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By the time of the Mid-Holocene Ulmus pollen decline (UD) ca. 5100 14C bp (ca. 5900 cal. BP), the Neolithic was becoming well established in Britain and Ireland. The importance of cereal cultivation as part of the initial neolithization process in the British Isles is uncertain, as archaeological sites of the first Neolithic remain elusive. Palaeoecologists have recorded cereal-type pollen grains in peat deposits that pre-date the UD significantly, but as some wild grasses can produce pollen that closely resembles cereal pollen grains, these early pollen records are not trusted as evidence of cereal cultivation. Some of these wild grass taxa grow in coastal wetland environments, making cereal-type pollen from such locations particularly open to question. This study uses fine-resolution palynology through a sequence of coastal hydroseral deposits that contain no evidence of human activity, to look for the presence of wild grass pollen of cereal size and morphology. Our results show that while such grains are not recorded at 1 cm resolution, at contiguous 2 mm resolution sampling sporadic occurrences of large grass pollen of possible cereal-type, resembling Hordeum, were detected. Morphology suggests that these cereal-type grains are of wild grass origin, almost certainly Glyceria, but their presence suggests that high-resolution analyses of coastal zone sediments will often discover cereal-type grains. Great care must be taken in identifying cereal-type pollen in coastal palaeo-wetland sediments, and rigorous identification protocols should be applied. Where grains could still be of cultivated cereal-type, the presence of other disturbance indicators is an important factor in inferring their origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the use of double modals, a non-standard syntactic feature, in the contemporary speech of the UK and Ireland. Most data on the geographic extent of the feature and its combinatorial types come from surveys or acceptability ratings or from older attestations focused on northern England, Scotland or Northern Ireland, with relatively few attestations in naturalistic data and from England and Wales. Manual verification of double modals in a large corpus of geolocated Automatic Speech Recognition transcripts from YouTube videos of local government channels from the UK and Ireland shows that the feature exhibits a larger inventory of combinatorial types than has previously been found and is attested in speech from throughout the UK and Ireland. The development may be related to ongoing changes in the semantic space occupied by modal auxiliaries in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This account provides information on all aspects of the biology of Neottia nidus‐avis (L.) Rich. (Bird's‐nest Orchid) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of Britain and Ireland: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, reproductive characteristics, herbivory, history and conservation.Neottia nidus‐avis is a native mycoheterotrophic orchid; it is found most frequently in the deep humus of densely shaded beech woodlands, on limestone or chalky soils in the British Isles. The species extends throughout temperate Eurasia.Neottia nidus‐avis is a perennial, mostly monocarpic herb with mixed mode of reproduction and many adaptations to autogamy. The perennating organ is a short rhizome; vegetative reproduction by rhizome branching or root‐sprouting is rather infrequent. Because of its achlorophyllous nature, N. nidus‐avis is entirely dependent on its mycorrhizal basidiomycetes from the family Sebacinaceae for nutrition.Plastid genome of N. nidus‐avis has been reduced as a result of the relaxation of functional constraints on photosynthesis as in other mycoheterotrophic plants. Despite this, the plant has retained all enzymes to produce chlorophyll as well as some photoprotective metabolites, such as zeaxanthin and tocopherol, whose function in the mycoheterotrophic plant remains unresolved.The species flowers from May to June, depending on latitude and altitude. The flowers emit a sweet scent and produce little nectar. They may be pollinated by flies, crawling thrips and ants but self‐pollination is presumed to be the main mode of reproduction. Between 75% and 97% of open flowers set fruits.Neottia nidus‐avis is classified as Vulnerable in Great Britain. The species is scattered throughout much of the British Isles, but it is very scarce except in southern England, where it is locally abundant. The main threats are deforestation, changes in woodland management and coniferization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Chevaux de frise is a term describing a series of deliberately introduced stones or wooden stakes positioned outside an ancient fortification. Only a handful of such sites in Ireland and Britain have been recorded, with a much larger concentration found in the Iberian Peninsula. Traditionally, chevaux de frise is assumed to have originated in Central or Eastern Europe around 800–600 BC before spreading westwards, appearing as a defensive reaction to the use of horses in warfare. However, recent work on Iberian examples have begun to identify Bronze Age precursors as well as challenging the traditional defensive interpretation. This paper, for the first time since Harbison's seminal work on the subject in 1971, brings together the most recent evidence from Ireland and Britain, identifying a similar Bronze Age horizon and highlighting the potential defensive, and non‐defensive, functions of chevaux de frise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a delayed type of food allergy, most often seen in infancy. We aimed to estimate its incidence, to describe common food triggers and the patient journeys of this rare but serious condition.Design: We undertook a prospective epidemiological survey of FPIES using the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit.Setting: UK and Ireland.Participants: A survey of all paediatricians over 13 months between January 2019 and February 2020.Main Outcome Measures: 204 cases were reported, 98 (48%) meeting case definition, giving an incidence of 0.006% for England based on 93 cases.Results: 98 patients reported 135 trigger foods, 27% (26 of 98) had multiple food triggers. Common food triggers included cow's milk (24%, 33 of 135), fruits and vegetables (19%, 26 of 135), hen's egg (16%, 22 of 135) and fish (14%, 19 of 135). In 46% (41 of 90), the initial trigger food had been ingested three or more times before diagnosis, with a median diagnostic delay of 7.9 months (3.0, 17.3). Half (50 of 98) were admitted, yet only 5% (5 of 98) received appropriate acute treatment with ondansetron. Most cases were diagnosed by an allergy specialist (74 of 98, 76%), within a median of 7.5 (3.0, 13.3) miles from home.Conclusion: The incidence of FPIES was significantly lower than expected across the whole of the British Isles. Most reports were of