Irish History Podcast

William Joyce aka Lord Haw Haw was Ireland's most notorious Nazi. Raised in the west of Ireland he was an unlikely spokesman for Hitler's Third Reich. Nevertheless millions tuned in to his sinister broadcasts on behalf of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. This podcast follows his journey from Galway to Hitler’s Third Reich. In his teenage years, he acted as a scout for the Black and Tan...

In this episode I delve into the lasting impact of the Great Hunger on Ireland. Its often said that the Famine was a taboo subject and a 'Great Silence' surrounded the 1840s. In this podcast I challenge this myth and explore how grief, guilt, and trauma were expressed and processed by the survivors. Join me as I uncover the untold stories and voices that defy the myth of an unspoken past. I also a...

Within the space of a few years following the Great Hunger, hundreds of thousands of Irish emigrants settled in New York quickly becoming one of the largest communities in the city. These Irish emigrants are synonymous with slums, starvation, and misery; however, groundbreaking new research challenges this one dimensional stereotype. While poverty was central to the lives of many Irish immigrants...

In 1879 Vere Goold was a celebrity in Ireland. After winning Ireland’s first tennis championship, he reached the prestigious Wimbledon final later in the year. Exactly 30 years later he would die in the most notorious prison in the world – Devil’s Island. Known as the 'dry guillotine' the conditions in the French penal colony were horrendous. However few had sympathy for the Irish aristocrat....

Arthur Henri Poole was one of the most celebrated photographers in early 20th-century Ireland. An Englishman by birth, he was also most well-known figures in the city of Waterford where he lived for over four decades. In 1928 Poole disappeared almost without trace.  Even though he was well known in Waterford, it would be almost three years before many people in the city realised he was missin...

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. Eilee...

The camera never lies or does it? In this episode, I take a trip to the National Photographic Archive in Temple Bar, Dublin. Joining me is the archivist, Nora Thornton. Nora not only leads you through the history of photography from its earliest days but also delves into the murky history of image manipulation. It's much older than modern photoshopping. From your great-grandmother, who was eager t...

In 1170, the Norman Lord Strongbow landed an army in Ireland. The following day, he launched a deadly assault on the nearby city of Waterford. Before the day was out, Strongbow had not only conquered Waterford in a brutal assault but also made time for his wedding. This marriage changed Ireland forever. Discover how the marriage of Aoife, a seventeen-year-old, and Strongbow, a man in his mid-forti...

The 1930s stood out as one of the most dramatic decades in modern history. Fascism was on the rise, and Europe was hurtling towards the Second World War. However, it was a peculiar time in Ireland. The Revolutionary Era was firmly in the rearview, and the optimism and hope it once inspired had long faded. Irish society was increasingly dominated by the Catholic Church and conservative political fo...

In 1851 there were nearly 90,000 orphans in Irish Workhouses. Many of these children had lost their parents to hunger and disease. Others had been abandoned. This podcast explores the lives of these resilient children as they turned into young adults and rebelled against a world that had forsaken them... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Telling the time in hours and minutes seems so natural that we don’t even question where it came from. However it is a pretty recent development. For most of history our ancestors didn’t have clocks and understood time itself in a very different way. In this podcast we will journey back through the centuries to explore how our ancestors measured time. Its an intriguing story. In the medieval world...

On April 13th, 1922, three IRA volunteers chased a man through Central Park in New York. In front of dozens of witnesses, they shot him four times before escaping. This event marked the culmination of an international manhunt as the IRA tracked an informer across the world. In this episode, I am joined by New York Times Senior Editor Mark Bulik. During the interview, Mark shares the intriguing sto...

During the Great Hunger of the 1840s, vast sums of money were sent to Ireland by people across the world. One of the most remarkable stories is that of the First African Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. Even though many of the congregants were slaves, they still sent a donation. In this podcast, I interview Anelise Shrout, who shares this and other stories of remarkable generosity. Anelise al...

Through most of the 20th century, authorities in Ireland operated a strict censorship regime when it came to film. At its height, around one in every three films was censored in Ireland. The reasons for this are often hard to fathom today. Scenes that showed a dancer's legs or even a long kiss were often edited out. Allusions to sex were considered far too racy. And this was all before they even g...

In the late 1960s, Northern Ireland erupted into major violence, marking the opening phase of The Troubles. Over three decades, this conflict would claim thousands of lives and continues to dominate life in Ireland today. In my new exclusive supporters series, I am joined by Dr. Brian Hanley to explore how and why The Troubles began. This fascinating history begins in the 1920s when Northern Irela...

In the mid 19th century Mormonism was one of the fastest growing religions in the world. However when Mormon missionaries arrived in Ireland in 1840 they failed to establish a foothold. Over time Ireland gained a reputation as the most hostile country on earth for Mormons. This podcast explores why this was the case. The answer is the complexities of Irish identity, our relationship with Cath...

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...