Irish Spirits

We're back! For one night, and one night only...and for a devilishly good time! Chatting all things satanic, we have reunited for a one-off special this Halloween to chat all things the devil in Ireland! Of course paired with a specially crafted cocktail by our phantom bartender, Alex - he concocted a more palatable version of a 'scaltheen'   A drink that would make the Hellfire Clu...

It's our Season 2 finale!!! And we thought we'd end it with a bang taking on a juggernaut of Irish folklore - The Leprechaun! In what was paired with a fittingly novelty cocktail, this episode delved into the story behind the sprightly little miser and how he's perceived today.  From throwing babies on the floor to discovering he has a degenerate cousin, we hit nearly every corner o...

We hope you had a great spooky season! In a return to our usual haunted content, we decided to revisit the haunted castles of Ireland! In what was Haunted Castles P.2: Apple of my Evil Eye, we focused on everything from disruptive ghosts to enchanted orchards - the latter inspired our phantom bartender Alex to concoct an apple-heavy cocktail, you can catch the recipe on our Instagram @irishspirits...

In a very different direction for the show, we delved into literary history (both Laura & Caoimhe were delighted!) and just how haunted writers of the Victorian period were... Focusing predominantly on occultists, we dived into palmistry, automatic writing & clairvoyance in 19th century Ireland. 'Honey, I Contacted the Dead' couldn't be any more apt as we look at famous Iris...

Green fingers at the ready, this episode was all about Hedgewitches & Herbalists washed down with Alex's twist on a classic Gin & Tonic We dived into the world of Ireland's herbalists of yore from featuring witches like Biddy Early and her 'blue bottle' to giving you an alternative cure for warts - this episode was rooted in the 19th century. We chatted about witch vs....

Our mid-season break is over!! After a little R&R we came back with one of our creepiest episodes yet, all about Our Lady's Hospital/St Kevin's/ Cork Lunatic Asylum in Shanakiel, Cork. Why so creepy? We had for the first time, in person anecdotes - special guest: Matt from the Cork Supernatural Society. Matt very kindly joined us to regale us with past investigations at the site and...

This week's cocktail may be a tongue twister but it went down so easy...too easy you might say! Which was good because we were finally reunited in person!! If that means our audio is a little off it is because we were back in Caoimhe's kitchen! This week we headed back to the water and dove into the world of sea & lake monsters in Ireland.  From the Irish version of the kelpie to gia...

We are finally back!! Minus ghostly intrusions, thank all of the ghouls...and we are back with a very indulgent cocktail...The Hotel In-Spectre Whether hotels remind you of summer holidays, your own indulgence or just a place to rest your head, we made a point in this episode that sleeping is beside point as we trundled through some of the most haunted hotels in Ireland! Get your notebooks ready i...

Welcome to Irish Spirits, a fortnightly podcast about folklore and drinking, a natural Venn diagram of Irish culture.  Hosted by writer - Caoimhe Creed, historian - Laura Fitzachary and alcohol aficionado -  Alex Buckley, each week we will have a theme. Whether it’s ghosts, fairies or mythical creatures, we will discuss the stories and lore, all while drinking a themed cocktail made by our phantom...

What … no cocktail?!?!  Sadly we tried and tried to record this week’s episode but the connection was well and truly haunted !!  So instead, please enjoy our mini-episode ‘The Interference Interlude’,  recorded across the country and narrated by our very own Laura! All three of us added to this episode chatting all things ghostly interference - I know we're hilarious...  While we pondered how...

An Irish twist on an Espresso Martini that had us up all night...just like the subject of our show this week: werewolves! Brew Moon, get it? Yea, we can't stop singing the song either ! We turned our attention to one of this island's longest standing lupine cryptids, focusing on everything from saints' curses to what exactly is a viral werewolf we found that the folklore is older th...

We know...ominous...but Season 2 continues and it's our first location based episode! We headed to the Garden County to delve into one of the most  haunted buildings in Ireland - Wicklow Gaol. First built in 1702, we tracked how the gaol functioned, expanded and dealt with criminals of all types who were locked up. You guessed it - it was bleak! From the unorthodox ways they disposed of bodie...