cases local to specialist allergy centres, with delays in diagnosis. This suggests under-recognition of FPIES in frontline clinical setting where education of healthcare professionals is required to improve recognition, earlier diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain ATCC14028s is commercially available from multiple national type culture collections, and has been widely used since 1960 for quality control of growth media and experiments on fitness ("laboratory evolution"). ATCC14028s has been implicated in multiple cross-contaminations in the laboratory, and has also caused multiple laboratory infections and one known attempt at bioterrorism. According to hierarchical clustering of 3002 core gene sequences, ATCC14028s belongs to HierCC cluster HC20_373 in which most internal branch lengths are only one to three SNPs long. Many natural Typhimurium isolates from humans, domesticated animals and the environment also belong to HC20_373, and their core genomes are almost indistinguishable from those of laboratory strains. These natural isolates have infected humans in Ireland and Taiwan for decades, and are common in the British Isles as well as the Americas. The isolation history of some of the natural isolates confirms the conclusion that they do not represent recent contamination by the laboratory strain, and 10% carry plasmids or bacteriophages which have been acquired in nature by HGT from unrelated bacteria. We propose that ATCC14028s has repeatedly escaped from the laboratory environment into nature via laboratory accidents or infections, but the escaped micro-lineages have only a limited life span. As a result, there is a genetic gap separating HC20_373 from its closest natural relatives due to a divergence between them in the late 19th century followed by repeated extinction events of escaped HC20_373. Author summary: Clades of closely related bacteria exist in nature. Individual isolates from such clades are often distinguishable by genomic sequencing because genomic sequence differences can be acquired over a few years due to neutral drift and natural selection. The evolution of laboratory strains is often largely frozen, physically due to storage conditions and genetically due to long periods of storage. Thus, laboratory strains can normally be readily distinguished from natural isolates because they show much less diversity. However, laboratory strain ATCC14028s shows modest levels of sequence diversity because it has been shipped around the world to multiple laboratories and is routinely used for analyses of laboratory evolution. Closely related natural isolates also exist, but their genetic diversity is not dramatically greater at the core genome level. Indeed, many scientists doubt that such isolates are natural, and interpret them as undetected contamination by the laboratory strain. We present data indicating that ATCC14028s has repeatedly escaped from the laboratory through inadvertent contamination of the environment, infection of technical staff and deliberate bioterrorism. The escapees survive in nature long enough that some acquire mobile genomic elements by horizontal gene transfer, but eventually they go extinct. As a result, even extensive global databases of natural isolates lack closely related isolates whose ancestors diverged from ATCC14028s within the last 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study summarizes a large diverse dataset of methane (CH4) fluxes measured from agricultural sites across the British Isles. A total of 53,976 manual static chamber measurements from 27 different sites were investigated to determine the magnitude of CH4 fluxes from a variety of agricultural fields across the UK and Ireland. Our study shows that contrary to some studies, agricultural soils (both arable and grassland) are small net emitters of CH4 rather than sinks. Mean fluxes measured from arable and grassland sites (excluding fertiliser and tillage events) were 0.11 ± 0.06 and 0.19 ± 0.09 nmol m−2 s−1, respectively, and were not found to be significantly different (Welch t‐test, p = 0.17). Using the values reported in this study, we estimate that an annual emission of 0.16 and 0.09 Mt of CO2‐eq is expected from arable and grassland agricultural soils in the UK and Ireland (comparable to 0.3 and 0.7% of the current annual CH4 emission inventories, respectively). Where CH4 uptake occurs in soils, it is negligible compared to expected emissions of the application of animal manures and tillage events, which were both found to significantly increase CH4 emissions in the immediate few days to months after events. Our study highlights that there are significant differences in CH4 uptake and emissions between sites, and that these differences are partially the result of the moisture content of the soil (i.e., the aerobic status of the soil). We expect uptake of CH4 to be more prevalent in drier soils where volumetric water content does not exceed 35% and emissions to be exponentially greater where agricultural fields become waterlogged. Highlights: This study investigated 53,976 CH4 flux measurements from 27 sites across the UKOur study shows both arable and grassland soils are small net emitters of CH4We estimate annual CH4 emissions of 0.16 Mt of CO2‐eq from agricultural soils in the UKWe estimate annual CH4 emissions of 0.09 Mt of CO2‐eq from agricultural soils in Ireland [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) was highly dynamic during the Late Quaternary, with considerable regional differences in the timing and extent of its change. This was reflected in equally variable offshore ice‐rafted debris (IRD) records. Here we reconcile these two records using the FRUGAL intermediate complexity iceberg–climate model, with varying BIIS catchment‐level iceberg fluxes, to simulate change in IRD origin and magnitude along the western European margin at 1000‐year time steps during the height of the last BIIS glaciation (31–6 ka bp). This modelled IRD variability is compared with existing IRD records from the deep ocean at five cores along this margin. There is general agreement of the temporal and spatial IRD variability between observations and model through this period. The Porcupine Bank off northwestern Ireland was confirmed by the modelling as a major dividing line between sites possessing exclusively northern or southern source regions for offshore IRD. During Heinrich events 1 and 2, the cores show evidence of a proportion of North American IRD, more particularly to the south of the British Isles. Modelling supports this southern bias for likely Heinrich impact, but also suggests North American IRD will only reach the British margin in unusual circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new Moho depth model of the British Isles and surrounding areas from the most up-to-date compilation of Moho depth estimates obtained from refraction, reflection and receiver function data. We use a probabilistic, trans-dimensional and hierarchical approach