Kieran Connell

Kieran Connell

@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Historian and Writer at Queen’s University Belfast. Latest book - MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY (2024) - Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize Agent: Salma Begum/Greyhound Literary Website: https://www.kieranconnell.com

5.3K followers717 following396 posts

Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Back in the day I used to walk into a seminar room and the students would all be talking. Now they are on their phones, some with headphones on too

Sathnam Sanghera@sathnam.bsky.social

"Screens have replaced socialising not so much by offering a truly better or cheaper experience, but by essentially eliminating the modicum of effort and risk of minor awkwardness or social disappointment that come with arranging or attending a hang-out" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

giftarticle.ft.comWhy have screens replaced socialising?The economics of why we increasingly avoid the company of both other humans and books
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Lovely to see the pioneering Handsworth Self Portrait get more traction nearly 50 years on. A fitting tribute to Brian Homer, one of the key drivers behind the project, who died earlier this year

The Guardian@theguardian.com

Cable and camera: selfies in 1970s Handsworth

theguardian.comCable and camera: selfies in 1970s HandsworthNearly 50 years ago in inner-city Birmingham, photographers Derek Bishton, Brian Homer and John Reardon set up an impromptu studio in the street and invited their neighbours along. With no camera phones in 1979, long cable releases gave participants the power to decide how they wished to be seen and represented. The project’s original aim was to counter negative media images of Handsworth and its people. Now, in collaboration with Dewi Lewis Publishing, a Kickstarter fund has been set up to bring them together in book form

Kieran Connell reposted

Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Excellent piece in the @belfasttelegraph.co.uk by my colleague @jcrangle.bsky.social on our new project to uncover Ireland’s hidden history of immigration and diversity www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/books/n...

belfasttelegraph.co.uk‘Northern Ireland’s history of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity has rarely been told’Modern Ireland is now an unmistakably diverse, multicultural society, as Dr Jack Crangle explains about his recent research
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Excellent piece in the @belfasttelegraph.co.uk by my colleague @jcrangle.bsky.social on our new project to uncover Ireland’s hidden history of immigration and diversity www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/books/n...

belfasttelegraph.co.uk‘Northern Ireland’s history of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity has rarely been told’Modern Ireland is now an unmistakably diverse, multicultural society, as Dr Jack Crangle explains about his recent research
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Parts of the Stuart Hall archive have now been digitised. Amazing resource

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social

Archive of @britishacademy.bsky.social Fellow Stuart Hall is now live. Includes looking at his impact on the history of communication theory, culminating in the architecture of contemporary AI models www.theguardian.com/society/2026... Archive link: stuarthalldigital.bham.ac.uk/archival_mat...

theguardian.comThatcherism via the Walkman: Stuart Hall’s British cultural studies preserved onlineProject lead says it celebrates ‘incredible contributions’ Jamaica-born sociologist made to Britain’s culture

Kieran Connell reposted

Hetan Shah
@hetanshah.bsky.social

Archive of @britishacademy.bsky.social Fellow Stuart Hall is now live. Includes looking at his impact on the history of communication theory, culminating in the architecture of contemporary AI models www.theguardian.com/society/2026... Archive link: stuarthalldigital.bham.ac.uk/archival_mat...

theguardian.comThatcherism via the Walkman: Stuart Hall’s British cultural studies preserved onlineProject lead says it celebrates ‘incredible contributions’ Jamaica-born sociologist made to Britain’s culture

Kieran Connell reposted

Kevin O'Sullivan
@kevinkosullivan.bsky.social

Wow. Good on them. The authorities left them adrift - a very brave move but the right thing to do. The world will remember them on the right side of history. Jason Knight: "I don't think the game obviously should be going ahead but it is going ahead." www.rte.ie/sport/soccer...

rte.ieConfusion in Hungary as players hold meeting - updatesThe Republic of Ireland's press conference and training session has been postponed in Debrecen, Hungary as the squad deliberates whether to fulfil tomorrow's UEFA Nations League game against Israel. F...

Kieran Connell reposted

Mic Wright
@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social

A detail missing from The Times story… the woman who took the photo shared it to a Facebook group called ‘South east patriots’.

Mic Wright@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social

The Times has run a story this morning about how ‘polite’ the masked men in Dover were to three white ladies on a train. Propaganda in its clumsiest form.

Kieran Connell reposted

Channel 4 News
@channel4news.bsky.social

Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:

channel4news.substack.comExclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donationsUndercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

Important new piece in @mbhjournal.bsky.social by my colleague @jcrangle.bsky.social on the experiences of Black and mixed race Irish immigrants in Britain 👇 academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...

academic.oup.com‘I felt like I just belonged’: urban multiculture and black Irish migrants in post-war BritainAbstract. This article reevaluates historians’ understanding of the Irish in post-war Britain from the perspective of a previously unresearched population,

Kieran Connell reposted

Tom Hulme
@tomhulme.bsky.social

This article is the latest in a series emerging from our AHRC project (@leannemccormick.bsky.social @charlielynch.bsky.social @mauricejcasey.com) on 'Queer Northern Ireland: Sexuality before Liberation'. Other pieces to look out for... 🧵

Tom Hulme@tomhulme.bsky.social

This is a brilliant (open access!) article by @mauricejcasey.com; it doesn’t just recover a pioneering yet forgotten lesbian activist but uses her story to critique the blind spots of Irish queer historiography more broadly. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com‘A Fairly Average “White Middle‐Class” Species of Lesbian’: Lorna Gulston, Ireland and the Early Anglophone Lesbian Press, 1965–1980This article examines the published writings of Lorna Gulston (c. 1932–2023), a hitherto unknown Northern Irish civil servant who wrote many articles for the earliest British lesbian magazines such a...