WE'RE BACK!!!!! Thank you for being so patient with us! You will hear all about what we got up to at the beginning of Episode I - Season 2!  This episode was called The Old Switcheroo and was all about Changelings in honour our Alex having just had a baby! (he's the cutest thing we have ever seen...but is he really a human? Caoimhe tested him with her very own quiz at the end of the show...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Lá Fheile Pádraig sona dhaoibh!) from our resident historian, Laura Fitzachary - though this mini-sode is more mythological than historical. Regaling you all with an origin story of St. Patrick's banished snakes and an epic battle he had with their mother,  she washed this bit of bonus content down with an experimental ale.  As part of their Spree Series, The Wh...

This episode was called Petronilla's Garden and it was our Season 1 finale!!! Focusing on the witch trials in Ireland (or lack there of) the cocktail that wrapped the season was inspired by the fate of Irish women accused of witchcraft! Brewed by ourselves, it was a 'herb-ful' concoction in which our resident mixologist Alex included; Aqua Vitae.  The original recipe belonging to th...

The episode was called 'The Ragged Boy' and was inspired by  the stories within what could be our scariest episode yet! Happy...Lent?! From a boy who repeats the last moments before his death over and over to the ghost of a girl you can feel skip by you on a staircase, this episode on Ghost & Demon children was...creepy. Think of hearing giggles in the house at 3am...but you have no...

This episode was called 'The Salt Bae' which we thought was an apt name for Irish lads who fall in love with women that were formerly seals. Yes, that's right this episode is all about the selkies, merrows and mermaids. We knew there was something fishy going on when Alex told us to get the mead and sherry in but as per usual the cocktail was delicious - check out our Instagram for...

This episode was called 'The Long, Dark & Full of Terrors' - but full of alcohol it was not! Our first ever non-alcoholic cocktail means everyone can drink along! We chose a different route   this week because of our theme: Haunted Roads & Fairy Paths (or any supernatural thoroughfare). From steering our way through anecdotes of apparitions appearing to motorists to exploring the...

Happy New Year! As we get  ready for our post-Christmas episodes please enjoy our third 'minisode' courtesy of resident bartender, Alex Buckley. He delves into why we call our local pubs, our local haunts... at one of Dublin’s most Haunted Pubs, John Kavanagh ’The Gravediggers’ in Glasnevin. The main sources used were Valentina Valentini writing for BBC Travel and Atlas Obscura http://ww...

Our Christmas special for you, this episode is called 'The Irish Coffee.' To round off what has been a year we will never forget Laura & Caoimhe (shout out to Alex who we will hopefully be reunited with soon) talked about about the more unusual side to Christmas traditions through the power of governmentally-advised socially-distanced workplace bubbles...truth. We washed this minisod...

This episode was called the Dark N' Stormy - so exactly like what the cocktail is actually called, but it just fit so perfectly with our theme: shipwrecks and their ghosts. One night after watching the movie  The Fog  it got us a wondering, surely an island will have more maritime based spirits to shake a stick at. We weren't wrong! Mainly caused by shipwrecks, Alex (our bartender) chose...

This episode we got well....sexy! When you think vampire, you may think, Tom Cruise or Robert Pattinson but we would  argue that vampires are inherently - Irish. We take what we call the dearg-diúlaí or 'red-blood drinkers' of Irish lore and  look at Dracula's Irish cousins in this episode. Indeed, we sink our teeth into the idea that Dracula was Irish after all. From the vampire tr...

In honour of the month of Samhain, this episode was all about...Samhain! and how Halloween in Ireland came to be. We went full on Celtic pagan by also drinking a la mas ubal   or 'Lambswool' a drink now known as 'wassailing.' This hearty drink was made by us separately but were virtually reunited by the power of the technology...it's good to be back! As always please drink...

 Unfortunately due to Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin, us as a trio couldn't meet up this week - again! We will get an episode out as soon as we can but in the meantime please enjoy another interlude by Laura Fitzachary as she expands a little on the lore surrounding Ross Castle, Co. Meath. The sources she used were ross-castle.com, Conor Pope writing for the Irish Times https://www.irishtime...

Unfortunately due to Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin, us as a trio couldn't meet up this week! We will get an episode out as soon as we can but in the meantime please enjoy this interlude by Caoimhe Creed as she regales you with a ghost story from dúchas.ie - National Folklore Collection. Check out what Caoimhe is drinking on our Instagram page @irishspiritspodcast and of course please drink...