for the surface reconstruction of Moho topography. This fully data-driven approach allows for adaptive parametrization, assessment of relative importance between different data-types and uncertainties quantification on the reconstructed surface. Our results confirm the first order features of the Moho topography obtained in previous work such as deeper Moho (29–36 km) in continental areas (e.g. Ireland and Great Britain) and shallower Moho (12–22 km) offshore (e.g. in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Ireland). Resolution is improved by including recent available data, especially around the Porcupine Basin, onshore Ireland and Great Britain. NE trending features in Moho topography are highlighted above the Rockall High (about 28 km) and the Rockall Trough (with a NE directed deepening from 12 to about 20 km). A perpendicular SE oriented feature (Moho depth 26–28 km) is located between the Orkney and the Shetland, extending further SW in the North Sea. Onshore, our results highlight the crustal thinning towards the N in Ireland and an E–W oriented transition between deep (34 km) and shallow (about 28 km) Moho in Scotland. Our probabilistic results are compared with previous models showing overall differences around ±2 km, within the posterior uncertainties calculated with our approach. Bigger differences are located where different data are used between models or in less constrained areas where posterior uncertainties are high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact that climate change may have on the lodging of oats in the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Through the consideration of a novel lodging model representing the motion of an oat plant due to the interaction of wind and rain and integrating future predictions of wind and rainfall due to climate change, appropriate conclusions have been made. In order to provide meteorological data for the lodging model, wind and rainfall inputs are analysed using 30 years' time series corresponding to peak lodging months (June and July) from 38 meteorological stations in the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic, which enables the relevant probability density functions (PDFs) to be established. Moreover, climate data for the next six decades in the British Isles produced by UK climate change projections (UKCP18) are analysed, and future wind and rainfall PDFs are obtained. It is observed that the predicted changes likely to occur during the key growing period (June to July) in the next 30 years are in keeping with variations, which can occur due to different husbandry treatments/plant varieties. In addition, the utility of a double exponential function for representing the rainfall probability has been observed with appropriate values for the constants given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Betaretrovirus-induced transmissible respiratory tumors in sheep arise at 2 distinct anatomic locations, either deep in the lung tissue caused by jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) or in the nasal cavity induced by ovine enzootic nasal tumor virus (ENTV-1). JSRV and ENTV-1 are found in many countries worldwide and have a significant economic and animal health impact. Although JSRV is endemic in sheep in the British Isles, ENTV-1 has not been reported. We report herein a nasal adenocarcinoma in a cull 8-y-old Belclare ewe from Ireland. The gross and microscopic features and immunohistochemistry results were consistent with an ENTV-1–associated tumor. However, differential PCR, using primers specific to regions of divergent sequence between the viruses, was performed on different parts of the adenocarcinoma and produced consistent results: positive for JSRV and negative for ENTV-1. An association of JSRV with nasal adenocarcinoma in sheep has not been reported previously, to our knowledge. Our case shows the necessity of using PCR in combination with immunohistochemistry to reach an accurate etiologic diagnosis, which is of importance in countries currently free of ENTV-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distally dispersed tephra layers have become an important tool in the investigation of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records across the globe. They offer possibilities for the synchronisation and improved chronological control in those records to which they can be traced and hence contribute to an improved understanding of the pattern and timing of environmental and archaeological change during periods of rapid climatic adjustment. However, their use as robust isochronous markers for synchronising records is frequently compromised by uncertainties relating to stratigraphical context, precise chronology and chemical composition. Here we collate and review the tephrostratigraphical information dating to the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT; c. 16-8 ka BP) in the British Isles based on published and unpublished records obtained from 54 sites. Based on details of their stratigraphic position, chronology and chemical composition, we propose that 26 individual eruption events may be represented in this collective record which spans the LGIT. The great majority of these eruptives can be traced in origin to Iceland, but we also report on the recent discoveries of ultra-distal tephra from the North American Cascades range, including for the first time the Mount St Helens J Tephra at a site in southern Ireland. These particular ultra-distal discoveries have resulted from a reinterpretation of older data, demonstrating the potential importance of 'unknown' analyses in older tephra datasets. The outcome of this review is a comprehensive but provisional tephrostratigraphic framework for the LGIT in the British Isles, which helps to focus future research on parts of the scheme that are in need of further development or testing. The results, therefore, make an important contribution to the wider European tephrostratigraphic framework, while adding new discoveries of transcontinental isochronous tephra markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curie depth offers a valuable constraint on the thermal structure of the lithosphere, based on its interpretation as the depth to 580 ∘ C, but current methods underestimate the range of uncertainty. We formulate the estimation of Curie depth within a Bayesian framework to quantify its uncertainty across the British Isles. Uncertainty increases exponentially with Curie depth but this can be moderated by increasing the size of the spatial window taken from the magnetic anomaly. The choice of window size needed to resolve the magnetic thickness is often ambiguous but, based on our chosen spectral method, we determine that significant gains in precision can be obtained with window sizes 15–30 times larger than the deepest magnetic source. Our Curie depth map of the British Isles includes a combination of window sizes: smaller windows are used where the magnetic base is shallow to