Irish Life & Lore - Voices from the Archive

The Bellingham family originally settled at Castle Bellingham in Co. Louth in 1660. John Bellingham, a descendant, now lives in an early 19th c. house on the Hill of Howth, and he also owns the Glencara Estate in Westmeath. This podcast is made up of soundclips taken from the several recordings compiled with John Bellingham for Irish Life and Lore oral history collections.  The complete recordings...

In 2012, we at Irish Life and Lore compiled and archived 81 recordings for a Heritage Oral History Collection.  The recordings were arranged into various categories and are available on our website www.irishlifeandlore.com One of the categories is entitled The Irish Diaspora, and includes 10 recordings compiled in Toronto, Canada with business people who arrived from Ireland decades ago and set up...

Over the past thirty years we at Irish Life and Lore have recorded some of Ireland's best storytellers from around the country, and this week's episode features their voices. They include Joe Clinton from Margaretstown, Skerries in Dublin; Maisie Cooper from Limerick city;  Martin McMahon and Robin O'Connell from Meelick, Co. Clare; Eamon Kelly from Dublin and Gabriel Fitzmaurice fr...

This week's podcast celebrates the musicianship of one of Sliabh Luachra's great masters - Johnny O'Leary who passed away in February 2004.  He was the custodian of the tradition handed down to him by Padraig O'Keeffe and Denis Murphy. Sliabh Luachra extends  from East Kerry and North Cork to West Limerick.  In 2003 I visited Dan O'Connell's pub in Knocknagree and rec...

Bishop Eamon was recorded at his home in Shanaglish in Co. Galway in 2006.  This podcast includes soundclips from these recordings.  He discusses his time as Bishop of Kerry from 1969, his chairmanship of Trocaire 1973, his tenure of Bishop of Galway, his meeting with Pope John Paul 11 during his visit to Ireland in 1979,  being confronted by the media, his time in Equador, his interview with the...

This podcast reflects the first section of Eamon Casey's story, told in his own words.  Parts 2 and 3 will follow. Eamon recalls his childhood and early life in Adare, Co. Limerick, his decision to become a priest, his ministry in his parish in Limerick city, his involvement in the Irish Chaplaincy Scheme in England from 1959 to 1969. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

Two significant ambushes took place in Kerry during the War of Independence;  The Lispole Ambush of 21st March 1921 and the Ballymacandy Ambush of 1st June 1921. The details of the ambushes are set out by two members of the old IRA, both of whom took part.  Dan Keating and John Scannell give eyewitness testimonies of the events, and also speak about the days prior to the ambushes and the aftermath...

The paper mill was located beside the Camac River, and it was established in the early 19th century by Thomas Seery & Son.  The fresh, clean water of the Camac was ideal for use in paper making, and the business thrived during the Great War.  It went downhill thereafter and closed in 1922. The paper mill reopened in 1937 when a change in government came about.  Eamon deValera was instrumental...

In 1901 John Pearson and Joseph Smith began to manufacture gates and fencing.  Their showrooms and offices were situated at 47 Dawson Street, Dublin. The company exported high quality ironwork to the British colonies and to South America, and their business expanded to manufacture structural steelwork. T his podcast explores the challenges and successes experienced by the company before it fell in...

This is a story worth telling as Bewley's restaurant has been such an important part of the cultural life of Dublin life for so many years.  A landmark in Grafton Street, the restaurant was run by several generations of the Bewley family who are of the Quaker tradition.   The business was sold in 1980 to Campbell Catering. Telling the intriguing story of Bewley's you will hear the voices...

The first Plantation of West Cork took place in the 1580s, and continued into the 17th century.   The English Crown hoped to create English settlements which could be defended in the area as they had been in the broader region of Ireland. The planters were given vast acreages of land which formed the origins of the great Anglo-Irish estates which were to survive for centuries. During the War of In...

This podcast was compiled in response to an email we received recently from a descendant of Robert Travers, an officer serving under Murrough O'Brien, Lord Inchiquin at the Battle of Knocknanuss which took place outside Kanturk, Co. Cork in November 1647 during the Irish Confederate Wars.  Having downloaded and listened to our Irishlifeandlore.com oral history recordings which relate the deta...

