Irish Life & Lore - Voices from the Archive

This podcast features Denis O'Neill who is the last in the family line to manage the Winstanley Shoes business which closed in the 1980s. He gives a detailed insight into the business which was based in The Liberties, and illustrates a Dublin business life which has now gone forever. This is the first in a series of podcasts on old Dublin family businesses.   Along with the Winstanley Shoes b...

This podcast provides a truly fascinating glimpse of the game of hurling in Kilkenny during the 20th century.  You will hear the voices of some of the county's great hurlers as they recall details of some memorable sporting occasions. Willie Lynch Walsh recounts stories from Civil War days, and Martin White recalls playing in the famous 1931 All Ireland Final.  Three matches were played befor...

The wonderful entertainment enjoyed in various venues around Cork city in earlier decades is recalled in this podcast which features the voices of many of the participants and performers.  These people were hugely passionate about their craft and provided enormous entertainment, wit, humour and banter in the city, and the memories of those glorious nights in the Cork Opera House, the Group Theatre...

Each year on St. Stephen's Day, December 26th, sees the tradition of people in towns and villages in Ireland dress up in costume which includes a straw head covering, and parade through the streets behind a local band.   This is a tradition which has remained unbroken for centuries and is still very strong in Dingle, Co. Kerry. Muiris Rohan discusses the Wren Boys of Dingle, and playwright an...

This podcast tells a fascinating story about the Irish artist Sean Keating RHA (1889-1977) and his iconic painting Men of the South.  The work captures a time of turmoil in Ireland and  features men from the North Cork Flying Column as they wait in ambush for a British military group.  Keating created the painting at his Kildare Street, Dublin studio in 1922. He had painted the Flying Column some...

The computer is the single most significant factor to contribute to the world of communications which we inhabit today, but when did this technology arrive in Ireland? In this podcast you will hear the voices of some of those who were instrumental in this endeavour, people such as engineer, Michael Haydon who occupied several top management positions and who discusses rural electrification; John B...

In 2000, an oral history project was undertaken by Irish Life and Lore www.irishlifeandlore.com on the Battle of Jadotville.  Some of the survivors of the battle were recorded for the project.   Between 1960 and 1964 the Irish Army forces were involved in a peacekeeping mission with the UN in the Congo.   On 13th September 1961, A Company 35th Platoon, numbering 152 men under the command of Kerrym...

Grattan de Courcy Wheeler, who sadly passed away in August 2020, was brought up at the Drummin family estate near Carbery, Co. Kildare. I met Grattan initially in 2009 while researching for the Irish Country House Oral History Collection, and was immediately taken by his gentle manner and warm hospitality.  Drummin House was wonderfully atmospheric and, on entering, I felt as though I was taking a...

The Supernatural encompasses entities, events and places which would fall outside the scope of scientific understanding of the natural laws of nature. Included would be supernatural beings such as the banshee, the fairies, angels, spirits, gods, and the human ability to create magic, experience premonitions and utilise telepathetic messaging. All the people whose voices can be heard in this podcas...

Halloween has been celebrated in Ireland for thousands of years, originating from the Pagan festival of Samhain which marked the beginning of the dark half of the year.  It was believed that spirits and other unworldly beings could visit our mortal world at Halloween, and roam far and wide around the countryside. The recordings you will hear in this podcast were compiled with people who were witne...

In this podcast you will hear the voices of three Kerry people who, during their lives, were exposed to great danger and were lucky to survive to tell their stories. Sr. Noreen Dennehy who assisted Mons. Hugh O'Flaherty in Rome during WW2 while he was sheltering Jews in the Vatican from the Nazis. Jim O'Carroll, who loved soldering and joined the Scottish Commando unit of the British Arm...

Through the 20th c. young Irish men and women joined religious orders with a view to working on as missionaries around the world.  The countries they worked in were often at war, famine-ridden or suffering through enormous social injustice. In 2011, the Irish Missionary Union commissioned us to compile an oral history collection to record the experiences of 150 retired Irish missionaries who displ...