resolve small-scale features, and larger window sizes are used where the magnetic base is deep in order to improve precision. On average, the Curie depth increases from Laurentian crust (22.2±5.3 km) to Avalonian crust (31.2±9.2 km). The temperature distribution in the crust, and associated uncertainty, was simulated from the ensemble of Curie depth realizations assigned to a lower thermal boundary condition of a crustal model (sedimentary thickness, Moho depth, heat production, thermal conductivity), constructed from various geophysical and geochemical datasets. The uncertainty in the simulated heat flow field substantially increases from ±10 mW m -2 for shallow Curie depths at ∼15 km to ±80 mW m -2 for Curie depths >40 km. Surface heat flow observations are concordant with the simulated heat flow field except in regions that contain igneous bodies. Heat flow data within large batholiths in the British Isles exceed the simulated heat flow by ∼25 mW m -2 as a result of their high rates of heat production (4–6 µ W m -3). Conversely, heat refraction around thermally resistive mafic volcanics and thick sedimentary layers induce a negative heat flow misfit of a similar magnitude. A northward thinning of the lithosphere is supported by shallower Curie depths on the northern side of the Iapetus Suture, which separates Laurentian and Avalonian terranes. Cenozoic volcanism in Northern Britain and Ireland has previously been attributed to a lateral branch of the proto-Icelandic mantle plume. Our results show that high surface heat flow (>90 mW m -2) and shallow Curie depth (∼15 km) occur within the same region, which supports the hypothesis that lithospheric thinning occurred due to the influence of a mantle plume. The fact that the uncertainty is only ±3 –8 km in this region demonstrates that Curie depths are more reliable in hotter regions of the crust where the magnetic base is shallow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cryptic wood white Leptidea juvernica is one of a newly-discovered species complex comprising three morphologically similar species in Europe. In the British Isles, L. juvernica is absent from Great Britain, but is widespread in Ireland, where it has experienced recent declines; it is classed as a priority species in Northern Ireland. Using a mark-recapture approach, this study aims to elucidate the population and spatial ecology of L. juvernica based on a population resident on a small, suburban site and to propose conservation measures. The results demonstrated that populations of L. juvernica, even on small sites, can reach high numbers during the peak flight season. Unusually for European Pieridae, there was only weak evidence of protandry in this population, possibly reflecting weather conditions prior to the flight season. The spatial distribution and abundance of L. juvernica was associated with the distribution of its larval host-plants, as well as maintaining close proximity to south-facing habitat edges for shelter. Males had a closer association to sheltered habitat edges, whilst females were found more commonly on open ground with a shorter sward which was the preferred egg-laying habitat. Long vegetation in sheltered areas was important for roosting during periods of non-activity. These results inform conservation measures which will benefit L. juvernica; appropriate measures focus on habitat management providing a mosaic of open, semi-natural grassland interspersed with tall vegetation, scrub, and trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This focus article is concerned with long-term changes in hydroclimatic extremes across the British Isles. The combination of short records, poor data quality, nonstationarity, and other methodological constraints is a major obstacle to the attribution of change. Given the interaction of drivers, notably hydroclimate and land use, linking cause and effect can be difficult, especially where records are short. This focus article emphasizes the particular value of long hydrological records in seeking to understand the scale of change currently affecting British and Irish river basins. Homogeneous records of precipitation and river flow are used to explore long-term changes and to establish linkage with large-scale atmospheric drivers. Using very long records allows subtle, underlying trends to be detected within noisy records; since most records of river flow are only a few decades long, very long precipitation records are used to provide a context and evidence of century-scale monotonic trends. Analysis of flow extremes in the British Isles shows a clear linkage with indices of large-scale atmospheric circulation; relatively simply indices of weather type and atmospheric circulation provide a good level of explanation. At the longest timescales, there has been important variation in precipitation: a monotonic increase in winter, not seen in summer where interdecadal variability is the dominant pattern. With one exception, significant trends in summer are negative, including in the uplands; this unexpected result deserves further consideration across the British Isles. WIREs Water 2016, 3:854-870. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1169 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water beetle recording scheme for Britain and Ireland is over 100 years old. For at least half of that time, it has been under the control of Professor Frank Balfour- Browne, who was motivated by a wish to understand the origin of the fauna. The current state of the scheme is discussed in relation to developments from the 1970s onwards, with recognition of the continuing values of an active scheme offered to professional scientists and amateur enthusiasts, as well as a hard copy atlas in the age of electronic data. The next phase of recording will be difficult, requiring a genetic analysis of water beetles that is beyond the reach of most recorders to resolve what Balfour- Browne set out to explore in 1904. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, ●●, ●●-●●. