Irish History Podcast

The story of the Samson is one most bizarre shipwrecks in Irish history. When this enormous sea crane ship crashed into the Irish coast, it's owners got more than they bargained for. While an RAF helicopter rescued the crew, a local man battled mountainous seas to climb aboard and claim the ship as his own! This began a 40 day saga… Check out pictures of wreck the Samson on new channels Whats...

In the 1780s work began on a new city in Ireland. Called New Geneva it was designed to provide a new home for exiled revolutionaries from Switzerland. Today there are few traces of this now lost city. This masks a fascinating and dark history. When New Geneva failed, life there descended into barbarism and brutality. I have posted images of New Geneva to my new WhatsApp and Telegram channels Whats...

We've been on an extraordinary journey since the show launched 14 years ago. From medieval battlefields to revolutions we've shared ringside seats to some of the greatest moments in history. My plan for 2024 is to embark on an even more ambitious journey with you. All is explained in this short episode... Become a supporter www.patreon.com/irishpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

New York, Boston, and Chicago dominate the history of Irish migration to the United States. However by 1900 one of the most Irish cities in the US was Butte Montana. Situated high in the Rocky mountains, Butte was just one of hundreds of Irish communities dotted across the American West.  Beginning back in the California Goldrush of the 1850s, tens of thousands of Irish immigrants ventur...

In the past decade, podcasting has taken the world by storm. The advent of smartphones and the ground-breaking podcast 'Serial' would see podcasting surge in popularity. In 2020 alone over a million new shows were launched. But does it have a future? Some are not convinced. In the second and final part of my series on the history of podcasting I look at how podcasting became so popular and where i...

‘You might not be a revolutionary, but you are living through a revolution.’   Podcasting is much older than you might imagine. A decade before the true crime show Serial took the world by storm, creators were making some of the earliest shows.   This podcast is a nostalgic trip through the early days of the internet in Ireland when podcasting emerged. Brian Greene who was making shows i...

It’s a dark evening in early November 1847. A carriage makes it's way through lawless starving countryside in North Roscommon. A gun shot rings out, a man falls dead. A family mourns but a community rejoices. While the Great Hunger of the 1840s resulted in one million deaths, this one murder encapsulated the stark choices facing that generation of Irish people in a one gripping story. It is retold...

In the mid 1860s, Andersonville became one of the most feared places in America. This sleepy corner of Georgia gained notoriety in the later stages of the US Civil War when the Confederacy opened a prison camp there. Nearly one third of all prisoners who entered Andersonville never left.  Among their number were hundreds of Irish men. This podcast tells their stories. I am joined by historian...

Writing histories of people who led secret lives is difficult because they leave few records. Yet that is precisely what my guest in today’s show has done. In this podcast, Dr Maurice Casey, shares the fascinating history of Rose McKenna and Sydney Arnold and how he uncovered their secret lives. In the early 20th century, this Latvian-Irish couple participated in two revolutions in Ireland and Rus...

As we prepare to celebrate Halloween, this episode is a timely exploration of the history of the supernatural in Ireland. Ghosts have long played an important role in Irish history and culture. In this podcast I am joined by Dr Clodagh Tait, a historian of the supernatural. Our conversation focuses on a specific type of ghost referred to as a crisis apparition. These usually appeared far from home...

I have come down with a cold so rather than subject you to me coughing and spluttering through a show I have selected a classic from the archives.  As I explain, I recently listened back to this episode after a chance meeting with my guest Cormac Leonard. The episode on the history of the Deaf community is the definition of forgotten history. Until recently the community was largely ignored b...

In the 1920s and 30s Irish emigrants in Britain faced widespread racism and discrimination. Labelled drunks, subversives, and a threat to society, right wing politicians whipped up fear and hatred against the community. This podcast tells the forgotten stories of these emigrants. The episode begins with humorous story of Martin King whose drunken escapades after downing half a bottle of whiskey re...

In 1923 as the Irish revolution came to an end, large parts of the North Roscommon town of Arigna lay in ruins. While war and revolution had swept across Ireland over the previous years few places shared Arigna’s unique experience. When workers occupied local coalmines demanding better working conditions this began years of intense and bitter conflict with the authorities. This is the story of the...

