Irish History Podcast
- Episodios
- 486
- Se publica
- cada semana
- Último episodio
- 11 Nov 2026
Sobre el podcast
From the Norman Invasion to the War of Independence, the Great Famine to the Troubles, the Irish History Podcast takes you on a journey through the most fascinating stories in Ireland's past. Whether it’s the siege of Dublin in 1171 or gun battles in the 1920s, the podcast vividly recreates a sense of time and place. Each episode is meticulously researched, creating character-driven narratives that are engaging and accessible for all.
Since the first episode was released back in 2010, the podcast has covered scores of captivating stories. Major multi-part series have explored the Great Famine, the Norman Invasion, and Irish involvement in the Spanish Civil War. If you are looking for standalone episodes, there are lots of great interviews with leading Irish historians covering topics from medieval sex magic to Irish connections in the Jack the Ripper murders!
Why not start with 'Three Days in July', an acclaimed mini-series from the summer of 2024. It explores the early years of the Troubles and the forgotten story of a young Londoner who was shot dead by the British Army in Belfast in 1970.
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Episodios 486
Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries: Why Were Women Locked Away? [The Shepherds' Secrets 1]
This episode includes survivor testimony and references to abuse. Nothing is described in graphic detail.Why were tens of thousands of Irish women detained in Magdalene Laundries, often sent there by the people …
Notas del episodio
This episode includes survivor testimony and references to abuse. Nothing is described in graphic detail.Why were tens of thousands of Irish women detained in Magdalene Laundries, often sent there by the people they trusted most? Most never received a sentence. Many never left.
In the opening episode of a three part series, The Shepherds' Secrets, I explore how this system took hold in Ireland through the history of the Good Shepherd Laundry in Waterford. From its origins as a lay-run rescue asylum for women who worked in prostitution, I trace its transformation under religious control into an institution of high walls, barred windows and forced labour. At the heart of this history are the women themselves.
Through the stories of ‘Alice C.’, Maureen Sullivan and ‘Nancy S.’, I ask why Irish society treated women, particularly working-class women, so appallingly and how families, religious orders and the state sustained this system for generations.
Credits and Links
Thanks to Maureen Sullivan and Dr Elizabeth Riordan-Coppin for their time and permission to use their interviews.
Written, produced and narrated by Fin Dwyer.
Audio Editor: Kate Dunlea
The interviews with Maureen Sullivan and Dr Elizabeth Riordan-Coppin used in this series were recorded by Dr Jennifer O'Mahoney as part of the Waterford Memories Project.
Thanks to the many people who were interviewed for this series: Professor Katherine O'Donnell, Dr Claire McGettrick born Lorraine Hughes, John Spencer, Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley, Dr Claire McGettrick & Professor Leanne McCormick and Professor James M. Smith.
A particular thanks to Dr Jennifer O'Mahoney.
Additional Research: Liam Costello
Additional Interviews: Stephanie Lord
Voice Actor: Therese Murray
Sound: Sam Blanche and Dakota Venn Keane. With thanks to Dawn Kenny.
Artwork: Jenni Cooney - The Creative Pocket.
Thanks to Joanne Rothwell of Waterford City & County Archives.
Made possible by listeners who support the Irish History Podcast at www.patreon.com/irishhistory
Resources and sources
To find out more about Magdalene Laundries check out https://jfmresearch.com & https://www.waterfordmemories.com/survivors.
If you are a survivor of Magdalene Laundries this is an excellent research guide https://jfmresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Research-Guide-for-Magdalene-Survivors_April-2025.pdf
If you are a relative of a survivor, living or deceased this guide is extremely useful. Research Guide for relatives of Survivors https://jfmresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Research-Guide_Relatives_April-2025.pdf
Sources mentioned in the episode
Maureen Sullivan’s autobiography Girl in the Tunnel: My Story of Love and Loss as a Survivor of the Magdalene Laundries https://www.irishacademicpress.ie/product/girl-in-the-tunnel/
Full interview with Maureen: https://www.waterfordmemories.com/survivors
Full interview with ‘Nancy’ by Dr Sinead Pembroke available here https://jfmresearch.com/home/oralhistoryproject/transcripts/survivors/nancy-shannon/Terminology
Words can make all the difference
The way we discuss this part of our history has changed dramatically in recent decades. We all make mistakes but this document has interesting explainers as to why terms still in use can cause hurt. https://www.universityofgalway.ie/media/unescochildandfamilyresearchcentre/2023/Language-&-Terminology-Report--Web.pdf
Policy on Naming Survivors
Unless given express permission no survivor of a Magdalene Laundry, living or deceased, was identified in this series. While this history remained secret for decades and there is still major obstacles to accessing archival sources, protecting individuals privacy is still paramount.
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The First Flight Over Dublin: Which Irish Generation Saw the Most Change?
On a freezing January morning in 1785, four cannons echoed across Dublin. Thousands of people abandoned their work and flooded into Ranelagh to watch Richard Crosbie step into a wicker basket, untie the ropes …
Notas del episodio
On a freezing January morning in 1785, four cannons echoed across Dublin. Thousands of people abandoned their work and flooded into Ranelagh to watch Richard Crosbie step into a wicker basket, untie the ropes, and drift into the sky.
To the stunned crowd below, they were watching the dawn of a new age.
Except they weren't. When Crosbie died forty years later, travel in Ireland was just as slow and gruelling as it had always been.
Today, we are constantly told we are living through unprecedented, breakneck change. The ground feels like it is moving beneath our feet, and it is easy to believe our generation has it faster than anyone before us. But is that actually true?
In this episode, I look back at the moments the future arrived in Ireland: from Richard Crosbie’s eccentric flight over Dublin, to the first motorcars rattling along ancient dirt tracks to the steam trains and electric telegraphs that shattered distance and forced Ireland to reinvent the clock.
Along the way I ask a simple question: which Irish generation actually saw the world change the fastest?