This podcast relates to Ballynure, Grangecon, Co. Wicklow, and to two brothers, David Reid Scott and Malise Reid Scott.  The brothers were brought up by their grandparents, Mr and Mrs. Christopher Mitchell, in a Victorian setting at Ballynure in the 1950s. Through soundclips from lenghty recordings compiled with David and Malise, you will hear details of life as it was lived at the very end of an...

The introduction of railways to Ireland opened up the country for the first time, as people and goods were transported easily from village and town.  Each and every unique line had its own charm and appeal. This podcast provides an audio snapshot of railway people who speak passionately about their work and their many experiences of the railways. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

The famine years of 1846/1847 in Ireland marked a period of devastation, mass starvation, disease, emigration and death.  Over one million people died and a similar number emigrated, mainly to America. In this podcast you will hear the voices of people who are just a generation removed from those who lived through that harrowing period in our history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

In this Part 2 of The Lives of Irish Racing People edition, you can listen to the voices of more of the greats of the Irish Thoroughbred industry, including the late T.P.Burns who was born in 1924; Tommy Murphy who worked for Vincent O'Brien at Ballydoyle from 1974; Maureen Mullins who married Paddy Mullins in 1954 and they ran the business together; Barbara Collins, a trainer for more than h...

On this podcast you will hear stories from inside the walls of Irish castles and Great Houses, told by the families who once, or indeed still, live there. Included are the late John Desmond Oulton formerly of Clontarf Castle; Helen Horgan, nee Simpson, formerly of Ballymaloe Country House in Cork, and the late Myrtle Allen, also of Ballymaloe.  Gerald Spring Rice, Baron Monteagle, who lived in Mou...

The voices you will hear on this podcast are those of close family members of the executed leaders in the Rising: Patrick Pearse and Willie Pearse, Michael Mallin, Con Colbert and Thomas McDonagh. The late Alex Findlater relates details about his grandfather, Captain Henry deCourcy Wheeler, who took the surrender from some of the leaders at outposts around Dublin, and James O'Carroll, grandne...

In Kerry the Civil War was a bitter and divisive conflict, with atrocities committed by both sides.  The voices you will hear on this podcast will recall incidents in Kerry during that time, including the landing of Free State personnel at Fenit and the march to Tralee; the Ballyseedy massacre, the fatal shooting on the Connor Scarteen brothers in Kenmare and also recalled is the land agitation du...

Hear the voices of well known personalities in the Irish Thoroughbred Horse Racing industry as they describe their passion for the sport.   Breeder and trainer Clem Magnier (b.1917), Kevin Prendergast, son of the legendary breeder and trainer Darkey, Breeder and trainer Gita Weld and her son Dermot Weld, jockey and trainer Fonsie O'Brien, brother of the renowned Vincent O'Brien and Vince...

This podcast illustrates remarkable stories about two important and colourful figures in Irish history. Pierce Mahony, The Mahony of Kerry, and Arthur Vickers, Ulster King of Arms and Keeper of the Irish Crown Jewels. Both men lived at Kilmorna House in North Kerry at different times from the 1870s to the early 20th century, while the visitors book sat in the hallway at Kilmorna. Visitors to the h...

On 6th December 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in London by the Irish delegation which included Michael Collins, and the British Government.  Less than a year later, on 22nd August 1922, Collins was killed during an ambush at Beal na Blath  in Co. Cork. In this podcast, listen to the voices of the grandnephew of Collins, the late Michael Collins Powell, the late Harry Boland, nephew of Ha...

On 28th November 1920, members of an IRA Flying Column led by Tom Barry ambushed members of the Auxiliaries at Kilmichael in West Cork in which sixteen Crown forces were killed.  Two IRA members also died. The event was politically and militarily significant and marked a turning point in the fight for freedom. A West Cork Flying Column member, Dan Donovan, recalls the event, and on location at the...

12th November 1920 was a day of terrible violence in Dublin. Early that morning, in an operation  organised by Michael Collins,   the IRA,assassinated twelve British Intelligence agents in their homes in Dublin, and in the afternoon, in retaliation, fourteen civilians were shot by Crown Forces during a GAA game in Croke Park. Eyewitness accounts are provided by Eileen Doyle and Col. Sean Clancy, a...