In 1949 in Germany, Hans Liebherr invented the tower crane, and he later commissioned the first Liebherr factory outside of Germany with the intention of gaining a foothold in the British and American markets. A site on the outskirts of Killarney was decided upon for the facility which would manufacture tower cranes, followed by container, shipyard and special cranes. In this podcast, it is explai...

While working on an oral history project in 2011 to record the children of those who played a central role in the 1916 Rising, Maurice O'Keeffe of Irish Life and Lore ( www.irishlifeandlore.com ) travelled to Hong Kong to meet and record Fr. Joseph Mallin, son of executed revolutionary Michael Mallin. The late Fr. Joseph Mallin worked as a Jesuit Missionary in Hong Kong.  While there Maurice...

Our Irish Life and Lore archive contains some amazing personal testimonies from nurses who served in wartime Britain.  In this podcast can be heard the voices of four remarkable women who volunteered to serve with the British forces during wartime. They displayed incredible courage under dreadful conditions, and we are privileged to have recorded their stories. Maura Morphey served in the Queen Al...

T he Blacksmith's Forge was once an important landmark in every town and village in Ireland, and the forge itself was an integral part of the community where news was passed on and discussed and humour was often paramount.  These days are now long departed, but this podcast helps to relive those times in our past.   The voices you will hear are those of: Jim Corrigan of Kinnity, Co. Offaly Bi...

We were privileged to have been given the opportunity to record Kerryman John Moriarty during the year prior to his passing, in 2007.  He was recorded at length about his life, his writings and his beliefs. We were prompted to create this podcast having received an email from Canada in which the writer stressed the importance of getting the voice of John Moriarty, and details of his life's wo...

With this podcast we take a step back in time to when the Irish landscape was dotted with large country estates and Big Houses.  The wooded demesnes of many of these houses still remain, though the houses may have disappeared.  Many of the houses which survive have taken on a new life. Without the butler, the cook, the footman, the housekeeper, the gardener, gamekeeper and gillie, none of the the...

Over many years Maurice O'Keeffe of Irish Life and Lore has travelled the roads of Ireland meeting and compiling oral history recordings with members of the farming community for our organisation Irish Life and Lore.  The changes witnessed on Irish farms during the 1950s and 1960s are recalled and discussed in these recordings.  During these years the farming women worked just as hard as did...

Over the past few years I have been recording those who made a contribution towards the development of Ireland since the foundation of the State in 1922.  I wanted to record people who inspired in the field of architecture, resulting in an improvement in the quality of all our lives.  The Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland supported this oral history project. The members of the RIAI whose vo...

In Ireland bogs are found in various regions, mainly in the midlands. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the British government began to encourage the development of Ireland's peatlands, and the improvement of the quality of turf for fuel.  In the 1930s the government of the Irish Free State formed the Turf Development Board, later to become Bord na Mona. In this podcast you will hear...

Scattery Island is situated at the mouth of the River Shannon on the west coast of Ireland.  It has a long and rich history.  The island is associated with St. Senan since the 6th century, and in the 9th century it was home to the Vikings. For centuries Scattery was an ecclesiastical seat of learning, and in the 19th century river pilots and their families settled there, and remained until the las...

In 2011 we were commissioned by Trinity College Dublin to compile an oral history collection. 88 people were recorded, many of whom have since passed away. The voices you will hear on this podcast are those of former academic staff, former students and domestic staff. Joseph Haughton, Fellow Emeritus, Prof. Geography Leslie Greer, Graduate French and German Lyndall Luce, widow of Prof. John Luce L...

In 1851 in Waterford city, Jacobs was set up, and some years later the business relocated to Bishop Street in Dublin. During the 1970s Jacobs merged with Boland's Biscuits to form Irish Biscuits Ltd., and the factory relocated to Tallaght on the Dublin outskirts.   This podcast reveals the many challenges and successes of the company over the years.  The voices of Jonathan Bewley and Michael...

Trevor Wood tells a fascinating story of his family business in this podcast.  Beginning by recalling his father Leonard Wood, a true entrepreneur who set up the business in Dublin, trading under the name of Burwoods, and retailing early radios and crystal sets.    In 1927 he opened a business in Merchants St., and in 1932 the business name became Burwoods and L.R.Wood Wholesale. In 1938 L.R.Wood...