Aidan O'Hanlon

A century ago just 18% of the Irish spoke Irish. Now 1.8 million people (40% of the population) claim some ability to speak it, up 71% from 1991. Nearly half of students study Irish at advanced level in secondary school, up from less than a third in 2005 economist.com/europe/2026/03…

An incredible evening on the Irish coast

Bayer just proposed a $7.25 BILLION settlement over glyphosate/Roundup cancer cases. Yet we still have it all over our food supply. Even though it is outlawed in many countries for health reasons.

🚨 Dataset Update🚨 Our Longhorn Beetles dataset has been update with 2025 data and is live on Biodiversity Maps. This dataset now has 653 records across 17 species. A huge thanks to Aidan O'Hanlon (@MusingMollusc) for his time and expertise in validating these records.

🚨Dataset Update 🚨 Our Carrion Beetles of Ireland dataset has been updated and is now live on Biodiversity Maps: This dataset now has 1519 records across 15 species. Massive thanks to Aidan O'Hanlon (@MusingMollusc) for his time and expertise validating these records.

A new initiative is to be launched in a bid to encourage people to help protect hedgehogs as numbers of the mammal "dramatically" decline across Europe rte.ie/news/environme…

United Kingdom and Ireland as seen from Space on a rare clear day.

New report available: Analysis of the first Asian Hornet nests in Ireland (researchgate.net/publication/40…) TL;DR: the nests were controlled in the nick of time by NPWS Rangers 🫡

Ultra Processed Food, and the system that produces it, has overtaken tobacco in terms of health and economic harms, and is also the leading cause of plastic pollution, loss of biodiversity and deforestation, and the second leading cause of emissions. This week @TheLancet published a landmark three-part series on the science, policy and politics of #UPF. thelancet.com/series-do/ultr…

@collieennis @MuireannNic Maybe but like most other insects it'll be due to continuous, separate importations from around Europe than natural spread. Maybe some day they'll get a foothold in the south West like other non-native warm loving species have (eg stick insects)

@MusingMollusc @MuireannNic I wonder will we start seeing them more often with warming temperatures. Established in Channel Islands I believe and popping up in UK mainland too.

Cuairteoir beag. My mother-in-law found this fella in her bedroom today. Alive. Anyone seen these in Ireland before? We think it’s a Praying Mantis.

🪲Call for Abstracts – Irish Entomologists’ Meeting 2025 🪲 We are delighted to announce the Irish Entomologists’ Meeting 2025, hosted by the @RoyEntSoc ! - 1st December at UCD - Abstract submissions open until October the 6th ! royensoc.co.uk/event/irish-en… #Insect #Entomology

The most famous hornet in Ireland

August is the peak month for Lion’s Mane Jellyfish 🪼 records. If you spot one, please record it for @UCC The Big Jellyfish Hunt 👉 exploreyourshore.ie/marine-surveys… #CitizenScience #Jellyfish

@VHK491S Thanks for your input. Casement was of landed Anglo stock, and Scharff was from Leeds.

@MusingMollusc @NMIreland The Irish where and still are 🐍’s 🇬🇧

Happy Birthday to Roger Casement: diplomat, humanitarian and revolutionary nationalist. My research over the past year has revealed Casement's hidden role as naturalist. Sneak peak at my upcoming paper exploring the Irish hero's zoological collection at @NMIreland 📖 (1/9)

@chrisdavidwill1 @NMIreland Thanks Chris! Not yet sure when it'll be out. History journals have a way slower turnaround time than scientific ones I've learned! Might write a more detailed blog as a "preprint" in the meantime. 99% of the story was excluded here due to the short nature of X/Twitter posts

@MusingMollusc @NMIreland Hi Aidan, really interesting thread. Where are you publishing the full paper about Casement the zoologist? I would be interested to read the full paper.

📖🖊️ 'Casement the Revolutionary' and 'Casement the Humanitarian' are well-researched topics. I can't wait to share the full extent of my research on 'Casement the zoologist' when it's published! Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (agus Breithlá sona dó!) (9/9)

Casement loved wildlife. His African and South American diaries are full of wildlife encounters. Washing up at Banna Strand in April 1916, Casement wrote: "the singing of the skylarks [was] in the air, and I was back in Ireland again" He was executed 4 months later. (8/9)