Episodes
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119 The Fenians (Part Three)
On this episode of the Irish History Show we have part three of our series on the Fenians. By the late 1890s, the Irish Republican Brotherhood was led by an older, cautious Supreme Council that prioritised self-preservation over direct military action. They officially banned individual...
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118 Charlie Haughey and Garret Fitzgerald
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Dr. Eoin O’Malley to discuss his new book, Charlie vs. Garret – The rivalry that shaped modern Ireland. In the 1980s, Irish politics was dominated by Charlie Haughey’s Fianna Fáil and Garret Fitzgerald’s Fine Gael. The 1980s in Ireland…
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117 The Fenians (Part Two)
On this episode of the Irish History Show we returned to the subject of the Fenians. We traced the movement from the end of the 1867 Rebellion onwards. We covered such subjects as the Amnesty Campaign, the Catalpa rescue, the New Departure, splits in the American movement, the Land War and the...
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116 The Fenians (Part One)
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Fenians. The Fenians were Irish republican revolutionaries that sought to achieve the independence of Ireland from the British Empire in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. The main Fenian organisations were…
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115 The Penal Laws
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Penal Laws in Ireland. The Penal Laws were a series of legal disabilities imposed in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries on the kingdom’s Roman Catholic majority and, to a lesser degree, on Protestant “Dissenters”. Enacted by…
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114 Rory O’Connor
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Gerard Shannon to discuss his new biography of Rory O’Connor. Rory O’Connor was an Irish Republican who was Director of Engineering for the IRA in the Irish War of Independence. O’Connor opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and was...
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113 1917 and Thomas Ashe
On this episode of the Irish History Show, John was joined by Tomás MacConmara to discuss his book Days of Hunger, the Clare Volunteers and the Mountjoy Hunger strike of 1917. The book deals with the events of 1917 culminating in the death of Volunteer leader Thomas Ashe after force feeding while...
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112 The Boer War
On this episode of the Irish History Show we spoke to Dr. Spencer Jones about the Boer War. The Boer War, also known as the Second Boer War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. The…
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111 Clear Hold Build
On this episode of the Irish History Show we spoke to Colonel Gareth Prendergast about his new book, Clear, Hold, Build: How the Free State won the Irish Civil War. He discussed how the National Army defeated the Anti – Treaty IRA using the counter – insurgency tactics of clear, hold and build.…
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110 Leopold Bloom and Albert Altman
On this episode of the Irish History Show we spoke to Professor Neil Davison and Vincent Altman O’Connor about the Irish – Jewish politician Albert L. Altman. We explored the idea that Altman is a possible inspiration for Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Professor Neil...
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109 The Economic War
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Economic War, also known as the Anglo – Irish Trade War. It lasted from 1932 to 1938. When Fianna Fáil were first elected to government in 1932 they refused to continue paying the Land Annuities to the British government. This led to a...
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108 Fascism and the Far Right in Ireland
On this episode off the Irish History Show, we spoke to Dr. Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc about his new book Burn them out! A history of Fascism and the Far Right in Ireland. Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc is an historian from Clare who has a BA in Archaeology from University College Dublin and a PhD in History from...
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107 Elections in Ireland Part 3
On this episode off the Irish History Show, we covered part three of our series on the history of Irish elections. We looked at municipal elections and the reforms of Thomas Drummond, the British Under – Secretary for Ireland. We looked at the evolution of party politics in Ireland in the 19th...
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106 Elections in Ireland Part 2
On this episode off the Irish History Show, we covered part two of our series on the history of Irish elections. We looked at the Protestant Ascendency in the 18th century and the Penal Laws. The contentious 1713 General Election and the riots that took place in Dublin and how the Irish…
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105 Elections in Ireland Part One
On this episode of the Irish History Show we looked at the history of elections in Ireland. Parliament in Medieval Ireland was an event rather than an institution. The earliest known parliament was held in Castledermot in County Kildare and over the years parliament met in different towns and...
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104 Irish Genealogy
On this episode of the Irish History Show we have combined five episodes of a podcast series we made for Timeline Research Ltd. about tracing your Irish ancestors. The series covered topics such as finding out information on relatives who fought in the First World War, housing, using the census…
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103 The Birmingham Six
On this episode of the Irish History Show we looked at the Birmingham Pub Bombings of the 21st of November 1974 and the long campaign for justice for the six men who were wrongfully convicted of these killings. To discuss the Birmingham Six we were joined by two special guests. Chris Mullin is an...
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102 The McMahon Murders
On this episode of the show we looked at the McMahon murders. The murders occurred on 24 March 1922 when six Catholic civilians were shot dead at the home of the McMahon family in Belfast. The victims were businessman Owen McMahon, four of his sons, and one of his employees. Two others were shot...