Coming Next Week: The Shepherd’s Secrets
Next Wednesday my major new three-part series, The Shepherd's Secrets, begins. It explores the dark and complex history of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, told through the story of the Good Shepherd Convent in Waterford.
Get ad-free early access at patreon.com/irishpodcast.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
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Haunted Ireland: Why the Supernatural Mattered to Our Ancestors [Listener Favourite]
The supernatural is viewed with healthy scepticism today but not so in the past. This episode looks at what our ancestors really believe about ghosts and the supernatural? Historian Dr Clodagh Tait joins me to …
Notas del episodio
The supernatural is viewed with healthy scepticism today but not so in the past. This episode looks at what our ancestors really believe about ghosts and the supernatural? Historian Dr Clodagh Tait joins me to explore why the supernatural was so important to Irish society and how they were woven into every day life.
First released in October 2023, this listener-favourite episode examines why the supernatural mattered in Irish history.
On November 11 my new series, The Shepherds' Secrets begins. This series explores the history of the Ireland's notorious Magdalene Laundries through the story of the Waterford Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry.
Sound by Kate Dunlea
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Lest We Forget: The Poppy & Remembrance Day in Ireland
Every November, the Royal British Legion organises remembrance ceremonies and millions of people wear red poppies. Often portrayed as a way to remember the dead of the World Wars, these commemorations have a …
Notas del episodio
Every November, the Royal British Legion organises remembrance ceremonies and millions of people wear red poppies. Often portrayed as a way to remember the dead of the World Wars, these commemorations have a far more complicated history in Ireland and Britain. They have been contested since their inception.
In the 1920s, remembrance ceremonies in Dublin became a focus for unionist demonstrations after independence, provoking considerable unrest. During the Troubles, commemorations honouring the British armed forces became contentious in new ways given the British Army’s role in the conflict in the North.
In this episode, historian Brian Hanley joins me to explore the contentious history of the poppy and Remembrance Day in Ireland. From British Army veterans and clashes over commemoration in the 1920s to the central place of the Somme in modern loyalism we explore what these ceremonies and commemoration are for.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
Footage of Armistice Day in Dublin in 1925 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0FHpoGGMZc
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The Mystery of the Missing Postman: Silence in an Irish Village
On Christmas Day 1929, postman Larry Griffin disappeared from Stradbally, Co. Waterford. His bicycle was found abandoned outside the village. While evidence suggested his disappearance was suspicious, the case …
Notas del episodio
On Christmas Day 1929, postman Larry Griffin disappeared from Stradbally, Co. Waterford. His bicycle was found abandoned outside the village. While evidence suggested his disappearance was suspicious, the case became an enduring mystery.
In this episode, I’m joined by Fachtna Ó Drisceoil, author of The Missing Postman: What Really Happened to Larry Griffin?, to explore a case that became a national scandal. From an illicit Christmas party to a troubled Garda investigation, dramatic arrests and retracted testimony, the story challenges the often idealised image of village life in post-independence Ireland.
At its heart lies an unsettling question: what happens when a close-knit community closes ranks, leaving a family without answers?
Get you copy of the book https://www.mercierpress.ie/books/the-missing-postman/
My guest is Fachtna O Drisceoil. Fachtna is a broadcaster and writer working in both Irish and English. He has presented and reported on television series such as Scannal, Léargas, and CSÍ, and has produced radio programmes such as Tonight with Vincent Browne, The Dave Fanning Show and Drivetime. He has contributed radio essays to the popular Sunday Miscellany programme and is a frequent contributor to Irish language publications such as Tuairisc.ie, Comhar and Scéal in the Irish Times and Irish Examiner. He currently presents the Tús Áite drivetime news and current affairs programme every weekday on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. The Missing Postman was an Irish non-fiction bestseller when it was published in 2011. He lives with his wife and two sons in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
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Hard lives: A History of Irish Childhood
Childhood in the past was hard, but how children were treated and what their lives were truly like is often left out of Irish history.In this episode historian Frank Hopkins joins me to look at the darkest …
Notas del episodio
Childhood in the past was hard, but how children were treated and what their lives were truly like is often left out of Irish history.
In this episode historian Frank Hopkins joins me to look at the darkest corners of childhood in 18th and 19th century Ireland: the boys sold to master chimney sweeps, the trade in stolen children's clothes and the poverty that could lead to infanticde.
We explore how children were viewed Irish society, why people sold and bought children, how the courts treated child criminals as adults and how reformers eventually won the 1875 ban on child sweeps.
Content warning: not suitable for younger listeners. This episode contains references to violence against children and sexual violence.
Sound by Kate Dunlea
You can get Frank's latest book, A Motley Crew, at https://www.newisland.ie/shop/p/a-motley-crew-true-tales-from-irelands-criminal-past
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The Rise of the Provisional IRA: Conspiracy vs Reality
In the late 1960s, the Provisional IRA and what became modern Sinn Féin emerged from a bitter split in the Irish republican movement. This split would shape not only the Troubles but also Irish politics down to …
Notas del episodio
In the late 1960s, the Provisional IRA and what became modern Sinn Féin emerged from a bitter split in the Irish republican movement. This split would shape not only the Troubles but also Irish politics down to the present day.
However, for the last five decades, the story of how and why that split occurred has been clouded by enduring conspiracy theories.
The most prominent of these claims that the Irish government in Dublin orchestrated the split to create a more conservative force in the Provisional IRA and neutralise left-wing republicanism. Many opponents of the Provisionals in the rival Left Wing Official IRA understood these events through this lens.
Meanwhile, unionists believed the Provisionals had been created by politicians in Dublin in the hope of destabilising the Northern state. The theory also found adherents among the political enemies of Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney, two politicians whose actions lie at the heart of these claims.