Kieran Connell reposted

Dan Neidle
@danneidle.bsky.social

Replying to @danneidle.bsky.social

It's a typical Carter-Ruck letter because the firm behaves like a post box: it repackages its clients' claims, sticks a letterhead on them, and uses that to intimidate people. The firm isn't remotely bothered that it's saying things that may be false.

Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

“Firefighters sought permission from paramilitary leaders before tackling blazes” Remarkable reporting on the June anti-migrant pogroms in Belfast. What will it take for the authorities to act? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-i...

theguardian.comThe night Belfast burned: how the Northern Ireland race riots unfoldedA stabbing in June sparked another summer’s night of racial violence, stoked by loyalist groups. How did the unrest erupt – and why do many fear it will happen again?

Kieran Connell reposted

Caitríona Beaumont
@caitbeaumont.bsky.social

🧵1/6. #changes. After 28 years working at/for LSBU this is my last week. Social Sciences has been closed & I am redundant. Feeling sad as was proud to work for somewhere that embodied widening participation (since 1892) & research re social justice. Worked with some great colleagues & fab students.

Kieran Connell reposted

Liam J. Liburd
@liamliburd.bsky.social

My new short article is now out in no. 3-4, vol. 59 of @pop-jrnl.bsky.social. In the piece, I reflect on the experience of designing & delivering what was *probably* the first module on whiteness in modern British history in a UK university history department. The module is running again in 2026-27.

tandfonline.comWorking out whiteness in modern British historyLiburd’s Commentary considers the place of whiteness in the teaching and research of modern British history. It does so through a reflection on the experience of designing and delivering ‘The White...
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

The first grim reminder of what a cesspit the British tabloids were in the 80s and 90s. But the Sunday Sport’s ‘countdown to 16’ feature was not the only one. The Sun was doing the exact same thing - and selling millions more papers www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

theguardian.comRevealed: David Sullivan’s Sunday Sport sold sexualised images of 15-year-old girlsSunday Sport’s ‘Countdown to 16’ used revealing photoshoots with young girls to trail topless pictures published after their 16th birthdays
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

A chance to win my book for free. What’s not to like.

Wolfson History Prize@wolfsonhistory.bsky.social

WIN! This month we're giving you the chance to win a copy of 'Multicultural Britain: A People’s History' by @kieranconnell.bsky.social! 📚 To enter: Follow us Like and reshare this post Entries close 11/06/2026 10AM GMT. UK only.

Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

The dearth of ideas in Labour beyond New Labour veterans and New Labour cosplay never ceases to amaze www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.comZombie Blairites still have British politics in their grip – it’s time to break free | Aditya ChakraborttyTony Blair’s departure as PM should have prompted a fresh start for Labour. But Starmer’s sad, backward-looking government remains in his thrall, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

With the Modern British Studies conference at Birmingham again next week, it was a pleasure to write this blog about my past research on multicultural Britain and my new project which takes me back to my Irish roots modbritstud.org.uk/notes-from-t...

modbritstud.org.ukNotes from the North of Ireland - The Modern British Studies AssociationIn January 2015 I took up my first permanent academic job as a lecturer in contemporary British history at Queen’s University Belfast.  A few months earlier I had made the trip over from Birmingham, w...

Kieran Connell reposted

Modern British Studies Association
@modbritstud.bsky.social

Histories from Here, the MBSA blog, offers reflections on a variety of 'heres' - different points in time and space, career stage, life course and identity. We're delighted to launch with contributions from @kieranconnell.bsky.social and @owenjdowling.bsky.social modbritstud.org.uk/blog/

modbritstud.org.ukHistories from Here | The Modern British Studies AssociationRead accessible, original research on modern Britain from scholars worldwide. Explore Histories from Here, or pitch your own idea for a blog post.

Kieran Connell reposted

Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

I have a piece in today’s Irish Examiner about a new AHRC project I’m proud to be involved in with @jcrangle.bsky.social & @tortietabby.bsky.social on a hundred years of diversity in Ireland www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

irishexaminer.comKieran Connell: Ireland has a long multicultural history. It's time to tell that storyRefugees from Hungary and Belgium; migrant workers from Poland and Germany; doctors from Africa and Asia — over the last century, Ireland was far more diverse than many of us seem to realise
Kieran Connell
@kieranconnell.bsky.social

I have a piece in today’s Irish Examiner about a new AHRC project I’m proud to be involved in with @jcrangle.bsky.social & @tortietabby.bsky.social on a hundred years of diversity in Ireland www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

irishexaminer.comKieran Connell: Ireland has a long multicultural history. It's time to tell that storyRefugees from Hungary and Belgium; migrant workers from Poland and Germany; doctors from Africa and Asia — over the last century, Ireland was far more diverse than many of us seem to realise