At the turn of the 20th century alcoholism was a major problem in Irish society. The island had 17,300 pubs while around 40% of all prison sentences were alcohol related. There was a general sense alcohol addiction was out of control. The stereotype of the happy-go-lucky drunk certainly masked the reality of the Irish alcoholism. In this podcast I explore addiction in Ireland at the turn of the 20...

Every book has an origin story. My new book ‘A Lethal Legacy – A History of Ireland in 18 Murders’ is no different. While the book goes on sale today, the origin story goes back to 2015 when I found a trove of old letters belonging to a grandmother I never knew. Tune in to find out more. THE BOOK LAUNCH IS ON TONIGHT (SEP 14) AT 6P.M. IN HODGES FIGGIS BOOKSHOP ON DAWSON ST. Get your eBook, audiobo...

This podcast looks at forgotten story of the tsunami that hit Cork in 1755, the volcanic winter of 1816 and a meteor that was way to close for comfort in 1908. Although they dont feature prominently in history, they had huge impact at the time. Articles referenced in the show A seismic tsunami in the Irish annals, recorded at Iona in October 720 https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.05224 Folklore about the...

In 1821 George IV was the first British monarch to visit Ireland in modern times. It was a historic occasion for multiple reasons. Not only was he the first king to set foot on Irish soil since the 17th century but he was the first to do so without an army. Many held out hope the king's arrival might usher in a new era in Irish history. However George himself had other ideas. Beginning as he meant...

The Great Hunger left deep scars on the Irish society. Many of those who survived the 1840s never fully survived the harrowing ordeal they had endured. They were traumatised in body and spirit. For the rest of their lives, they carried the physical and psychological injuries the Great Hunger inflicted on them. This podcast follows the life one of the last survivors in Dublin - Catherine Mulhern. T...

In 1984, the Conservative Party, lead by the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, gathered in the seaside town of Brighton for their annual conference. In the early hours of October 12th a bomb ripped through the Grand Hotel where Thatcher and several other conservative leaders were staying. The following day the Provisional IRA would claim responsibility for the attack. This triggered one of...

Bunmahon is an idyllic seaside town in Co Waterford but it has a deep dark history. It's a story that begins in an abandoned mine and ends in a search for a lost town... Need I say more? You can find out more about Bunmahon at the local visitor centre . My upcoming book 'A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders' will be released on September 14th 2023.  Pre-Order at Easons today a...

This episode was originally released in 2019. Over the past week I was recording the audio version of 'A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders' so I didnt have time to prepare a new episode but this is worth a relisten! Normal service resumes next week. “In the later half 1888 London was gripped by fear when five women were murdered within a few months of each other in the East End of...

As I mention in the episode I am recording the audio version of A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders this week! Don't forget to pre-order at Easons and use the code FD10 to get 10% off! Edward O’Rourke is not a name you expect to encounter in the history of Eastern Europe, yet he is a celebrated figure in the Polish city of Gdansk for the role he played in opposing the rise of...

'The Road to War' is the first episode in a five part Irish History Podcast production on the Irish Civil War. The full series, exclusively available for supporters, features the leading Irish historian Dr Brian Hanley from Trinity College Dublin. Over the five episodes the series covers the full story of the Irish Civil War from the National Army assault on the Four Courts through to the IRA orde...

**This is the second of two episodes on the story of Irish people who fought in the French Resistance. Part I was released last week.** Few Irish people recognise the names Sr Katherine Anne McCarthy or Patricia O'Sullivan. However during the Second World War II they were among the dozens of Irish women who fought in the underground war against the Nazi occupation of France. The stories of these w...

The struggle of the French Resistance against the Nazi Occupation of France remains one of the most famous chapters in World War II history. It has been immortalized in numerous film and books. However the story of the dozens of Irish people who served in the Resistance has been almost completely forgotten. In this podcast I interview Dr David Murphy from Maynoooth University who has researched th...