Yet the history of those fateful years tells a different story: one of uncertainty and desperation. Conspiratorial interpretations also overlook how politicians in later decades were happy to court such understandings to suit their own ends. In this episode, I am joined by Dr Brian Hanley to thrash out what happened in late 1969 and 1970 and why the IRA split. We discuss where conspiracy theories come from, why they are more common than we might imagine and what purpose they serve. We then explore how the Provisional IRA emerged and became the dominant force in Irish republicanism.
The picture that emerges is far from straightforward and at times, disquieting. Rather than being controlled by a handful of people, events sometimes seemed to gather a momentum of their own. There were many forces at play, but no hidden hand at work.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
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The Golden Age of Irish Smuggling
The 18th century was a golden age of Irish smuggling. It's estimated that as many as one third of all luxury goods entering Ireland were brought in by smugglers. Far from being a fringe activity, smuggling was …
Notas del episodio
The 18th century was a golden age of Irish smuggling. It's estimated that as many as one third of all luxury goods entering Ireland were brought in by smugglers. Far from being a fringe activity, smuggling was woven into the wider economy and remarkably was often a community enterprise with entire villages involved. It's very different than we imagine: while perhaps less glamorous, it was far more lucrative and important to the Irish economy. In this episode I'm joined by historian James Doherty to explore why smuggling boomed in the 18th century, who was involved and why entire communities along the Irish coast got in on the act.
My guest James Doherty is a historian based in Waterford with interests in Military History and the history of smuggling in Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Sound by Kate Dunlea
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Why Did Nazi Germany Bomb an Irish Village in 1940?
Become a supporter at https://www.patreon.com/c/IrishpodcastOn 26 August 1940, two German aircraft crossed the coast of County Wexford and flew towards the small village of Campile. One aircraft dropped bombs …
Notas del episodio
Become a supporter at https://www.patreon.com/c/IrishpodcastOn 26 August 1940, two German aircraft crossed the coast of County Wexford and flew towards the small village of Campile. One aircraft dropped bombs near Ambrosetown, while the other attacked the tiny village of Campile a few miles further east. Three women, Mary Ellen Kent, Catherine Kent and Kathleen Hurley were killed.
The bombing shattered the belief that Ireland’s neutrality could protect it from the Second World War. It also ignited a debate that has lasted for decades: Was the attack intentional or were the pilots lost? While politicians attempted to reduce tensions, investigations by An Garda Síochána and Irish Military Intelligence reached disturbing conclusions.
They believed Campile had been deliberately targeted by the Nazis. In this episode I explore what happened. I also explore why Irish Military Intelligence were convinced the Nazis intentionally bombed this tiny Irish village at the height of the Battle of Britain and what it purpose it served.
Written, researched and presented by: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Additional narration: Aidan Crowe and Therese Murray
Further Reading and Listening:
The Campile Bombing, August 26th, 1940, Horeswood Historical Society. This detailed local history includes eyewitness accounts, photographs and primary material relating to the attack.
Michael Kennedy, Guarding Neutral Ireland: The Coast Watching Service and Military Intelligence, 1939–1945.
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The Sinking of the Lusitania
On 7 May 1915, the passenger liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off the coast of County Cork. The enormous ship sank in just 18 minutes, killing over one thousands people.The sinking …
Notas del episodio
On 7 May 1915, the passenger liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off the coast of County Cork. The enormous ship sank in just 18 minutes, killing over one thousands people.
The sinking became one of the most controversial events of the First World War, provoking questions that remains the source of debate today.
Why did the Lusitania sink so quickly? What caused the second explosion reported by survivors? How much ammunition and war material was the ship carrying? Did this cargo make the ship a legitimate military target or was the attack a crime against civilians?
In this episode, I am joined by Shannon Forde, manager of the Lusitania Museum and Old Head Signal Tower in Kinsale. We discuss the history of the famous ocean liner, how it compared with the Titanic, the events of its final voyage and the experiences of those caught up in the disaster. We also examine the enduring controversies surrounding the sinking, from the Lusitania’s cargo to the actions of the German submarine and the British authorities.
Support the Irish History Podcast at patreon.com/irishpodcast
The Lusitania Museum & Old Head Signal Tower is open 10am – 5pm 7 days a week from March to October. https://www.oldheadofkinsale.com
I will have more detail on the supporters tour mentioned in the episode later in the week!
Sound by Kate Dunlea
My Guest is Shannon Forde. Shannon is a native of Kinsale, County Cork. She completed a MA in Irish History in Maynooth University, and has worked in Charles Fort, Kinsale and as a Heritage Specialist with Cork County Council. She researched and authored a local history book on the War of Independence in Kinsale. Shannon has been the Manager of the Lusitania Museum & Old Head Signal Tower since 2022 – which is a non profit community project at the Old Head of Kinsale. In 2025 she authored a book detailing the story of this community project from restoring a derelict Napoleonic signal tower to plans for a dedicated Lusitania Museum onsite.
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Ireland’s Shipwrecks: History from the Depths
Every year, fragments of long-lost ships wash ashore on Irish beaches. They are remnants of the thousands of shipwrecks scattered around our coast, dating from Prehistory to the Second World War. Each wreck has …
Notas del episodio
Every year, fragments of long-lost ships wash ashore on Irish beaches. They are remnants of the thousands of shipwrecks scattered around our coast, dating from Prehistory to the Second World War. Each wreck has a fascinating story from how they went down to their rediscovery often centuries later.
In this episode, I speak with Dublin Port Heritage Director Lar Joye at a new exhibition exploring the shipwrecks of Dublin Bay. Our conversation explores several disasters including the famous cases of the Leinster, the Dorset and the Tayleur.
We discuss the stories behind these ships, why shipwrecks were so common in the past and why fragments of wrecks continue to wash ashore today.
