster Beach as the tide rolled in. #BeachLife #SundayVibes 📷 my own

When I’m not posting regularly it’s because I’m writing. #writinglife #amwriting #fiction #histfic

Although it is Augustan in origin, the Piazzale delle Corporazioni in #OstiaAntica was enlarged and the buildings subdivided to house local and foreign shipowner’s and merchant’s collegia or guilds. The black and white mosaics date from the mid 2nd C AD. 📷 my own. #MosaicMonday #Archaeology #Rome

This historical novel is about a former slave who challenges Scottish society in a landmark court case. At the same time, Sir John Wedderburn's past in Jamaica haunts him and a solicitor searches for the missing Joseph Knight. Highly recommended read. #BookSky #HistFic

Although it is Augustan in origin, the Piazzale delle Corporazioni in #OstiaAntica was enlarged and the buildings subdivided to house local and foreign shipowner’s and merchant’s collegia or guilds. The black and white mosaics date from the mid 2nd C AD. 📷 my own. #MosaicMonday #Archaeology #Rome

It’s raining ☔️ 📷 my own, on #BBCBreakfast.

The barn owl was out early last night. This fuzzy shot is my phone from about 40 M away. It could be an omen. The #owl is a symbol for a main character in one of two novels I’ve written. Is this is the one I need to focus on finessing in the second half of 2026? #AmWriting #WritingLife 📷 my own

This is one of several bronze shields from the Idaean cave, #Crete. The shield dates from the late 9th/early 8th C to mid 7th C BC, roughly the same era when the oral epics, The #Iliad and The #Odyssey, found their more fixed written form. My 📷, Heraklion Archaeological Museum #Archaeology

After the rain, it was a beautiful evening. I heard a Sparrow Hawk and took in the sun as it set over the parched fields. Then, back home after my walk, I sat down to write. #AmWriting #WritingLife 📷 my own, #Northumberland

This beautiful and bittersweet love story is testament to the power of a book to inspire and create real human connections. #Books www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

DOMINA VOTUM and DOMINA MALACI - inscriptions recorded by scholars in a cave in Valencia and deposits of spindle whorls tell the story of a goddess and women who followed her. She is otherwise unattested in #Archaeology. 1st-2nd C AD. #EpigraphyTuesday #Rome archaeology.org/news/2026/07...

Rain is bliss for our little apple tree.

Roman sarcophagus with relief carving of individuals praying, Jesus’s baptism in the river Jordan, and the prophet Jonah. Made in a Roman workshop, AD 250-300, it is one of the first sarcophagi that is explicitly Christian in nature. #TombTuesday #Rome #Archaeology My 📷 Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome.

A 2nd C AD Roman mosaic floor in a communal latrine. The building may have been used by a collegium or guild for meetings and functions. The mosaic shows hunting and fishing scenes. I’m impressed by the marble toilet seats. 📷 my own, Italica, near Seville. #Rome #MosaicMonday #Archaeology

Italica’s Roman amphitheatre was built by Hadrian, who was born in Italica, ruled AD 117-138. 25K people watched regular gladiator fights, wild beast hunts, and presumably criminal executions. It was the Dragonpit, Kings Landing, S7-8, Game of Thrones. My 📷 #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #Rome

It’s all about #Odysseus and #TheOdyssey right now. Last October I saw this fresco in the museum at #OstiaAntica. It depicts Odysseus tied to the mast, his crew with their ears plugged, as they sail past the deadly Sirens. Romans loved #Homer too. From the Domus Fulminata, 3rd C AD. 📷 my own.

Italica’s Roman amphitheatre was built by Hadrian, who was born in Italica, ruled AD 117-138. 25K people watched regular gladiator fights, wild beast hunts, and presumably criminal executions. It was the Dragonpit, Kings Landing, S7-8, Game of Thrones. My 📷 #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #Rome

It’s all about #Odysseus and #TheOdyssey right now. Last October I saw this fresco in the museum at #OstiaAntica. It depicts Odysseus tied to the mast, his crew with their ears plugged, as they sail past the deadly Sirens. Romans loved #Homer too. From the Domus Fulminata, 3rd C AD. 📷 my own.

Glass luxury perfume bottles with wavy coloured and gold bands. Bottles with gold band and white lid with a hole for the perfume are rare and were probably made in an Alexandrian glass workshop. Crete, Hellenistic (3rd-2nd C BC). My 📷, Heraklion Archaeological Museum. #FindsFriday #Archaeology

Socks and sandals; proof the Romans were at it long before Gen Z, especially in chilly North East Britannia. This little razor handle with herringbone pattern sock and ‘solea’ sandal was found in the River Tees near Darlington and now lives in Durham Archaeology Museum. #FindsFriday

Glass luxury perfume bottles with wavy coloured and gold bands. Bottles with gold band and white lid with a hole for the perfume are rare and were probably made in an Alexandrian glass workshop. Crete, Hellenistic (3rd-2nd C BC). My 📷, Heraklion Archaeological Museum. #FindsFriday #Archaeology

Each Roman fort had an aerarium (strong room) sunk below the rear rooms of the Principia (headquarters). The room provided secure storage for soldiers' pay, cohort savings, and valuable administrative records. My 📷, 1. Corbridge, 2-3. Chesters Fort. #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain

Light relief for #ReliefWednesday 🏺 Structor ('master builder') Diogenes signed his limestone panel showing tools of his trade, eg trowel, plumb line, cudgel or axe/hammer, scalpel - and the essential apotropaic phallus. Clearly proud of his trade... From Casa del Marinaio, Pompeii, in Antiquarium

Each Roman fort had an aerarium (strong room) sunk below the rear rooms of the Principia (headquarters). The room provided secure storage for soldiers' pay, cohort savings, and valuable administrative records. My 📷, 1. Corbridge, 2-3. Chesters Fort. #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain

Roman legions and auxiliary cohorts were divided into centuries that contained 80 soldiers. Each century had its own standard carried by a standard bearer. The standard symbolised identity and honour. This relief shows a standard. 📷 my own, Corbridge. #RomanBritain #ReliefWednesday #Archaeology

The final of three episodes about #JaneAusten dropped on the Hidden Heroines of History #podcast today. We discuss the possibility that a portrait of Jane Austen, given to historian Paula Byrne, is authentic. Find it on Spotify, iHeartRadio, iTunes & YouTube. Link to YouTube in the comments!

Roman legions and auxiliary cohorts were divided into centuries that contained 80 soldiers. Each century had its own standard carried by a standard bearer. The standard symbolised identity and honour. This relief shows a standard. 📷 my own, Corbridge. #RomanBritain #ReliefWednesday #Archaeology

A story of hope and resilience in Gaza: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

An interesting and helpful blog post on dealing with the fear of the blank page: #AmWriting #WritingLife #WritingCommunity x.com/katesfwriter...

Roman mosaic showing a masked actor in a tragic play. It is 2nd-3rd C AD, found below modern Cordoba. Possibly representing Oedipus, the actor wears theatrical cothurni (knee high boots) and holds a staff, as blind actors often do. He wears a short tunic and cloak. My 📷 #MosaicMonday #Archaeology

This is the place to be in a heatwave. Here, the heat is a ripple. 📷 my own, Applecross peninsula. #scotland #westerros

When did rain become a precious commodity in #northumberland? I’ve almost forgotten how the earth smells after a summer deluge. 📷 my own. #climatechangeisreal #weather

A #Roman clay tile, on which someone wrote out in Latin cursive the first lines of the 'Aeneid' before it was fired - well, that's one way to get some handwriting practice in! It was found in Italica (Spain), where it was written about 2000 years ago #Archaeology #AncientBlueSky