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Nine postglacial quartzite rock slope failures (RSFs) in north-west Ireland were dated using cosmogenic 10Be. Weighted mean RSF ages range from 17.7 ± 0.9 to 12.5 ± 0.7 ka or 16.6 ± 0.7 to 11.7 ± 0.5 ka, depending on assumed 10Be production rate. All dated RSFs occurred within ∼5000 years following ice-sheet deglaciation at ∼17.4ka (∼16.3 ka) and all but two occurred within 2000 years after deglaciation. The timing of RSFs rules out glacial 'debuttressing', permafrost degradation and enhanced deglacial cleft-water pressures as triggers of failure in most cases. We infer that paraglacial stress release and associated fracture propagation were critical in reducing rock masses to critical stability, although earthquakes caused by Lateglacial glacio-isostatic rebound and/or release of stored tectonic stresses may have triggered failure in some or all cases. In conjunction with data from related studies, our results imply that most undated RSFs outside the limit of Younger Dryas glaciation in the British Isles are of Lateglacial age, and that numerous Lateglacial RSFs occurred inside these limits, with subsequent removal of debris by glaciers. They support the view that paraglacial RSF activity in tectonically stable intraplate terrains was concentrated within a few millennia following deglaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The vegetation of Europe has undergone substantial changes during the course of the Holocene epoch, resulting from range expansion of plants following climate amelioration, competition between taxa and disturbance through anthropogenic activities. Much of the detail of this pattern is understood from decades of pollen analytical work across Europe, and this understanding has been used to address questions relating to vegetation-climate feedback, biogeography and human impact. Recent advances in modelling the relationship between pollen and vegetation now make it possible to transform pollen proportions into estimates of vegetation cover at both regional and local spatial scales, using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), i.e. the REVEALS (Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites) and the LOVE (LOcal VEgetation) models. This paper presents the compilation and analysis of 73 pollen stratigraphies from the British Isles, to assess the application of the LRA and describe the pattern of landscape/woodland openness (i.e. the cover of low herb and bushy vegetation) through the Holocene. The results show that multiple small sites can be used as an effective replacement for a single large site for the reconstruction of regional vegetation cover. The REVEALS vegetation estimates imply that the British Isles had a greater degree of landscape/woodland openness at the regional scale than areas on the European mainland. There is considerable spatial bias in the British Isles dataset towards wetland areas and uplands, which may explain higher estimates of landscape openness compared with Europe. Where multiple estimates of regional vegetation are available from within the same region inter-regional differences are greater than intra-regional differences, supporting the use of the REVEALS model to the estimation of regional vegetation from pollen data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article examines the anxiety and frustration of the Irish Free State government faced with the uncertainty of which party was going to become the next British government in 1923–24. The Free State government had only recently emerged victorious in its own fratricidal civil war and its moral and political legitimacy was still challenged in Ireland itself. The most contentious issue an incoming British government had to deal with on Ireland was the final demarcation of the boundary between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland which, according to Article 12 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, would be determined by a boundary commission. The Free State government remained unconvinced that any incoming British Labour government had the competence, understanding or commitment to resolve this issue and contribute to long-term stability in Ireland, given Labour's perceived lack of knowledge and interest in Irish politics and its commitment to social and economic issues taking precedence. This apprehension was articulated in contemporary Irish government papers and personal correspondence and proved well founded, given the legalistic and cautious approach of the Labour government to establishing the Irish Boundary Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: A submillennial ice readvance from upland centres of ice dispersal in west central Scotland into northeastern Ireland post-dates the retreat of lowland Irish ice immediately after the Killard Point Stadial (max. 16.5 cal ka BP). The dimensions of this southerly and westerly ice sheet readvance on the margins of the North Channel are reconstructed from subglacial bedform patterns, subglacial tectonic deformation of Tertiary lignite and glacigenic sediment, limiting moraines/outwash and glacial stratigraphy. Morainic ridges at Rams Island and Sandy Bay on the eastern margin of the Lough Neagh basin which mark this ice limit are perpendicular to a well-defined field of subglacial bedforms across east County Antrim. At the ice readvance limits glacial lakes impounded in the Lagan Valley were partially infilled with subaqueous outwash known as the Malone Sands. This water body drained south along the Dundonald/Comber Gap spillway providing sediment which formed extensive, late-glacial marine terraces at the northern end of Strangford Lough around 15–15.5 cal ka BP. The East Antrim Coastal Readvance is part of a much more extensive readvance southwards along the North Channel and adjacent lowlands associated with ice sheet reorganisation and ice sheet growth in west central Scotland. It is now termed the North Channel Readvance and may be similar in age to the Wester Ross Readvance moraines in northwestern Scotland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article analyses the relationship between the tumultuous religious changes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the landscape of the British Isles. It examines the immediate impact and long-term cultural repercussions of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations on perceptions of and practices associated with the natural world and physical environment, as well as the influence exerted by intellectual and cultural trends associated with developments in science, medicine, and antiquarianism. Reformed theology fundamentally undermined traditional assumptions about the presence of the sacred in the material universe, but the religious ruptures of the era were tempered and complicated by elements of continuity and movements of counter-reaction. Springs, trees, stones, and other notable topographical landmarks retained powerful religious resonances after the Reformation. Potent reminders of the pre-Reformation past, they also provided a stimulus to the making of new myths and legends and acted as catalysts of the transformation of social memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the relationship between the tumultuous religious changes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the landscape of the British Isles. It examines the immediate impact and long-term cultural repercussions of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations on perceptions of and practices associated with the natural world and physical environment, as well as the influence exerted by intellectual and cultural trends associated with developments in science, medicine, and antiquarianism. Reformed theology fundamentally undermined traditional assumptions about the presence of the sacred in the material universe, but the religious ruptures of the era were tempered and complicated