Visit the exhibition: https://www.dublinport.ie/shipwrecks-of-dubln-bay-exhibition-at-the-substation/
Upcoming events at the Substation:https://www.dublinport.ie/heritage-week/
My guest, Lar Joye, has served as Port Heritage Director at Dublin Port since 2017. He cares for the 300-year-old Port Archive and leads projects reconnecting the working port with the city through heritage, culture and public access. Before joining Dublin Port, Lar worked as a film archivist and as Curator of Irish Military History at the National Museum of Ireland. There he led the team behind the award-winning Soldiers & Chiefs exhibition which explores the history of Irish soldiers at home and abroad from 1550 to the present.
Sound: Kate Dunlea
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Broken Promises: Why Irish Independence Failed the Irish Language
In 1922, Ireland gained its independence. The new state promised to revive the Irish language. A century later, English still dominates daily life. What went wrong?In this episode, I speak to John Walsh of the …
Notas del episodio
In 1922, Ireland gained its independence. The new state promised to revive the Irish language. A century later, English still dominates daily life. What went wrong?
In this episode, I speak to John Walsh of the University of Galway, author of One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022, about why a movement that had real momentum in the years before independence stalled in the decades that followed.
John traces the high ambition and lofty ideals to the failed policies of successive Irish governments. He also reveals how at times outright hostility to the language within the political establishment emerged in the later 20th century with devastating consequences. The episode also looks at the very different experience of the language in the Northern State, where the unionist government treated Irish as a threat.
Support the show at www.patreon.com/irishpodcast
If you want to find out more
Find out more about John and his work: https://research.universityofgalway.ie/en/persons/john-walsh/
To find out more about this subject, check out John's book One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022 https://www.peterlang.com/document/1248601
Check out this episode with Dr Nicholas Wolf on why the Irish language went into decline in the 18th and 19th century. https://shows.acast.com/irishhistory/episodes/the-irish-language-why-ireland-became-english-speaking
John's forthcoming book Ar Lámh Shábhála? Coimisiún na Gaeltachta 1926 will be published by Cló Iar-Chonnacht this autumn https://cic.ie/
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
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Progress at Any Cost? The Dark History Behind Ireland’s Electrification
In the 1920s, the newly established Irish Free State embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in its history: the Shannon Scheme at Ardnacrusha.This was a state-of-the-art hydroelectric plant …
Notas del episodio
In the 1920s, the newly established Irish Free State embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in its history: the Shannon Scheme at Ardnacrusha.
This was a state-of-the-art hydroelectric plant that paved the way for the electrification of Irish society. The scheme developed an almost mythic reputation, becoming a powerful symbol of independence, progress and modernisation.
But behind the concrete and turbines was a darker story. Thousands of poorly paid labourers worked in brutal conditions, dozens were killed and hundreds suffered life-changing injuries. Many were left in poverty while Irish society celebrated their achievements. In this episode, I explore both sides of the Shannon Scheme: the remarkable project that helped transform Ireland, but also the terrible human cost that was largely written out of our history.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
Support my work patreon.com/irishpodcast
if you want to read more check out High Tension: Life on the Shannon Scheme https://www.abebooks.com/9781843510611/High-Tension-Life-Shannon-Scheme-1843510618/plp
Andy Bielenberg's The Shannon Scheme and the Electrification of the Irish Free State is a good overview of the project. A Digital copy is also available on the E.S.B. Archives website for free https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/the-shannon-scheme.pdf
Maurice Manning & More McDowell's History of the Electricity Supply Board is also a useful read and a digital copy is also available on the ESB Archive for free. https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/the-history-of-the-esb.pdf
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Hitler’s Irish Relatives: The Strange True Story
A video version of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/irish-history-podcast/id363368392On the day Hitler invaded Poland, another Hitler was making headlines in …
Notas del episodio
A video version of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/irish-history-podcast/id363368392
On the day Hitler invaded Poland, another Hitler was making headlines in Britain. It was not the dictator, but his Irish sister-in-law, Bridget Hitler, who had been hauled before the courts in London over a mundane, unpaid electricity bill. This episode explores the life of this woman and the strange reality of the "Irish Hitlers."
For eight decades, the story of Bridget and her son has been muddied by sensational claims: that she hosted a young Adolf Hitler in her Liverpool flat, that she helped shape his infamous physical appearance, and that she enjoyed intimate access to his private mountain retreat. But how much of this narrative is grounded in reality, and how much is the product of post-war myth-making?
In this episode, I reconstruct the documented history of this Irish woman’s connection to the Hitler family. We follow the journey from when Hitler’s brother, Alois, arrived in Dublin and married Bridget, through to how she reacted when her brother-in-law became the most notorious figure in history. I also reveal how much of what has been written about Bridget is based on a memoir that may actually be a forgery.
Sound and Video Editing: Kate Dunlea
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Living on the Wrong Side of History: My Family Secrets
Family history is often where the heroic version of the past falls apart.We like to imagine our ancestors standing on the right side of history. Someone in the GPO in 1916 or in the IRA in 1920. We like to …
Notas del episodio
Family history is often where the heroic version of the past falls apart.
We like to imagine our ancestors standing on the right side of history. Someone in the GPO in 1916 or in the IRA in 1920. We like to think they made brave choice when it mattered. But most people were not heroes, revolutionaries or figures from the history books. They were ordinary people trying to survive events they could not control.
That is what makes family secrets so revealing. They show us how people actually lived through history, without knowing how things would turn out. They hedged their bets, backed the side they thought would win, followed the crowd, made compromises and sometimes buried the truth when it all looked very different in hindsight.
In this episode, I look at the murkier side of family history through my own ancestors. Across five generations, the stories include a shotgun marriage, someone being sent to prison during the Great Famine for stealing food, support for the local landlord and opposition to Irish independence, followed by a very convenient change of heart when independence became unavoidable.
These are not exactly stories that have aged well, but they are probably far more common than we like to admit. From the Great Famine to the Irish Revolution and beyond, this episode is about the awkward, uncomfortable and often hidden ways ordinary people lived through extraordinary times.
