Undercover Irish

Guerilla Gaeilge: The Irish Hidden in Our English Undercover Irish Podcast In this episode of Undercover Irish , we explore how Hiberno-English contains hidden grammar, structures, and ways of thinking that come directly from Gaeilge . From phrases like "I do be" and "I'm after doing" to "ye / yiz / youse" and the Irish habit of answering questions without yes or no, this episode argues that Irish...

An Irish Guerrilla Commander and "The Murder Machine" What This Episode Covers In this episode of  Undercover Irish , we dig beneath the legendary image of Tom Barry — the famed guerrilla commander of Kilmichael whose tactics are still studied in British and US military circles — and uncover the deeper story hiding in plain sight within his autobiography  Guerilla Days in Ireland . We explore how ...

In this episode, we dive into Ireland's Hidden Curriculum through something deceptively ordinary:  the names of the months .  By shifting your  meon  — your mindset — we explore how time itself becomes a doorway to the deeper Irish worldview. We look at: Why the English month names are Roman imports that don't match Irish reality How the Irish (Latin-influenced) months begin to re-root the year in...

Erased Leader: Margaret Buckley and Ireland's Counter-Revolution 🎨 Exclusive Artwork for Patrons I've created original artwork based on Margaret Buckley's historic portrait — designed to repopularise her image and bring her back into Ireland's visual memory. Patrons can download, print, share, post, and use the artwork freely. 👉 Download the Margaret Buckley Artwork: https://www.patreon.com/post...

🎧 How the Irish Language Finds Connection in the Dark: Samhain and Uaigneas When the Irish speak of loneliness, they don't just name a feeling — they map it. This episode explores uaigneas , Samhain , and how the Irish language finds connection even in the dark. Show Notes As the fires of Samhain fade and the year exhales, the world feels still — that quiet pause between life and death, light and...

Show Notes: How Cork's Streets Became a Battleground for Ireland's Identity Podcast: Undercover Irish Episode Title: How Cork's Streets Became a Battleground for Ireland's Identity Part 2 AVAILABLE HERE https://www.patreon.com/posts/empire-strikes-142363777?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Description: In this episode, we journey th...

🎙️ Episode Title: How a GAA Crest Leads Us to the Battle of Fontenoy In this episode of Undercover Irish , we follow the trail of a symbol — from the familiar GAA crest of Limerick to the Treaty Stone on the banks of the Shannon, and further still to the cry that echoed through the fields of Fontenoy in 1745: "Cuimhnigh ar Luimneach! Remember Limerick!" What begins as a look at a sporting logo bec...

🎙️ Episode Title: How Ice Cream is Linked to the Presidential Election In this episode of Undercover Irish , we explore an unexpected but deeply Irish connection — how ice cream and the Presidential Election are linked through language, lore, and story . From the words we use to describe sweetness and celebration, to the symbolic meanings behind Irish terms of leadership and belonging, we uncover...

What if Ireland wasn't just a land to live on—but a living body itself? In this episode of Undercover Irish , we trace the ancient impulse to personify the landscape, exploring how Indigenous cultures—from Celtic Ireland to Native America and Aboriginal Australia—map meaning onto mountains, rivers, valleys, and plains by imagining them as parts of a living, breathing being. This episode blends myt...

Building Up and Tearing England Down! In this jam-packed episode we dig into Dominic Behan's razor-sharp ballad of the same name, tracing how a few mighty verses capture a century of Irish labour on Britain's building sites and railways. First we pit two iconic renditions against one another—Christy Moore's pub-roar 1969 and The Mary Wallopers' lament of the 2020s. From there we zoom out: Ballads...

🎙️ The Truth about Munster and Meath: Uncovering Ireland's Lost Directions What do a New Zealand haka in Limerick and the ancient kingdoms of Ireland have in common? More than you might think. In this episode of Undercover Irish , we begin with a defining moment in Irish sporting history: the All Blacks performing the haka at Thomond Park in 2008 . But have you ever stopped to ask— what does "Thom...

Episode 5 –  An Bata Scóir and its International Reach In this powerful and reflective episode of  Undercover Irish , we dive into the brutal colonial legacy of language suppression, beginning with the story of  An Bata Scóir  — the notched tally stick used to punish Irish children for speaking their native tongue. More than a tool of discipline,  An Bata Scóir  represents the systemic violence in...

In Part 2 of  Skorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair That Rocked Cork GAA , Undercover Irish dives into the post-1977 fallout of Cork's All-Ireland hurling triumph. Follow the dramatic twists as Adidas shifts focus to Kerry GAA, O'Neills fights back on the pitch and in the courts, and the battle over branding turns personal. This episode also bridges past and present, spotlighting the modern "...

🎧 Skorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair That Rocked Cork GAA – Part 1 | Undercover Irish Podcast In this episode of Undercover Irish , we dive into the headlines of today—and the hidden stories of the past. The current controversy over skorts in Camogie has sparked debate across Ireland, but it's far from the first time sportswear caused uproar in the GAA. In Part 1 of Skorts, Shorts and the...

Let Erin Remember is a powerful and poetic exploration of environmental and cultural injustice, using the haunting Irish song Let Erin Remember as a guide through the destruction and pollution of Lough Neagh—once a sacred and mythologically rich lake at the heart of Ireland. This podcast unpacks the ecological crisis facing Lough Neagh, contextualizing it as a symptom of deeper colonial legacies....

"The Irish Were Ahead of the Stoics and Mindfulness: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in Gaeilge" Episode Summary: In this thought-provoking episode of Undercover Irish , we explore how the Irish language (Gaeilge) encodes emotional intelligence in ways that predate Stoicism, modern mindfulness, and even Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). Through the lens of linguistic relativism —the idea that languag...