by elements of continuity and movements of counter-reaction. Springs, trees, stones, and other notable topographical landmarks retained powerful religious resonances after the Reformation. Potent reminders of the pre-Reformation past, they also provided a stimulus to the making of new myths and legends and acted as catalysts of the transformation of social memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We study the relationship between pricing and market structure on the routes connecting the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Because in 2007 the European Commission prohibited the takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair, the analysis focuses on their pricing strategies in particular. We use an original dataset of fares posted on-line, which allows to control for the fares’ inter-temporal pattern for each specific flight and each carrier’s specific yield management system. Our evidence supports the European Commission’s view that the elimination of a competitor in the Irish airline market is likely to have harmful consequences for consumers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1. This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Primula vulgaris Huds. (Primrose) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characteristics, herbivores and disease, history and conservation. 2. Primula vulgaris is a native perennial herb with a very wide distribution in the British Isles. In many lowland areas it is essentially a plant of woodlands and hedgerows, although in the west it can occur abundantly in grasslands and other communities such as heaths. In northern and western Britain and Ireland, it may be frequent in open and even exposed habitats. Its distribution is linked with soil moisture and atmospheric humidity. It is shade tolerant, but it flowers most profusely in canopy gaps. 3. Primula vulgaris is a rosette hemicryptophyte that reproduces mainly through seeds. Vegetative spread is restricted and only occurs within very short distances from the mother plant through the production of lateral rosettes. Although individual rosettes may die, plants are relatively long-lived (life expectancy of a newborn individual: 48.3 years). The mean age at first flowering was 20 months. 4. Pollination is mainly by bumblebees and other bees, but other long-tongued pollinators including syrphids, bee-flies and even butterflies may be locally important. P. vulgaris is an obligate outbreeder, with two genetically determined self-incompatible morphs (‘pin’ and ‘thrum’). A third morph (‘homostyle’ or ‘long homostyle’), with a stigma like that of pin but anthers like that of thrum, has been found in Somerset and North Dorset. In years when pollinators are scarce, homostyles have higher reproductive success than pins and thrums, suggesting that reproductive assurance could have had a profound effect on the evolution of homostyly in P. vulgaris. 5. Seeds are dispersed by ants and rodents. Dispersal is usually restricted to a few centimetres or decimetres from maternal plants, resulting in significant fine-scale spatial genetic structure and small neighbourhood sizes. Pollen flow, on the other hand, is more extensive, but still limited to a few metres from paternal plants. 6. Populations of P. vulgaris have not changed markedly during the last century in most parts of Britain and Ireland and it is not threatened with extinction nationally. However, there is evidence that Primroses were formerly more widespread and have decreased with the decline of coppicing and pollarding. In East Anglia, woodland populations have declined greatly in response to a series of hot, dry summers since 1970. Small, isolated populations of P. vulgaris often show reduced reproductive success, potentially affecting their long-term survival. Preservation of local habitat conditions and restoration of gene flow among populations are required to maintain viable populations of P. vulgaris in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's Network of Expert Centres: A collaborative approach to the digital arts and humanities. A Network of Expert Centres has been recently been established with a broad mission to facilitate exchange of expertise and outreach across the community of practice engaged in all aspects of digital arts and humanities research and scholarship, including practice-led research; and to promote and facilitate engagement with digital methodologies within the broader research community. Areas of interest and expertise of members include data creation, curation, preservation, management (including rights and legal issues), access and dissemination, and methodologies of data use and re-use. Its membership is open to all such Centres in Great Britain and Ireland. Since the demise of the Arts and Humanities Data Service and the AHRC ICT Methods Network, there has been no centralized supporting infrastructure and co-oordination of activity in this area. While the Network is by no means a substitute for these services, it will provide a much-needed focus and community resource for all aspects of the digital arts and humanities, including digital tools, projects and methods, as well as data management and sustainability. The Network will also provide greater visibility for publicly funded research projects in this area. The Network's mission is to advocate, promote and raise awareness and understanding of the use of ICT in research and scholarship in arts and humanities. It will take an active role in developing the scholarly communication agenda in relation to all aspects of digital publications, and outputs. Publications and outputs developed by members will be disseminated via the community resource, arts-humanities.net, which will support the development and exchange of expertise, knowledge, standards and good practice. The Network will also identify and represent the needs of the research community in this key strategic area, and conduct dialogue with relevant stakeholders including funders, libraries, and those engaged in teaching and research in related disciplines. This article sets out the background to the establishment of the Network, its structure and plans for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on evaporative climate change in the British Isles. It states that in this study the evaporation measurements made at 16 sites in the British Isles were examined for evidence of long-term changes. It is also posed that half of the series were from sites in Ireland evaluated with Class A evaporation pans between 1963 and 2005, and half in England and Scotland gauged with the British Meteorological Office (MO) sunken evaporation tank between 1885 and 1968. Moreover, differences in sunshine duration (SD) were identified to be the major factor explaining spatial as well as temporal variations in evaporation in the British Isles.

Presents an index to common and scientific names of fishes in the British Isles that were included in a list compiled by A.C. Wheeler.