Sound: Kate Dunlea
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The Irish Crown Jewels Robbery: Ireland’s Crime of the Century?
In the summer of 1907, the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from the heart of British power in Ireland, under the noses of the police, the military and the political establishment. Worth £50,000 at the time …
Notas del episodio
In the summer of 1907, the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from the heart of British power in Ireland, under the noses of the police, the military and the political establishment. Worth £50,000 at the time, their disappearance made headlines around the world. It was also deeply humiliating for the British authorities, coming just days before King Edward VII was due to visit Dublin.
On the surface, it seemed like the perfect crime. The jewels were never recovered, and more than a century later, it remains unclear exactly when the theft even took place.
But behind the mystery lay something even more explosive. Within days, detectives uncovered a scandal the British government could not afford to make public. This would lead to a major cover-up.
In this episode, I take you back to Edwardian Dublin to explore Ireland’s most infamous unsolved crime: a story of privilege, scandal and secrecy at the heart of British rule in Ireland.
Sound by Kate Dunlea
Support the podcast: patreon.com/Irishpodcast.
Sources:
Myles Dungan, The stealing of the Irish Crown Jewels: an unsolved crime https://www.amazon.com/stealing-Irish-Crown-Jewels-unsolved-ebook/dp/B00C80K09G/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bOREnIOZl9l8Nl9OFsawFw.NpvKSTSvbFr7u5uAzCkP6Ex_SzFeGsfO5PF1fPu5Bsg&dib_tag=se&keywords=9781860591822&linkCode=qs&qid=1781869038&s=books&sr=1-1
F. Bamford & Viola Banks Vicious circle; the case of the missing Irish crown jewels https://archive.org/details/viciouscircle0000unse/page/202/mode/2up
Bulmer Hobson Burean of Military History Witness Statement https://bmh.militaryarchives.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1089.pdf#page=2
Sean Murphy A Centenary Report on the Theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907
https://www.academia.edu/9802230/A_Centenary_Report_on_the_Theft_of_the_Irish_Crown_Jewels_in_1907
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From White Settlers to Fascists: The IRA’s Troubling Allies
Irish republicans had many natural allies during the War of Independence. Irish communities in the United States offered vital support, while revolutionaries in India and Egypt were also fighting for freedom …
Notas del episodio
Irish republicans had many natural allies during the War of Independence. Irish communities in the United States offered vital support, while revolutionaries in India and Egypt were also fighting for freedom from the British Empire. But the search for allies also led Irish republicans into far more complicated territory.
Across the British Empire, they courted support not from colonised peoples, but from European settlers and their descendants in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, many of them with Irish roots. In Europe, they looked to the Vatican, despite the Catholic Church’s long-standing suspicion of republicanism and revolution. Most controversially, Irish republicans also sought contact with Benito Mussolini, who was on his way to becoming Europe’s first fascist dictator
In this final episode of Brothers in Pain, Dr Brian Hanley explores the uncomfortable history of Irish republican alliances abroad. From South Africa to the Papacy and fascist Italy, this episode asks why Irish revolutionaries sought support in such unlikely places, what they gained, and what these choices reveal about the Irish Revolution, empire and the wider world after the First World War.
This is the final episode of Brothers in Pain a groundbreaking Global history of the Irish War of Independence by Dr Brian Hanley
Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley.
Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian :
In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.
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The Battle for Liverpool and New York: The Irish Revolution in the Atlantic World
Liverpool and New York haunt the story of Irish independence in a way few other places do. Though separated by more than 5,000 kilometres of ocean, both ports were part of a wider Atlantic world in which …
Notas del episodio
Liverpool and New York haunt the story of Irish independence in a way few other places do. Though separated by more than 5,000 kilometres of ocean, both ports were part of a wider Atlantic world in which Ireland occupied a central place.
By the 1920s Liverpool and New York were among the most Irish cities on the planet. Both had been transformed by generations of Irish migration and in both cities Irish politics shaped everyday life.
During the War of Independence, these communities became crucial to the republican movement. Money, weapons, propaganda and people moved through the ports, while IRA networks operated on both sides of the Atlantic. But this was not simply a story of support for Irish independence. In Liverpool and New York, Irish politics were fiercely contested.
Supporters of the Republic organised, fundraised and agitated, while opponents of independence also made their voices heard. Anti-Irish politics, loyalism, class tensions and divisions within the diaspora all shaped how the conflict was understood abroad.
In this episode of Brothers in Pain, Dr Brian Hanley explores the role of Liverpool and New York in the Irish War of Independence, revealing how two great port cities helped shape the revolution, and how Ireland’s struggle in turn reshaped politics across the Atlantic world.
This is the second last episode of Brothers in Pain a groundbreaking Global history of the Irish War of Independence by Dr Brian Hanley
Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley. Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian :
In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.
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Ogham: The Mystery of Ireland’s Oldest Writing
Ogham is Ireland’s oldest known writing system, dating back more than 1,500 years. If you have ever seen strange lines carved along the edge of an old stone, you may have been looking at ogham.But what did …
Notas del episodio
Ogham is Ireland’s oldest known writing system, dating back more than 1,500 years. If you have ever seen strange lines carved along the edge of an old stone, you may have been looking at ogham.
But what did those marks mean? Who carved them? Were they gravestones, boundary markers, family claims to lands or something else entirely?
In this episode, I speak with ogham expert Dr Nora White about how this ancient writing system worked, where it came from and what it reveals about early Ireland. These short inscriptions preserve some of the earliest evidence of the Irish language, along with names, ancestors, territories and hints of a society changing through migration, Christianity and contact with Britain and the wider world.
Ogham may look simple, but it opens a window onto one of the most fascinating and mysterious periods in Irish history.
