Irish History Podcast

This podcast sees the Normans suffer a ferocious backlash after their conquests in the year of 1170. A Norse army including beserkers - feared viking warriors - attack Dublin before a vast host lead by the king of Connacht - Rory O'Connor besieges the town. The Norman presence in Ireland hangs by a thread as they lose the few friends they had. This episode also sees tensions ramp between Strongbow...

After their brutal conquest of Waterford, Diarmait McMurrough and his Norman allies marshaled their forces and marched on Dublin. If the most important town in medieval Ireland fell into their hands it could be a game changer. The claims of Rory O'Connor of Connacht to be Ireland's most powerful king would be in tatters. This scenario set up a major conflict over Dublin as Rory marched west, reach...

In the summer of 1170, Ireland stood on a precipice. After the arrival of several hundred Norman mercenaries in 1169 the fortunes of Diarmait McMurrough had changed. He had reconquered his lost power in the kingdom of Leinster and re-established himself as a major player in Irish politics. However this was only the beginning, a violent prelude to Diarmait’s main ambition. He was still waiting for...

On May 1st 1169, Robert FitzStephen a Norman Knight from Wales, finds himself on Bannow Strand, Ireland leading 300 Norman mercenaries. Their mission - to restore Diarmait McMurrough, the one time gaelic king of Leinster to power. However both they and Diarmait have much greater ambitions. With a few days of arriving in Ireland the Normans are outside the walls of Wexford besieging what is one of...

This podcast looks at the first Normans to arrive in Ireland, in a chapter often forgotten by the history books. These mercenaries accompany Diarmait McMurrough who returned to Ireland in 1167 to pave the way for the larger forces of Strongbow. However if these warriors led by Robert FitzGodibert, thought the Gaelic Irish were going to be a pushover they are in for a rude awakening. They...

Over the last few weeks Ireland has been rocked by yet another child abuse scandal. Newspaper headlines around the world have reported in disbelief details of how society in Ireland treated unmarried mothers and their children in so called “Mother and Child homes". Child mortality rates reached over 50% in some of these institutions. While many around the world are understandably astounded as to h...

This show looks at some of the most pivotal events in Ireland's history. As Part I of the Norman invasion drew to a close Diarmait McMurrough, the King of Leinster was routed after his powerful ally Muirchertach McLochlainn was killed in 1166. His rivals Rory O'Connor and Tiernan O'Rourke then forced him into exile. This episode follows Diarmait as he journeys across into the medieval crossroads t...

This is the first in a multipart series on the Norman invasion of Ireland. The Invasion was one of the most important and fascinating events in Irish history beginning Ireland's turbulent relationship with England. This episode sets the same in the brutal struggle for dominance between Irish kings in the 12th century. Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcasts Patreon www.patreon...

1972 was one of the darkest yet defining years in modern Irish history. Nearly five hundred people were killed in the conflict known as “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. Events of that year like Bloody Sunday, Bloody Friday and Operation Motorman would shape Ireland for decades to come. In many ways one death has been remembered more than any other – this was abduction and murder of Jean McConvi...

On this day 1000 years today, one of the most famous battle in Irish history, the Battle of Clontarf took place. In this show I look at day to day life in Ireland in 1014. Its a strange world that would stun, shock and surprise in equal measure. Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcasts Patreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcast Acast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory 📢June...

In a show with a title such as this you might expect names such as Oliver Cromwell or Strongbow to feature heavily. While these men are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Ireland, the greatest killers in Irish history are not humans but disease. In this show I take a look at the worst diseases to hit Ireland and how they changed the course of our history. Become a supporter &...

The potato is synonymous with the biggest disaster in Irish history – the Great Famine of the 1840s. However this is only part of the story of the potato in Irish history. The arrival of the potato in Ireland transformed the island and resulted in changes in how people lived their lives. In the podcast I examine the good, the bad and the ugly of the potato's fascinating and chequered relationship...