Raised mires represent a unique resource for the study of past peoples within their changing landscape context. However, present palaeoecological and archaeological approaches to these landscapes within the British Isles have followed largely separate agendas. Palaeoecological study has generally been focused on themes of climate change, using a range of techniques to derive information relating to changes in surface wetness of raised mires over time. In contrast, archaeological study has been broadly limited to themes of preservation and site recovery. This paper argues that the integration of the methods employed within both disciplines can enable an investigation of context unattainable for the majority of archaeological sites. A case study illustrates the recursive nature of human-environment relations in a raised mire system in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifies the cyclical and structural factors that have contributed to the transformation of the Irish labor market. Reduction of unemployment from one of the highest to one of the lowest in the European Union; Weakening of Irish and British unemployment rates; Role of structural changes, such as social welfare generosity and wage bargaining process.

Focuses on police cooperation between Great Britain and Ireland. Nature of British-Irish relations since Ireland's partition from Great Britain; Occurrence of cooperation even during intense political crisis; Four distinct processes of cooperation; Causes of greater willingness of both governments to publicly refer to contacts that have existed since partition.

Censuses of singing male corncrakes Crex crex (L.) in 1978/79 and 1988 on agricultural land in Britain and Ireland indicated that numbers had, on average, declined by 30% during this time period in areas for which the two censuses were comparable. This represents the continuation of a long-term decline. However, population changes differed among areas, ranging from a 72% decline m a 15% increase. Areas in which the greatest declines had taken place tended m be those in which a high proportion of sites which held corncrakes in 1978/79 had ceased to be occupied by 1988. Sites were identified that were occupied by corncrakes in 1978/79 and that had ceased or continued to be occupied by singing males in 1988. Vegetation surveys were carried out in 1988 at all such sites that could be located with precision. A logistic regression model was used m describe differences in vegetation between sites float corncrakes had continued or ceased to occupy. Sites which continued to be occupied had greater cover of Iris pseudacorus, Phalaris arundinacea and Phragmites australis and hay meadow and less of short dry pasture and wet pasture dominated by Juncus spp. and (Carex spp. There were highly significant differences between geographical areas in the proportion of previously occupied sites at which corncrakes continued to occur. A significant par1 of this variation was explicable in terms of the modelled effects of differences in vegetation cover. Geographical variations in population change were also correlated with an index of habitat suitability based on the logistic regression model. It is suggested that changes in grassland management have contributed to the continuing decline in the corncrake populations in Britain and Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the migration of Jews from Dublin, Ireland, between approximately 1930 and 1980. The small Dublin Jewish community, similar in ethnic origins and in organization to other Jewish provincial communities in the British Isles, has stood apart from the predominantly Catholic population. It is only in the past two decades that a substantial number of Jews have become active in the mainstream of Irish political and cultural life, among them three members of the current Dáil (Lower House), one from each major party. It has traditionally been an Orthodox tightly-knit community. Despite its small size (2,128 Jews for the Republic of Ireland as a whole according to the 1981 Census), it maintained in 1980 five synagogues (including one Progressive), a Jewish day school, two kasher butchers, a Home for the Aged, and several charitable societies. Its main cultural and social ties have been with the British communities, but in recent decades family links have been established with Israel and North America. Israel has also supplied teachers and youth leaders.

The article explores on the existence of the sun during nighttime in the Irish treatise entitled "In Tenga Bithnua." It is inferred that this treatise can be paralleled to the material available in medieval Ireland which include the text of apostle Philip and even closely comparable to the long version of "The Vision of St Paul," which a text whose influence in the British Isles has been documented. It is also could be associated to the poem "Amra Coluimb Chille," and Irish voyage tale "Immram Snédgusa ocus Maic Riagla."

The prospect of resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland (Ulster) is illusory unless one considers the Ulster situation as a violent expression of separation-individuation dynamics in the whole of the British Isles: this article attempts to locate the war in the context of regional separatist impulses and their repression by an archaic grandiose self structure in the centralist political psyche. The paper attempts to elaborate some of the particular psychological features of the conflict by reference to a group session which occurred immediately after the October 1993 Shankill Road, Belfast, bomb explosion. It is asserted that a dream presented by one of the group members gives clear insight into the psychological anxieties and preoccupations structured into the Ulster state at its inception and which continue to fuel the violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on one of the biological flora of the British Isles, Schoenus nigricans L. The flora is said to be abundant throughout most of Ireland, but particularly abundant in the west where it is found growing in ombrogenous conditions. Mainly a lowland species in the British Isles. It is said that the habitats of Schoenus are generally waterlogged, with the water table slightly below the surface. It is also said that the plant will not tolerate shading and dies out when the habitat is invaded by bushes.