Support the show www.patreon.com/irishpodcast
Dr Nora White is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Early Irish at Maynooth University. She
is currently leading a Research Ireland-funded project: Early Medieval Irish Scripts on Stone
(EMISoS). She previously worked on the Ogham in 3D project at the Dublin Institute for Advanced
Studies and subsequently (2021-2025) on the joint Maynooth University and University of Glasgow
OG(H)AM project (https://ogham.glasgow.ac.uk/).
Digital corpus (in progress) of ogham in Ireland and Britain: https://ogham.celt.dias.ie/list
Sound by Kate Dunlea
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Taking the War to England: The IRA in Britain
'We are doing this because you are doing it in Ireland'.These were the words of an IRA volunteer in Manchester explaining attacks in Britain during the Irish War of Independence.During the conflict, Britain and …
Notas del episodio
'We are doing this because you are doing it in Ireland'.
These were the words of an IRA volunteer in Manchester explaining attacks in Britain during the Irish War of Independence.
During the conflict, Britain and particularly England became a major battlefield. Britain was not only geographically close to Ireland, it was also home to large Irish communities in many major cities. Between 1919 and 1922, the IRA made sustained efforts to bring the conflict across the Irish Sea, carrying out hundreds of attacks, most of them in England.
This forgotten front of the war included major attacks on the Liverpool docks, the targeting of Black and Tans in Britain and several high-profile incidents, most notably the killing of the British field marshal Sir Henry Wilson.
The war also consumed and divided British politics in a way few other issues did until Brexit nearly a century later. Political parties, trade unions and communities were split over what should happen in Ireland, while massive and sometimes violent demonstrations swept across Britain.
In this episode of Brothers in Pain, a global history of the Irish Revolution, Dr Brian Hanley explores the IRA’s campaign in Britain and how the wider question of Irish independence dominated British politics at the time.
This is the eight episode in the Brothers in Pain Series a groundbreaking Global history of the Irish War of Independence by Dr Brian Hanley
Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley. Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian :
In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A Conspiracy of Fear & Silence: The Maamtrasna Murders
In August 1882, a brutal mass murder in a remote valley in the west of Ireland shocked the world. At Maamtrasna, a family, the Joyces, were attacked in their home. The victims ranged from a teenage girl to an …
Notas del episodio
In August 1882, a brutal mass murder in a remote valley in the west of Ireland shocked the world. At Maamtrasna, a family, the Joyces, were attacked in their home. The victims ranged from a teenage girl to an 80-year-old woman. The police quickly suspected that the killers had been neighbours and even relatives of the Joyce family. However, a motive was elusive. As wider Irish society was shocked by the killings, injustice was followed by injustice.
Indeed, the trials would soon overshadow the crime itself, unfolding into one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in the legal history of Ireland or the UK. In this episode, Margaret Kelleher joins me to explore this intriguing case. We dig into the dark events that unfolded in Maamtrasna in the summer of 1882 and examine why an innocent man, Myles Joyce, was sent to the gallows after a trial conducted entirely in English, a language he could neither speak nor understand.
The episode reveals what we know happened in Maamtrasna on that fateful night and how perjury and a rush to convict rather than find genuine justice lay at the heart of this intriguing case. This is the story of how a brutal murder in an isolated mountain community ended up having massive political implications, leaving a legacy that continues to reverberate today.
Support the show: Patreon.com/irishpodcast
Margaret's book The Maamtrasna Murders: Language, Life and Death in Nineteenth-Century Ireland is available here https://www.ucdpress.ie/page/detail/the-maamtrasna-murders/?k=9781910820421My guest is Margaret Kelleher, Professor and Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin (research profile: https://people.ucd.ie/margaret.o.kelleher). She is a board member of the Museum of Literature Ireland (https://moli.ie/) and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Her latest book, Mary and Padraic Colum: Lives and the Dream, is forthcoming from UCD Press in the Autumn of this year. Her monograph Maamtrasna Murders: Language, Life and Death in Nineteenth-Century Ireland (UCD Press, 2018) was awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books in Language and Culture by the American Conference for Irish Studies in 2019, and in 2020 was shortlisted for the Michel Déon Prize. She was Cullman Center Fellow at New York Public Library from 2022-2023 and Parnell Fellow in Irish Studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge from 2023-2024.
Sound by Kate Dunlea
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Daily Life in the Middle Ages: Worse Than You Think [Listener Favourite]
A recent hospital visit means there is no new episode this week, but it reminded me of this classic from early 2024! Tune in to find out more How difficult was life in the Middle Ages? This is something …
Notas del episodio
A recent hospital visit means there is no new episode this week, but it reminded me of this classic from early 2024! Tune in to find out more
How difficult was life in the Middle Ages? This is something archaeologists and historians have debated for decades. In recent years, new techniques, including genetic analysis, have given us new insights into the lives of our distant ancestors in the Medieval Era. Their findings are unsettling. Life in the Middle Ages was far more difficult than we imagine.
My guest in this episode is Prof. Eileen Murphy from Queen's University Belfast. Eileen has recently published groundbreaking research on daily life in early medieval Ireland, based on her analysis of human remains excavated in Co. Roscommon. In this podcast, she answers all your questions on what life was like.
Eileen shares her discoveries on how people survived in a hard and difficult world. It's not for the faint of heart.
This episode is not suitable for children.
Our interview is based on the book "The Forgotten Cemetery: Excavations at Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon," available for free at https://www.tii.ie/technical-services/archaeology/publications/tii-heritage/.
Eileen is the deputy head of the School of Built & Natural Heritage at Queen's University Belfast: https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/NBE/.
Sound by Kate Dunlea
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Dublin Port Has Seen It All: 1,200 Years of History.
Dublin is famous for its Georgian squares, medieval cathedral, castle and revolutionary history. But the cornerstone of Dublin's history is undoubtedly the port.Nearly 1,200 years ago, the Vikings established a …
Notas del episodio
Dublin is famous for its Georgian squares, medieval cathedral, castle and revolutionary history. But the cornerstone of Dublin's history is undoubtedly the port.
