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Recording the Revolution - The Harlan Strauss Tapes

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In 1972, Harlan J Strauss, a young American PhD student, came to Ireland and interviewed veterans of the Irish independence struggle - men and women, at this point in their 70s and 80s, who shared their experiences, sometimes for the first time. These audio recordings sat in Harlan's attic in Washington, DC for decades, unpublished and unheard. In 2022, Harlan brought them to Dublin and deposited them at the National Folklore Collection at UCD. This podcast explores the things those people said and how those who lived through the Irish revolution saw it fifty years after the fact. Harlan’s tap...

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Episodes

Ernest Blythe. Episode 5 of Recording the Revolution - The Harlan Strauss Tapes. 15.04.2025 1:00:07

In the final episode of 'Recording the Revolution', Conor and Harlan return back to the archive and pluck their final tape, which is Harlan's interview with Irish politician and managing director of the Abbey Theatre, Ernest Blythe. Ernest Blythe reflects on his early years in the IRB, the role he played in the Free State's execution of Anti-treaty IRA members and his views on the partition of Ire...

Maire Comerford. Episode 4 of Recording the Revolution - The Harlan Strauss Tapes. 02.04.2025 58:52

In this week’s episode of 'Recording the Revolution', Conor and Harlan are discussing Harlan's fascinating interview with Maire Comerford. One of two women who were interviewed by Harlan, Maire played a highly active role in the Irish revolution and can be described as one of the more radical, committed, and persistent revolutionaries from this period. Maire Comerford was interviewed on 14 March 1...

James M Dillon. Episode 3 of Recording the Revolution - The Harlan Strauss Tapes. 26.03.2025 1:01:02

In this week's episode of 'Recording the Revolution', Conor and Harlan are taking a look at Harlan's interview with James M Dillon, the former leader of Fine Gael from 1959 to 1965 and son of the Home Rule MP John Dillon. James Dillon sheds light on what life was like during the Irish Revolutionary period and talks about his time spent in the Dail from the 1930s onwards. James Dillon was interview...

Christopher Brady. Episode 2 of Recording the Revolution - The Harlan Strauss Tapes. 19.03.2025 47:38

In this week’s episode of 'Recording the Revolution', Conor and Harlan pluck their second tape from the archive and discuss Harlan's illuminating interview with the printer of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, Christopher "Christy" Brady. Christopher Brady reminisces on his time spent in Liberty Hall, his conversations with James Connolly and the secrecy surrounding the printing of the Procl...

General Sean MacEoin. Episode 1 of Recording the Revolution - The Harlan Strauss Tapes. 12.03.2025 1:00:18

In our first episode of Recording the Revolution, Conor and Harlan sit down with Catherine O’Mahony, a producer at Scratch Films. Catherine and Aine O'Neill were working on a project several years ago when a source, Jim Dolan, told them about an interview transcript in his attic. Within days, Catherine and Aine had tracked down the interviewer Harlan Strauss and flew to Berlin to meet him, startin...

Introduction to 'Recording the Revolution' with Heather Delaney and Dr Conor Mulvagh 10.03.2025 24:46

In this episode, series editor Heather Delaney talks to historian Dr Conor Mulvagh and finds out all about the Harlan Strauss tapes and why they are such an important archive.