Simple Summary: Hare coursing is a widespread and controversial activity in the Republic of Ireland in which the speed and agility of greyhounds are measured against that of a hare. Every year, several thousands of hares are taken from the wild by coursing clubs under licenses issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. While the majority are returned to the wild at the end of the coursing season, no research has been done on the impact of hare coursing on the welfare of individual hares. Despite greyhounds in licensed coursing events being muzzled since 1993, hares may be pinned to the ground by the dogs and killed or so severely injured that they have to be euthanized by a veterinary practitioner. In addition to animal welfare concerns, the recent emergence in Ireland of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD2) has led to calls for licensed hare coursing to be prohibited on animal welfare, disease control, conservation and ethical grounds. In this paper, publicly available information provided by licensed hare coursing clubs on the number of hares captured, used for coursing events, killed or injured and the percentage returned to the wild, over four coursing seasons is reviewed. A reported 19,402 hares were taken from the wild over the four coursing seasons. Whilst 19,080 hares (98%) were returned to the wild, 75 were killed by greyhounds or had to be euthanized due to their injuries. Policy makers should take animal welfare, disease control, conservation, ethics and public opinion into account and fund independent research where gaps in knowledge are identified. Hare coursing is legal in the Republic of Ireland under licenses issued to coursing clubs but is illegal in other jurisdictions in the British Isles including Northern Ireland. Supporters of coursing maintain that coursing contributes to the conservation of the hare whilst opponents claim that coursing is cruel and the welfare of the hares is compromised. However, while the contribution of coursing to conservation has been considered, the impact of coursing on hare welfare has not been investigated. This paper reviews publicly available information from licensed hare coursing clubs over four coursing seasons, including the number of hares taken from the wild, numbers coursed, and numbers pinned to the ground by dogs, killed or injured during coursing events. In total, 19,402 hares were taken from the wild—98% of which were subsequently released back to the wild at the end of the coursing season. Almost 600 hares were pinned by greyhounds during coursing events and 75 were either killed or had to be euthanized as a result of their injuries. While the number of hares killed or injured is relatively small compared to the number caught, the welfare of all captured hares will have been compromised and has not been investigated. Policy makers must fill this knowledge gap or take a precautionary approach and further regulate or indeed prohibit the capture of hares which are otherwise fully protected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents additional records and notes for A.C. Wheeler's 1992 "List of the Common and Scientific Names of Fishes of the British Isles." Preface to the 1992 list; Note to updated edition.

It is often suggested that due to climate and environmental policy changes, the risk from tick-borne disease is increasing, particularly at the geographical limits of the vector distribution. Our project aimed to determine whether this was true for the risk of Lyme borreliosis in Ireland which is the western-most limit of Ixodes ricinus, the European vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. The availability of a historical data set of tick infection rates compiled in the 1990s represented a unique opportunity as it provided a baseline against which current data could be compared. Following construction of a spatial predictive model for the presence and absence of I. ricinus based on data from 491 GPS locations visited between 2016 and 2019, 1404 questing nymphs from 27 sites were screened for the presence of Borrelia spp. using a TaqMan PCR aimed at the 23S rRNA gene sequence. All positive ticks were further analysed by nested PCR amplification and sequence analysis of the 5 S-23 S intergenic spacer. The model indicated that areas with the highest probability of tick presence were mostly located along the western seaboard and the Shannon and Erne river catchments, coinciding with historical high incidence areas of bovine babesiosis, while the infection rate of questing nymphs with B. burgdorferi s.l. and the prevalence of the various genospecies have remained surprisingly stable over the last 3 decades. Clear communication of the potential disease risk arising from a tick bite is essential in order to allay undue concerns over tick-borne diseases among the general public., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.)

Meiotic crossover frequency varies within genomes, which influences genetic diversity and adaptation. In turn, genetic variation within populations can act to modify crossover frequency in cis and trans. To identify genetic variation that controls meiotic crossover frequency, we screened Arabidopsis accessions using fluorescent recombination reporters. We mapped a genetic modifier of crossover frequency in Col × Bur populations of Arabidopsis to a premature stop codon within TBP-ASSOCIATED FACTOR 4b (TAF4b), which encodes a subunit of the RNA polymerase II general transcription factor TFIID. The Arabidopsis taf4b mutation is a rare variant found in the British Isles, originating in South-West Ireland. Using genetics, genomics, and immunocytology, we demonstrate a genome-wide decrease in taf4b crossovers, with strongest reduction in the sub-telomeric regions. Using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) from purified meiocytes, we show that TAF4b expression is meiocyte enriched, whereas its paralog TAF4 is broadly expressed. Consistent with the role of TFIID in promoting gene expression, RNA-seq of wild-type and taf4b meiocytes identified widespread transcriptional changes, including in genes that regulate the meiotic cell cycle and recombination. Therefore, TAF4b duplication is associated with acquisition of meiocyte-specific expression and promotion of germline transcription, which act directly or indirectly to elevate crossovers. This identifies a novel mode of meiotic recombination control via a general transcription factor. • Genetic mapping in Arabidopsis populations identifies TAF4b as a crossover modifier • Genome-wide crossover decreases occur in taf4b most strongly in the sub-telomeres • TAF4b is a TFIID subunit paralog that shows germline-enriched gene expression • Widespread transcriptional changes occur in taf4b , including in regulators of meiosis Lawrence et al. screen natural Arabidopsis populations for genetic modifiers of meiotic crossover frequency and identify TAF4b , which encodes a duplicated subunit of the transcription factor TFIID. TAF4b is highly expressed in the germline and promotes transcription of genes that regulate meiosis and recombination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the study conducted by archaeology professor Anton W. Brøgger at the University of Oslo on the remains of the Vikings in the British Isles and Ireland. It notes the release of Brøgger's book "Ancient Emigrants," which details the Scandinavian expansion of the Scottish Isles during the Viking Age. It also mentions Brøgger's interest in investigating the Norwegian Viking emigration in Faroe Islands.