Nearly 1,200 years ago, the Vikings established a settlement on the banks of the Liffey, and from that moment, Dublin's fate was tied to the sea. The port became the gateway where Ireland met the wider world. Ships carried goods, armies, ideas and people in and out of the city, connecting Dublin to Britain, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and the far reaches of empire.
But Dublin Port's history is far more than commerce. It witnessed slavery and trade, military occupation and revolution, famine and emigration, labour struggles and war. It was also shaped by a centuries-long battle against nature itself. Sandbanks, silting and storms forced generations of engineers to reshape the coastline with quays, docks, lighthouses and massive sea walls, creating one of Ireland's most remarkable engineering achievements.
In this episode, recorded on the Great South Wall, I speak with historian Lar Joye, Heritage Director at Dublin Port, to explore the extraordinary 1,200-year history of Dublin Port. From Viking traders and Norman conquerors to famine emigrants and dock workers this is the story of a place that has witnessed every major turning point in Irish history.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
My guest Lar Joye has served as Port Heritage Director at Dublin Port since 2017, where he cares for the 300-year-old Port Archive and leads projects that reconnect the working port with the city through heritage, culture and public access. Before joining Dublin Port, he worked as a film archivist and as Curator of Irish Military History at the National Museum of Ireland, where he led the team behind the award-winning "Soldiers and Chiefs" exhibition on the Irish soldier at home and abroad from 1550 to the present.
He is a well-known lecturer and media contributor on topics ranging from the history of Dublin Port and its dockers to Irish soldiers in the British Army and the First World War, and he played a significant role in the Decade of Commemorations between 2012 and 2018. At Dublin Port he has initiated projects such as the Dublin Port Memory and Story oral history project and the development of new walking routes and cultural spaces, illustrating how archives, place and community stories can be brought together for contemporary audiences.
Programme of Events for 2026 Events - Dublin Port
Bus tours of the port: Behind the Scenes Tours are Open - Dublin Port
Distributed Museum - Dublin Port
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Solidarity, Suspicion and Conspiracy: Jews and the Irish Revolution
As the Irish Revolution broke out, Europe was gripped by political upheaval, fear of revolution, and rising antisemitism. In conservative and right-wing circles, the so-called “Jewish Question” loomed large …
Notas del episodio
As the Irish Revolution broke out, Europe was gripped by political upheaval, fear of revolution, and rising antisemitism. In conservative and right-wing circles, the so-called “Jewish Question” loomed large. Claims that Jews were secretly fomenting revolution across the world became increasingly common, feeding conspiracy theories that shaped how many people interpreted events from Russia to Ireland.
In this episode of Brothers in Pain, Dr Brian Hanley explores how these ideas influenced perceptions of the Irish Revolution. Leading British figures repeatedly claimed that Jews were secretly behind unrest in Ireland, reflecting the wider antisemitic beliefs circulating in British and European politics at the time.
But the story was far more complex than conspiracy and prejudice. Jewish communities in Ireland and across the world responded to the Irish Revolution in different ways. Some Jewish figures, including Michael Noyek and Robert Briscoe, became prominent Irish republicans. Others were more cautious, concerned by political instability, violence, and antisemitism within parts of Irish nationalist politics.
Brian also examines the uncomfortable reality that some leading Irish nationalist figures, including John Devoy and Arthur Griffith expressed antisemitic views. The result was a complicated history, shaped by solidarity, suspicion and racism.
This is the seventh episode in the Brothers in Pain Series a groundbreaking Global history of the Irish War of Independence by Dr Brian Hanley
Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley. Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian :
In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Drogheda & Beyond: The Terrifying Reality of Siege Warfare in Ireland
Between 1641 and 1653, Ireland was engulfed by devastating war. It was a period of extraordinary violence, famine and social collapse. The death toll was staggering. As many as 25% of the population may have …
Notas del episodio
Between 1641 and 1653, Ireland was engulfed by devastating war. It was a period of extraordinary violence, famine and social collapse. The death toll was staggering. As many as 25% of the population may have perished.
At the heart of this conflict was siege warfare. Across Ireland, towns, castles, forts and fortified houses came under attack. Some were taken by storm, while others were blockaded until starvation and disease did their work. Defenders faced cannon fire, tunnelling, psychological warfare and the terrifying prospect of what might happen if the walls were breached. Meanwhile, thousands of civilians had no escape and suffered appallingly.
In this episode, I’m joined by historian Padraig Lenihan to explore the brutal reality of siege warfare in 17th-century Ireland. We look at why these conflicts were so destructive, how sieges were fought, and why warfare in Ireland was often more violent than in Britain during the same period. We also examine the infamous massacre at Drogheda, placing it in the wider context of the wars in Ireland and Britain, and asking whether it was exceptional or part of a broader pattern of violence.
You can get Padraig’s book, Siege Warfare in Ireland, 1641-1653 which offers a fascinating insight into one of the darkest periods in Irish history:
https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2025/siege-in-ireland-1641-53
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Request: My guest on the last episode, James Doherty, is looking for photographs of Irish Army soldiers in Kilkenny Castle during the Emergency. If you have any information, please get in touch at [email protected]
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Forgotten Allies: How Egypt and India Supported the Irish Revolution
During the Irish War of Independence, republicans in Ireland looked far beyond Britain and America for support. In Egypt and India, they found allies. Secret meetings took place between IRA representatives and …
Notas del episodio
During the Irish War of Independence, republicans in Ireland looked far beyond Britain and America for support. In Egypt and India, they found allies. Secret meetings took place between IRA representatives and Egyptian revolutionaries, while Irish republicans also made contact with Indian nationalists who were waging their own struggle against British rule. Across the Empire, activists began to see their causes as connected, bound together by a common enemy and a shared desire for freedom.
But this was never a simple story of solidarity. For generations, Irish people had also served the British Empire in India and the Middle East as soldiers, policemen and civil servants. This episode explores the forgotten links between Ireland, Egypt and India, revealing how the Irish Revolution was shaped not only by events at home, but by anti-colonial struggles unfolding across the wider world.