Everyone has heard of the Great Irish Famine of the 1840's when around 10% of the Irish population died from starvation and disease. This however was not the worst famine in Irish history. A century earlier in the 1740s the island was ravaged by an event known as the year of slaughter when as much as 20% of the population perished. Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcasts Patre...

In 1270 the battle of Ath-an-Chip saw a major Gaelic Army take on the forces of the powerful Norman Lord of Connacht Walter de Burgh on the upper reaches of the river Shannon. This decisive battle would shape the history of medieval Ireland in Connacht for decades if not centuries to come... Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcasts Patreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcast Acast htt...

Most of the podcasts I make focus on the darker aspects of medieval life. War is a common theme and famine is never far away. However in this podcast I am asking the question was life in medieval Ireland ever anything other than an endless struggle for survival. The show starts in the Vale of Dublin in 1326 when the region was an apocalyptic wasteland before looking back to 1234 when the region en...

Climate change is constantly in the news. In the late 13th & early 14th centuries Ireland was also battered by storms and maligned by poor weather. This podcast takes a look at some of the ways it impacted the medieval world. While society didn't collapse if the experience of our ancestors is anything to go by our future could be something of a rocky and hungry road! Become a supporter & a...

What did Dublin sound like in 1320? What was the news of the day? Who were the people who lived there? In this episode you will experience the world of late medieval Dublin. The podcast takes the form of a walk through the city as it was in 1320 where we encounter everything from pigs roaming the streets to the city hangman Philip of Colchester. Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive...

Lambert Simnel's life must be one of the most unusual stories from medieval history. Born the son of a carpenter he became embroiled in a conspiracy to overthrow Henry VII and before he knew what was happening he became the only english King crowned in Ireland and was on his way to invading England... Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcasts Patreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcast...

This podcast is based on this article I wrote on my blog (irishhistorypodcast.ie) about Cristiana la Sadelhackere, a woman who worked as a prostitute in medieval Ireland. Her story is an intriguing account of a precarious life on the fringes of medieval society struggling against the authorities of the day. The podcast also takes a fascinating look at why women became prostitutes in medieval Irela...

The year is 1310. Ireland was gripped by a severe economic, military and political crisis - pretty much everything that could go wrong had gone wrong for the Norman colonists. In October, a man called Jordan the Chaplain made his way to Drogheda, a major port in medieval Ireland. However not long after arriving he got involved in a dispute with one of the townspeople - Robert the Tailor. What star...

This show returns to the story of Gaelic Ireland in the final decades prior to the Norman Invasion. Ireland is being torn apart by long running tensions between the kings of Munster and Ulster. The show begins in 1101 with Donal McLochlainn the king of the O'Neills on his knees. His great rival Muirchertach O'Briain, the king of Munster had just invaded and ravaged his kingdom. However Donal is by...

This podcast concludes our journey through the Top 5 turning points of Medieval Ireland. This show focuses on one of the most intriguing events of our medieval past, the Battle of Athenry in 1316. This conflict occurred during one of the most fascinating wars in Irish history - the Bruce Invasion of 1315-18. In May 1315, a Scots army led by Edward Bruce, brother to the King of Scotland, invaded Ir...

This episode is a whistlestop tour through medieval Ireland stopping off at battlefields along the way, taking a look at the top five turning points as I see them. This podcast will introduce some of the key characters from Irish history, some of whom are well known such as Strongbow and Brian Boru, others less well-known but equally fascinating such as Flann Sinna and William 'Liath de Burgh...

Honour was all important in Ireland in 1300 A.D. Unsurprisingly when a miller, Walter de Capella, insulted the mistress of John Thebaud it sparked a row between the two men. This row escalated and within a few short weeks a vicious and ultimately violent feud broke out. This podcast tells the story of the previously untold, hair-raising story of medieval honour, violence and justice... Become...

Today, the long forgotten ruins of the medieval fortress and town of Castlekevin, are situated in a remote valley in the Wicklow mountains. In the early 14th century this was the epicentre of a ferocious struggle between Gaelic Irish and Norman Colonists in the Wicklow Mountains. This podcast charts the long and bloody battle for survival at Castlekevin when the surrounding region became a warzone...