TwoMacs Podcast

Send us Fan Mail As the Ladies club finals beckon this weekend, we're joined by All Star recipient Lynette McShane (Hughes) one of the most decorated players in Tyrone. Lynette recalls playing and winning championships with her mother in Carrickmore, the Tyrone years and crossing The Mountains of Pomeroy and joining the Fianna club to lift another championship medal, on a day brings back very...

Send us Fan Mail The conversation begins with Kieran fondly remembering his parents and their decision to send him from home in West Belfast to boarding school at St Michael's College Omeath. The year was 1969 and the Troubles were looming. He and Martin also pay tribute to their much missed friend Paddy Herron, whom Kieran first met at St Patrick's College Armagh. Eventually Kieran beca...

Send us Fan Mail Tony Donnelly It was a pleasure to chat with an old 'mature student' Queens' university friend Tony Donnelly from Galbally. Great memories, with loads of laughs along the way, remembering going back to learning in our 30s. Tony stayed with the spade while Ronan went digging with a pen, to paraphrase Seamus Heaney.  Also, our journeys into hurling, albeit we never sw...

Send us Fan Mail School - the best days of your life? As the children go back to school, the Two Macs recall those days way back filled with a mix of fear, foreboding and fondness. From a coathanger used to wield punishment, the dreaded yellow bed, there were also wonderful teachers and memories of quirky songs, poems and offbeat incidents. Remembering a school yard bully and a nun who got a taste...

Send us Fan Mail 'Identity' - a word very much in vogue these days - is examined by the TwoMacs whose formative years were the 1970s. Struggling to keep up with ever-changing political correctness, the discussion includes men with pushchairs, insults, whether the 'n'-word can be used in context, a social experiment proposal to walk hand-in-hand on Main Street and a student who...

Send us Fan Mail From Essex to Newmills & Brackaville GAA club via United Arab Emirates,  Andy Griggs is doing all he can to make the world a better place.  Tragically his 19-year-old son Joshua, a talented young Gaelic footballer and coach, died three years ago. His passing and that of Andy's young friend Joshua Green was an inspiration for Camp Joshua that has a variety of sports and ho...

Send us Fan Mail Martin talks to Damian 'mor' O'Neill, the local Irish language worker, about Irish culture. They discuss history, literature and sport and uncover some curious but little known stories of old. As Damian says of history, "Staire casta é" - that is, it's complex, twisted... The book Martin reads from at the start of the podcast is The Fitzgeralds and th...

Send us Fan Mail Sport has the power to let us forget our troubles for a while as we bask in the excitement of human endeavour, courage and competition.  However charlatans, shysters and cheats also taint great competitions. The TwoMacs recall fantastic Olympic memories and heroes going back decades, as well as the darker side with those who cheated their way to the podium. We also recall cyclists...

Send us Fan Mail Gerry Goodwin - a Tyrone GAA duel star. Gerry from Dungannon starred at football and hurling, winning a minor All Ireland in 1973 and remarkably the All Ireland Poc Fada in 1982, beating off the challenge of Limerick legend Pat Hartigan. He later managed Eglish camogs to their first Ulster title and continues to spread the hurling gospel to young people at the Eoghan Ruadh club. ...

Send us Fan Mail Dream or nightmare? Recorded before Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump: Children in the USA pledge allegiance to "one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Is America an utopia upholding justice for all; as it appears to be more divided than ever. The TwoMacs also discuss 'The American dream' which for many...

Send us Fan Mail Football Crazy Martin and Ronan recall falling in and out of love with soccer with memories of Pele and the 1970 Brazil team, George Best, Rodney Marsh and other football genuises. The GAA ban on 'foreign games' is recalled, a love affair with Everton that turned sour and a boyhood visit to Highbury.

Send us Fan Mail This week one of the Macs has a birthday when he turns 64. Happy birthday Ronan! In this weeks episode Ronan and Martin look at the passage of time and the nature of nostalgia and about the benefits of living well in the now.

Send us Fan Mail "Ronan talks to GAA stalwart Audi Hamilton. Audi talks about growing up in Dungannon, his great memories of playing in O'Neill park for the 'Clarkes' and going on to play for Tyrone under his great friend and mentor Art McCrory. Audi also talks about his time in America the friendships he has forged thru the GAA and the peace he has found as he enjoys his grand...

Send us Fan Mail Martin and Ronan chat about their experiences with religion and religious life 

Send us Fan Mail Ronan & Martin talk about their love of writing. Both are published writers and in Ronan's car an award winning newspaper columnist.

Send us Fan Mail Ronan and Martin chat about the movies (films) that have had an influence on them over the years and also about 'Coalisland Cinema' the picture house down the line which was an important institution in the town from the 1920's until the mid 80's 

Send us Fan Mail Martin J McGuinness in conversation with Kevin Hanna. Kevin has  great stories to tell starting with his early life in Derrytresk then moving to England for work where in encountered the former Man United manager Alex Ferguson while working on his house to bringing his father Dick to visit a big house in England to saving a life on the Blackwater to a tale about 'The Bucking...

Send us Fan Mail Ronan & Martin chat about the music that has been the soundtrack of their lives.

Send us Fan Mail Old friends from Tyrone Ronan MccSherry & Martin J McGuinness in conversation