Support the show and get ad-free early episodes at patreon.com/irishpodcast
The series is researched, written, and presented by Dr Brian Hanley. Brian is a historian at Trinity College Dublin and has written extensively on the Irish Revolution, republicanism, and radical politics in the twentieth century. You can find a list of his publications here: https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Written, Researched and Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian:
In researching these episodes, I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars:
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Operation Green: Hitler's Plan for Ireland
In 1939, Ireland declared itself neutral in the Second World War. But neutrality did not mean the island was safe. Indeed, both Germany and Britain developed plans to occupy the entire island.This episode …
Notas del episodio
In 1939, Ireland declared itself neutral in the Second World War. But neutrality did not mean the island was safe. Indeed, both Germany and Britain developed plans to occupy the entire island.
This episode focuses on Operation Green, Hitler's secret invasion plan for Ireland, and Plan W, the Irish government's defensive strategy. Historian James Doherty joins me to explain this intriguing aspect of the Second World War in Ireland. We begin by exploring why Ireland was important to both sides in the war. Then James details the German invasion plan and the why the British were determined to stop them. He also explores the controversial Irish Army defence plans and whether they would have worked.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
James Doherty is a historian based in Waterford with interests in Military History and the history of smuggling in Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries. He is currently researching Ireland during the Emergency.
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Divided Loyalties: The Irish Who Fought for Britain
The Irish War of Independence & Revolution saw the IRA pitted against Crown forces across the island. However, on the ground in Ireland, allegiance was often more complicated than is sometimes …
Notas del episodio
The Irish War of Independence & Revolution saw the IRA pitted against Crown forces across the island. However, on the ground in Ireland, allegiance was often more complicated than is sometimes remembered.
Ireland had a long tradition of service in the British Army, and during the conflict thousands of Irishmen served not only in British military ranks but also in the police forces sent to crush the revolution. Even the Black and Tans, remembered as outsiders and occupiers, included surprising numbers of Irish recruits.
This episode explores the uncomfortable and often forgotten story of the Irish who fought for Britain. Who were these men? Why did they serve the Crown, in Ireland and across the Empire? What drew them into the British Army, the Royal Irish Constabulary, and even the ranks of the Black and Tans? And what does their story reveal about Ireland’s deep and complicated relationship with the British Empire?
This is Episode 5 of Brothers in Pain, a global history of the Irish Revolution.
The series is researched, written, and presented by Dr Brian Hanley. Brian is a historian at Trinity College Dublin and has written extensively on the Irish Revolution, republicanism, and radical politics in the twentieth century. You can find a list of his publications here: https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Written, Researched and Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian:
In researching these episodes, I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars:
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett..
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Irish Language: Why Ireland Became English-Speaking
How did Ireland become an English-speaking country? Was it colonialism, the Great Hunger, the education system or emigration that drove the shift from Irish to English?In this episode, I am joined by Dr …
Notas del episodio
How did Ireland become an English-speaking country? Was it colonialism, the Great Hunger, the education system or emigration that drove the shift from Irish to English?
In this episode, I am joined by Dr Nicholas Wolf to explore one of the biggest questions in Irish history: how Irish, once the dominant language of the island, lost ground over the centuries.
Nicholas explains how this is a multifaceted story, beginning in the wars of the seventeenth century but continuing through the Great Famine of the 1840s and beyond.
While he explores the impact conquest, plantation and emigration, Nicholas also explains why English became so necessary in everyday life in Ireland.
About Nicholas Wolf
Nicholas Wolf is a historian and librarian at New York University, where he is co-head of NYU Library’s Data Services department and associate director of research and publishing initiatives at Glucksman Ireland House. He is the author of An Irish-Speaking Island (2014), a social and cultural history of Ireland’s Irish-language community in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that was awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books on Language and Culture and the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Books. His research into the social and cultural history of the Irish language, Irish Catholicism, and Ireland’s population history has received grants and fellowships from the Gardiner Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Newberry Library, and Newman College at the University of Melbourne.
Get An Irish-Speaking Island (2014) https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/A/An-Irish-Speaking-Island
Nicholas’s website: https://nmwolf.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-wolf-204a24335
Check out this digitisation project Nicholas was involved in, focusing on the bilingual historical newspaper An Gaodhal: https://www.universityofgalway.ie/angaodhal
Sound by Kate Dunlea
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A White Mans Nation? The Irish Revolution & Black Radicals
“The Irish fight for liberty is the greatest epic of the modern age… those suffering together under British imperialism must learn to coordinate their effort before they can hope to be free.”These words from …
Notas del episodio
“The Irish fight for liberty is the greatest epic of the modern age… those suffering together under British imperialism must learn to coordinate their effort before they can hope to be free.”
These words from the Black radical Cyril Briggs captured how many people of colour viewed the Irish War of Independence. Today, the Irish Revolution is usually remembered as a struggle shaped by empire, nationalism and religion. But race also haunted this history. As Ireland fought for freedom, racial tensions were erupting across the world. In 1919, the United States was convulsed by the Red Summer, when white mobs launched brutal attacks on African American communities. At the same time, many opponents of Irish independence portrayed the conflict in Ireland as a racial struggle.
Yet the relationship between Irish republicans and Black radicals was never straightforward. While Black activists looked to Ireland with hope, many Irish leaders were slow to support Black struggles and some even argued that Ireland deserved freedom precisely because the Irish were white.
This episode uncovers the forgotten story of solidarity, suspicion and betrayal between Irish and Black radicals and reveals how deeply the politics of race shaped the Irish War of Independence.
This is the fourth episode in Brothers in Pain a groundbreaking Global history of the Irish War of Independence by Dr Brian Hanley
Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley. Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php
Producer: Fin Dwyer
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Note from Brian :
In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;
Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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