The Troubles Podcast

1972 was by far the worst year of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, in terms of death toll. 476 people lost their lives and over half of that number was civilians. It was also the year where the IRA staged their largest ever day of bombings. In the space of 80 minutes, the IRA detonated 22 bombs in and around Belfast, turning the city into a warzone. This is the story of Bloody Friday. SOURCES:The...

June 18th, 1994 in the small village of Loughinisland the Northern Irish county of Down. There was a crowd of people in the tiny heights bar, watching the Republic of Ireland play Italy in the 1994 World Cup. At 10 minutes past 10, two men dressed in boiler suits and balaclavas walked into the bar. They were armed with assault rifles, and as they walked in, they shouted ‘Fenian Bastards’ and then...

Rose Dugdale is an Englishwoman born into an extremely wealthy family and had a comfortable, lavish life ahead of her. But instead, she chose to join the IRA and stage an ambitious bombing raid and one of the most talked-about art heists in Irish History.  This is her story. SOURCES:Article about the art theft:https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rose-dugdale-the-british-heiress-who-joined-the-ira-s...

October 5th, 1974 in the small town of Guildford, England. It was a Saturday evening and the pubs were packed full of people, who were relaxing after a week spent working. The Horse and Groom was one of the more popular pubs in the town as it was rumoured to have the cheapest pints around. Amidst the jovial atmosphere, a man and a woman slipped into the pub, stayed for one drink and then left. The...

This episode is based around the life of Billy Wright. He was one of the most prominent loyalist icons involved in the troubles. After waging war on the Nationalists and then clashing against the UVF, Wright went on to found his own paramilitary group called the Loyalist Volunteer Force, or LVF. There was a target on his head for many years, but no one expected that it would be inside the Maze Pri...

This episode focuses on the IRA's largest loss of life during the Troubles. The unit had planned on launching an attack on an RUC barracks, and were unaware that their every move was being watched. As they moved in to attack the barracks, the British SAS were lying in wait for them. SOURCES:Excellent documentary which features the Loughgall Ambush:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8228Jv4paQ&ab_cha...

As British counter intelligence improved, the IRA began to think of different methods of waging war against the British Army and Northern Irish Police Force. They began using humans as bombs and this all came to a head on the night of October 24th 1990.SOURCES:Harrowing account from Patsies wife, Kathleen:http://wavetraumacentre.org.uk/stories_from_silence/kathleen-gillespie/Information regarding...

The Troubles Podcast is back for Season Two. Starting December 1st, episodes will be then released every second week. Thanks again for my Patreons who supported me during the time off. I had plenty of time to research and write episodes during the three months between seasons. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

John Hume was one of the most important individuals throughout the Troubles. He spent decades of his life campaigning for a civil solution to the never ending violence in Northern Ireland and helped to navigate the path to peace, earning himself a Nobel Peace prize along the way. He passed away on August 3rd 2020 and this episode is being recorded shortly after his death, as people all over the wo...

It was the 27th of December, 1973 when there was a knock on the door of the Niedermayer residence. It was late at night and 16 year old Renate answered the door. There were two men there, who told her to get her father as they had hit his car with theirs. She went upstairs and woke her father up. He walked out his front door and was never seen alive again. Crises Helplines:Ireland, Northern Irelan...

It was rush hour on Friday evening in Dublin City. Traffic was heavy and because of a bus strike there were a lot more people milling about the streets, heading home from work. At 28 minutes past five the first bomb exploded and caused utter devastation on Parnell Street. Then, two minutes later a second one went off on Talbot Street. Two minutes after that a third bomb exploded. The bombs caused...

The South Armagh Sniping Campaign was a 7 year campaign that was a huge upset to the British Army. Soldiers were sniped from distances of up to 1 kilometre away and they never knew where or when the next bullet would fly. There was a palpable fear and tension for soldiers patrolling in South Armagh. But a ceasefire would give the British Army’s time to gather Intelligence as they narrowed in on fi...

Ian Paisley was one of the most influential individuals involved in the Troubles. He fiercely protected Protestant and Unionist interests in Northern Ireland and flat out refused to even talk with Nationalists for decades. His thundering speeches embodied the style and power of Martin Luther King and his influence also led to the rise of loyalist paramilitary groups.  He was the ultimate ‘no’ man...

Though the IRA attacked places in northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, they sometimes ventured further and their plan to bomb the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is one such example. What happened in Gibraltar, and the chain of killings that followed in Northern Ireland, is one of the most shocking examples of the tit for tat violence that encapsulated the darkest days of the troubles...

Maze Prison was seen by many as Europe’s most secure prison. It was a prison within a detention centre within an army camp, and believed to be completely impenetrable by any one prisoner. That was until September in 1983, when the IRA successfully pulled off the largest prison escape in British and Irish History. A massive thank you to the following Patreons who helped make this episode possible:...

It was a Saturday afternoon in the Northern Irish town of Omagh. With just two weeks before school was due to start, many parents were out with their children getting school uniforms. A red Vauxhall was parked in the centre of the town. Inside the car were two men, and a 500 pound bomb. The men armed the bomb and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. What happened next would become the single...

It was Sunday, January 30th 1972. Thousands of people from the city of Derry had gathered to March, protesting the new internment policy happening in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile on the other side, soldiers from the first battalion of the British Parachute Regiment were preparing to monitor the march, looking for any signs of paramilitary activity. Though it was meant to be a peaceful march, there...

This episode is a bit different that the regular ones. It is a 'primer episode to explain a number of different things related to how England ended up in Ireland and how the Troubles began in the first place. Here are the timestamps, if you want to hear about a particular part:The invasion of Ireland and history of British colonialism in Ireland: 01:24The build up to the start of the Troubles and...

The Shankill Butchers were a group of people who terrorized the streets of Belfast for seven years. They would pick up unsuspecting Catholic men off the street and then brutally torture them with butcher knives before killing them and dumping their bodies. This episode follows the activity of the gang, from formation to their eventual capture and what happened to those who evaded authorities. Here...

As the IRA moved their bombing campaign into England, they set their sights on the Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher. They came incredibly close to killing her which inspired them to ramp up their bombing campaign in Great Britain. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Birmingham Pub Bombings were one of the deadliest bombings carried out during The Troubles so the hunt was on to find the individuals responsible. On top of the tragic loss of life, six men found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up serving sentences for crimes they had nothing to do with See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your a...

The band had just finished playing to a packed dance hall in the town of Banbridge in Northern Ireland. After the show, they hopped in their van and drove back towards Dublin. Until they were stopped by what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. The events that would unfold would shock the entire island of Ireland. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your a...

Lord Louis Mountbatten loved to spend his summers on the west coast of Ireland. The British Royal thought he was safe in the Republic of Ireland and that the violence was only in Northern Ireland. The IRA had other plans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices