Episodes
-
Britain’s Top Agents & The Spymasters Who Ran Them | John Ware, Troubles Journalist
Send us Fan Mail From the early years of the conflict up until the end, the British security forces had agents in both the Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups. This is the story of their two most famous agents, Freddie Scappiticci of the IRA and the UDA’s Brian Nelson. Legendary…
more -
TEACHING THE TROUBLES - Professor Tony Novosel
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Tony Novosel (Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences) is a historian and educator at the University of Pittsburgh and has dedicated decades to the study of the Northern Ireland conflict and particularly loyalism and political loyalism. Tony discusses the IRA split of 1969, how…
more -
The TRUTH About The SHANKILL BUTCHERS
Send us Fan Mail In this clip from our upcoming episode, historian and author, Dr. Gareth Mulvenna talks about some of the myths and half-truths that surround the Shankill Butchers, a group of UVF members who terrorized Belfast's catholic community during the height of the troubles. FULL EPISODE...
-
SOUTH ARMAGH IRA SHOOT AT IRISH COP - Ex Garda John O' Brien Tells His Story
Send us Fan Mail Retired Garda (Irish police) John O' Brien joins us once again, this time to discuss his career as a police officer during the most dangerous times in recent Irish history. He tells us about his posting in "the south" along the border with the conflicts' most notorious area…
more -
DERRY IRA MAN TELLS HIS STORY
Send us Fan Mail Christopher “Pinta” McKnight grew up in Derry’s Bogside as this city erupted in violence and as a 15 year old boy he lied about his age and joined the Provisional IRA. Chris talks to us about his life in the IRA which included moving weapons and explosives as a young member ,...
-
FEAR & LOATHING IN TROUBLES-BELFAST | LSD, Riots & Solidering in The IRA's Backyard | Stu Griffiths
Send us Fan Mail Stuart Griffiths is an ex-british paratrooper who was stationed in Belfast and East Tyrone during the late 80s/early 90s. His book “Pigs Disco” explores the sub-culture of hard dr*g use in his regiment including LSD and other substances which would get a soldier kicked out of the...
-
Son Of Stakeknife Victim Speaks Out | Paul Wilson On Father's PIRA M*rder & His Search For Answers
Send us Fan Mail In June 1987, Thomas Emanuel Wilson, a member of the Official IRA, was abducted and subsequently m*rdered by the Provisional IRA’s “nutting squad”. Like so many of the killings involving Freddie Scappaticci, better known as “Agent Stakeknife”, the victim was lifted and m*rdered…
more -
DID THE UVF ACT ALONE ?? | Irish Cop Investigates The Worst Attack of The Troubles | John O' Brien
Send us Fan Mail John O’Brien is a retired Detective Chief Superintendent of An Garda Síochána, the national police service of Ireland. Over the course of a distinguished policing career that spanned more than 38 years, he held a succession of senior operational and strategic leadership roles.…
more -
CATHOLIC PRIEST HELPS IRA PRISON ESCAPE | Ex-Republican Prisoner Tells The Story
Send us Fan Mail **NOT A CLIP FROM MARTIN'S LAST INTERVIEW** Ex-republcian prisoner Martin McAllister joins us again to share the story of one of the IRA's most brazen and risky one-man prison escapes, an escape that was masterminded & executed in the space of 2 hours. It resulting in an IRA man...
-
Ex-RUC Officer Reflects On A Career Spent In Conflict | Sam Thompson
Send us Fan Mail For the episode I’m joined by ex Royal Ulster Constabulary and PSNI officer Sam Thompson. Sam spent his teen years growing up in a 1970s Belfast and remembers seeing his city descend into chaos and violence as the conflict erupted. Despite this Sam elected to join the police…
more -
SOUTH ARMAGH IRA MAN TELLS HIS STORY | Prison Breaks, Ambushes and Robert Nairac | Martin McAllister
Send us Fan Mail For this episode I'm joined by ex- South Armagh man Martin McAllister who you may have seen in the recent BBC documentary on Captain Robert Nairac. Martin shares his experiences including guerrilla warfare in the fields of South Armagh, being part of one of the IRA's biggest…
more -
HUGH JORDAN - Journalist | D*ath Threats, Running Sources & Conflict in 1990s Belfast
Send us Fan Mail My guest for this week is long-time Belfast -based journalist, Hugh Jordan. Hugh explains what being a journalist was like during some of Belfast's most turbulent years as elements of the Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries tried to derail the peace-process and plunge the…
more -
The Man Who Led The Black & Tans | Churchill's Man in Ireland - Henry Tudor
Send us Fan Mail This week I'm joined by the author of "An Accidental Villain: A Soldier's Tale of War, Deceit and Exile", Linden MacIntyre. This book explores the life of Henry Hugh Tudor, a close friend of Winston Churchill who, during the height of Irish War Of Independence, was appointed as…
more -
FIGHTING TO FIND PEACE | Eamon McAuley's Story - Growing Up In Ardoyne During The Troubles
Send us Fan Mail My guest for this episode is Eamon McAuley, a former professional boxer from Ardoyne and author of “Fighting to Find Peace”. Eamon was born in Belfast just before “the troubles” erupted and has experienced a childhood unique to his place and time. From arms dumps on his street to...
-
IRELAND DURING WW2 - WHOSE SIDE WERE THEY REALLY ON ??
Send us Fan Mail For this episode I am joined by author and historian, John Crotty. John has researched extensively the subject of Irelands neutrality during WW2 and the actions the Irish govt took that broke neutrality in favor of the allied side. We discuss the efforts that the IRA of the time...
-
Martin Galvin Tells His Story | Adams, McGuinness & Did NORAID Fund The IRA ?
Send us Fan Mail Martin Galvin is the former publicity director of The Irish Northern Aid Committee, better known as "NORAID", and to many, the face of the group. A proud Irish-American, Martin joined NORAID in 1976 and, along-side his day job as a district attorney, worked tirelessly to bring...
-
The IRA's Secret American Army | How Irish America Armed The Provos & How The FBI/ATF Took Them Down
Send us Fan Mail My guest for this episode is Ali Watkins, author of “This Next One’s For You”, a book which explores the world of Irish-American gun-running in the early days of the troubles in Philadelphia and New York and how this impacted the conflict. We discuss Clan na Gael, an…
more -
WILL BLOODY SUNDAY'S "SOLDIER F" BE CONVICTED ? | Human Rights Lawyer Lays Out The Case
Send us Fan Mail For this special episode I’m joined by Ciaran Shiels, human rights lawyer for the Madden & Finucane law firm. For almost 30 years, Ciaran he has represented the majority of the Families and Wounded throughout the Saville Inquiry, the subsequent civil actions, and in all of the...
-
BELFAST LOYALIST JOHNNY ADAIR Tells His Story | UDA C. COMPANY, Collusion & Surviving IRA Sho*ting
Send us Fan Mail For this episode I'm joined by a man well known ex-loyalist paramilitary and one-time leader of the Lower Shankill Road's infamous UDA (Ulster Defence Association), Johnny Adair. Johnny speaks about his growing up in Belfast during some of it's most turbulent and violent times…
more -
BRITAIN'S BIGGEST MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE ? | The Story Of The Birmingham 6 | Chris Mullin
Send us Fan Mail For this week's episode I'm joined by ex-investigative journalist and MP, Chris Mullin, who though his efforts, was able to help free the falsely convicted Irishmen known as "the Birmingham 6". We speak about the sequence of events on the November 21st 1974 which left a mark on…
more -
JUSTICE FOR MY FATHER'S IRA M*RDER | Son Of Irish Prison Guard K*lled by IRA Tells His Story
Send us Fan Mail This week I’m joined by Austin Stack, son of murdered Portlaoise Maximum Secruity Prison Officer, Brian Stack, who was shot and later died after a planned IRA attack in 1983. Austin tells us about the night his father was shot, what his life was like in the 18 months between…
more -
MEETING "THE DISAPPEARED" - Irish Priest Gives (Last?) Confession To M*rdered IRA Man, Joe Lynsky
Send us Fan Mail This week I’m joined once again by Fr. Sean McManus, Fermanagh priest who shared with us the story of meeting IRA intel officer, Joe Lynsky prior to his eventual execution and the hands of his fellow Provos. Fr McManus didn’t know it at the time but it would transpire, decades...
-
MARTIN McGUINNESS & The DERRY IRA | Jon Trigg (Author of "Death In Derry") | The Troubles
Send us Fan Mail For this episode I’m joined once again by author and ex-solider, Jon Trigg to speak about his new book “Death In Derry” which tells the story of the Derry IRA and it’s perpetual leader, Martin McGuinness. Jon joined us last year when he released “Death In The Fields”, his…
more -
Women Of The Troubles | B*mbers, Assassins & Victims| Martin Dillon, Author
Send us Fan Mail For this episode I'm speaking with Martin Dillon, well renowned author and journalist who has spent his career writing about the conflict in the North of Ireland. Martin's latest book, "The Sorrow and The Loss" deals with the women of the troubles and how the conflict affected…
more -
HUNTING DESSIE O'HARE, IRA Training Camps & The Irish Special Forces | Kevin McDonald, Ex Irish Army
Send us Fan Mail My guest this week is ex Irish Defence Forces soldier Kevin McDonald. Kevin served in Irelands Special Forces during the conflict that rocked the island. Kevin tells us about his involvement in the one of the biggest man hunts in the state’s history when INLA kidnapper Dessie O’...
-
LOUGHLINISLAND MASSACRE | U.V.F , Collusion & Press Freedom |Trevor Birney
Send us Fan Mail On June 18th 1994 while watching Ireland play in the World Cup, 6 completely innocent men were slaughtered by a loyalist paramilitary gunman who sprayed the bar with an assault rifle in an act of cold blooded sectarianism. Trevor Birney's book, "Shooting Crows" tells the storey…
more -
BANDIT COUNTRY & THE SOUTH ARMAGH IRA | Toby Harnden (Author Of "Bandit Country")
Send us Fan Mail Toby Harnden is the author of one of the best-selling and well regarded books on the IRA and the troubles, “Bandit Country”. Toby’s book lifted the lid on the area where is was most dangerous to be a British soldier in during the conflict and the IRA brigade that made it that…
more -
NORTHERN IRELAND - "WHAT A BLOODY AWFUL COUNTRY" | How The Troubles Could Have Been Prevented
Send us Fan Mail Kevin Meagher's book "What A Bloody Awful Country" examines the creation of the state we know as Northern Ireland and how the 100 plus years of existence as gone. We discuss the reasons for partition in the first place, the sectarian violence during the state's early years, the...
-
IRA B*MBS, BOOBY-TRAPS & LOYALIST LEADERS | Violence In 1990s Belfast | Rob Millington
Send us Fan Mail Rob Millington, ex-british army trooper, spent 6 months in Belfast during the final decade of the conflict that gripped the lives of anyone in the 6 counties. Rob talks to us almost getting caught in an IRA b*mb which was set up to blow up security forces responding to sh*oting,...
-
INSIDE THE 1980 IRA/INLA HUNGER STRIKE | Long Kesh Prisoner & Hunger Striker, John Nixon
Send us Fan Mail John Nixon, ex-Offical IRA and INLA member begins this episode at the start of his second prison term in Long Kesh during which he would volunteer for the IRA/INLA Hunger Strike of 1980, led by Brendan “The Dark” Hughes. John speaks about the horrors and trauma of years in…
more -
PATROLLING BANDIT COUNTRY | South Armagh & Fermanagh IRA, Mortar Attacks & Mines | Ralph Brooker
Send us Fan Mail Ralph Brooker served in the British army touring Fermanagh, Derry and the infamous South Armagh, better known as "Bandit Country". Having spent the majority of his time in rural, border areas Ralph recounts the British army's constant attempts to counteract the IRA's ever…
more -
Mi6 SPY In Garda Special Branch | Patrick Crinnion & How Mi6 nearly Brought Down The Irish Govt.
Send us Fan Mail David Burke’s most recent book “Puppet Masters” shines a light on mysterious case of Patrick Crinnion, the garda (Irish police officer) who was passing information to Mi6 while he was in the Gardai’s secretive intel department. David, joining me for the third time, tells us about...
-
Mi6 SPY In Irish Dept. of Justice Offices- How High Up Did The Corruption Go ? | David Burke
Send us Fan Mail ****Q&A COMING SOON SO PLEASE SUBMIT ANY QUESTIONS YOU'D LIKE ANSWERED IN THE COMMENTS**** In a recent episode David Burke re-joined us to talk about the mysterious case of Garda Patrick Crinnion, a spy within the Garda Special Branch (Intel dept) who passed information to the...
-
INLA BLANKETMAN Tells The Inside Story of "BLANKET" & "NO-WASH" Protest | John Nixon - Part 2
Send us Fan Mail In part 2 of my interviews with ex-official IRA & INLA member, John Nixon. In this episode we discussed some of the INLA’s most prolific operations as well as some of the organizations most well known members including Seamus Costello and Dessie O’ Hare. (Part 1 -...
-
IRA's GREATEST JAILBREAKS | The Troubles, War Of Independence & more | James Durney, Author
Send us Fan Mail My guest for this week is James Durney, historian and author of “Jailbreak” which details the various “great escapes” perpetrated by Irish Republican prisoners from 1865 onwards into the 1980s. James tells us about the most daring and dangerous prison escapes, both successful and...
-
Policing The Troubles | East Tyrone, Belfast, Riots & Near-Death Experiences | Hilton McCabe, Ex-RUC
Send us Fan Mail Hilton McCabe served in the RUC in both East Tyrone and Belfast during the second half of the conflict we know as “the troubles”. Hilton tells us about policing rural East Tyrone and the horror of cleaning up body-parts after the one of the IRA’s most deadly roadside b*mb…
more -
SOUTH ARMAGH AGENT HANDLER | Recruiting & Running Informants In BANDIT COUNTRY| Ex-FRU Handler
Send us Fan Mail Ex-FRU agent handler "Will Britten" (alias) actively ran and recruited agents in South Armagh, one of the most dangerous places to be a British soldier during the conflict, in the 80s and is the author of "The Deadly Game". We speak in depth about the recruitment methods of the...
-
Witnessing His Father's IRA M*rder | Alan Miles' Story, Son of H-Blocks Deputy Governor Albert Miles
Send us Fan Mail In a recent episode I interviewed author Dan Lawton about his book focusing on the fallout from the murder of dept Governor, Albert Miles, of the infamous Maze Prison in November 1978 in which an innocent man was convicted. Alan Miles witnessed his father’s brutal murder as a…
more -
IRA's K*LLING FIELDS - The Story Of The EAST TYRONE IRA | Jon Trigg, Ex-British Army & Author
Send us Fan Mail Jonathan Trigg’s book “Death In The Fields” examines, in great detail, the infamous East-Tyrone IRA and how this rural group complied some of the republican’s biggest wins and conversely, their most devastating losses. We examine the early days of the unit and how they were…
more -
EX-RUC SPECIAL BRANCH HANDLER Tells His Story | Informers, IRA & M*rder | William Matchett
Send us Fan Mail William Matchett is an ex-RUC officer who spent years working in the secretive and murky world of informants and agents during his time in Special Branch while “the troubles” raged on. William shares with us his motivations for joining the RUC during such dangerous times, the...
-
CATHOLIC PRIEST on Capitol Hill Fighting For IRISH FREEDOM | Fr. Sean McManus
Send us Fan Mail **Sorry for the late upload my good people.. feel free to follow on YouTube where I'm a bit more on top of things** Fr Sean McManus hails from Co. Fermanagh but was sent, by his superiors in the Catholic, to America early in his career where he continued his fight for Irish...
-
BATTLING THE IRA & LOYALISTS IN TROUBLES-ERA BELFAST | SAS & DET. SURVEILLANCE OPERATOR Mick Hawkes
Send us Fan Mail Mick Hawkes is an ex-SAS soldier and 14th intel company (the Det.) operator who worked against the IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland as part of his military career. Mick tells us about the daily ins and outs of carrying out surveillance on dangerous insurgents,...
-
Being IRISH in Birmingham during IRA ENGLAND B*mbing Campaign | Dr. Michael Flavin
Send us Fan Mail My guest this week is Dr Michael Flavin, child to Irish parents who grew up in Birmingham, England during the IRA’s bombing campaign in England during the troubles. Michael speaks to us about being a part of the Irish diaspora in England, anti-Irish discrimination at the time as...
-
INNOCENT MAN FRAMED for IRA M*RDER | How Kevin Barry Artt was falsely convicted & Escaped LONG KESH
Send us Fan Mail Dan Lawton’s thrilling new book “The Hunted” explores the story of Kevin Barry Artt and how he was false-convicted of the IRA murder of deputy Maze prison governor, Albert Miles. We speak about the so-called “confession factory” Castlereagh, Long Kesh’s Maze prison, the horrors…
more -
UK's INTEL WAR against the IRA | Derry IRA, Rural Units & Peace Talks | Thomas Leahy
Send us Fan Mail For this episode I’m joined by author and lecturer, Thomas Leahy, whose book “The Intelligence War against the IRA” gives a through and detailed account of Britain’s attempts to disrupt and defeat the IRA by way of intel gathering. We discuss the various methods of intel...
-
TROUBLES-ERA PARA & SAS man tells his story | Belfast RIOTS, South Armagh & more | Harry McCallion
Send us Fan Mail Harry McCallion is an ex-paratrooper and SAS solider who served in the north during some of the troubles’ most violent years. Harry tells us about the brutal training regime they underwent before deployment, his thoughts on the mistakes that the British army made, his views on…
more -
1974 DUBLIN/MONAGHAN B*MBING | Robin Jackson, British Army Involvement & more| David Burke, Author
Send us Fan Mail Author, lawyer and past guest of the show, David Burke reveals a previously unreleased statement from ex-Tara member and close-friend of Robin 'the jackal" Jackson, Charlie Simpson uncovering Jackson and the British Army's involvement in one of the trouble's most heinous attacks....
-
IRA HELICOPTER ESCAPE Mastermind & Portlaoise Jail Break| Brendan Hughes (Tyrone) IRA COMMANDER
Send us Fan Mail Brendan Hughes (not to be confused with the deceased Brendan ‘The Dark” Hughes) shares his truly extraordinary life story, a life shaped by his membership of the East-Tyrone PIRA in the early days of the conflict in the North. Brendan tells us about his time ambushing British...
-
TROUBLES-ERA B*MB DISPOSAL EXPERT | Taking on Belfast's IRA B*MB-MAKERS | Steve Smith, British Army
Send us Fan Mail My guest this week is ex-b*mb disposal man, Steve Smith. Steve worked as a EOD officer in Belfast during the early 80s and worked to rid the city of IRA & Loyalist b*mbs. Steve gives us his insight into the various types of explosives used throughout the conflict, the differences...
-
Ex-TEEN UDA FOOTSOLDIER tells his story | RUC Collusion, Sectarian Violence & Escaping the Conflict | Graham Cousins
Send us Fan Mail Graham Cousins grew up protestant in East Belfast and spent his late-teen years and early 20s in the Ulster Defense Association better known as the UDA, a loyalist paramilitary group formed in the early 70s. He has since become close friends with ex-paramilitaries from the other...
About this show
An interview podcast
Hosted by
John Hadden
Categories