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101 Gerry Healy and the Workers Revolutionary Party
On this episode of the show we were joined by Dr. Aidan Beatty to discuss his new book The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism published by Pluto Press. Gerry Healy was the Galway born leader of the Socialist Labour League and the Workers Revolutionary...
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100 One Hundredth Episode Special
We have reached a very special milestone on the Irish History Show as this is our 100th episode! We discussed setting up the show and how it has evolved over the years. Our thanks to Near FM for originally broadcasting the show and our special thanks to all the amazing guests we’ve had over the...
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99 The Irish Civil War Fatalities Project
On this episode of the show, we discussed the Irish Civil War Fatalities Project. The Irish Civil War Fatalities Project, supported with funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, seeks to identify all of the conflict-related fatalities in Ireland between…
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98 The Ulster Plantation
On this episode of the Irish History Show we looked at the Plantation of Ulster. The Plantation was the colonisation of Ireland’s northern province of Ulster by people from Britain during the reign of James VI and I. The official plantation began in 1609 in six of Ulster’s nine counties, Donegal,...
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97 The Nine Years War
The Nine Year War in Ireland took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603. The rebellion was led by Hugh O’Neill and Red Hugh O’Donnell and was a response to the Tudor Conquest in Ireland. The rebellion began in Ulster but eventually spread throughout the whole country. There were some significant…
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96 The Desmond Rebellions
The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the FitzGerald dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and their allies, against the threat of the extension of the English…
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95 The 1923 General Election in the Irish Free State
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the 1923 General Election in the Irish Free State. The election for the fourth Dáil was held on the 27th of August 1923. It was the first general election held since the establishment of the Irish Free State on the 6th of December 1922. The...
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94 The Army Mutiny 1924
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Irish Army Mutiny of 1924. In March 1924 about 50 officers of the Free State’s National Army, who were set to be demobilised in the post- Civil War reduction of the Army, seized weapons and abandoned their posts. Led by erstwhile Army...
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93 The Civil War in Kerry and the Terror Month
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Civil War in Kerry. We discussed Kerry during the War of Independence and the situation in the county at the time of the Truce, the reaction to the Anglo – Irish Treaty by the Republican movement and how the Civil War progressed in the...
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92 Liam Lynch
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Gerard Shannon to discuss his new biography of Liam Lynch. During the War of Independence, Liam Lynch was the officer in command of the Cork No. 2 Brigade of the IRA and later commander of the First Southern Division. He opposed the…
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91 Land and Revolution
On this episode of the Irish History Show, John Dorney was joined by Dr. Terry Dunne to discuss the land question and agrarian radicalism during the revolutionary period. Dr. Terry Dunne is a sociologist and historian and was Laois County Historian in Residence in 2021 and 2022. He is the host of...
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90 Irish Civil War Executions
On this episode of the Irish History Show we looked at executions carried out by the Free State government during the Irish Civil War. The executions were made possible by legislation known as the Public Safety Bill, which was passed in the Dail on September 27, 1922. The emergency legislation…
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89 Commemorating the Irish Civil War
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the current commemorations of the Irish Civil War and how it is being remembered 100 years on. We covered: How the Irish Civil War is being commemorated (or not) 100 years on. How the conflict is interpreted today – democrats vs dictators or...
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88 Ireland and Ukraine
In the wake of the February 24, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, much attention has focused on the history of Ukraine. Nadia Dobrianska is a Ukrainian lawyer and human rights activist as well as a scholar of modern Irish history. She is also currently (August 2022) a refugee in Ireland, fleeing...
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87 The Civil War Memory Project
On this episode of the Irish History Show, John Dorney was joined by Dr. Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh to discuss the Civil War Memory Project, an oral history project in association with the National Folklore Collection (UCD), RTÉ and Scratch Films. For many years the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 was a...
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86 The Irish American Mob
On this episode of the Irish History Show John Dorney was joined by John Joe McGinley to discuss the Irish American Mob and orgainised crime from the 19th century onwards. We speak about: the early gangs from the influx of Irish immigration after the Great Famine. The Prohibition era when many...
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85 Ian Paisley
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by journalist and author Ed Moloney to discuss the life of Ian Paisley. Reverend Ian Paisley was the founder of the Free Presbyterian Church and the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party from 1971 to 2008. In 2007 he became the First...
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84 Irish Army Deserters during World War 2
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Cían Harte to discuss Irish Army deserters during the Second World War. When the Second World War began the Irish government declared neutrality. As many neutral European nations were to find out, neutrality was no guarantee to avoiding...
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83 The IRA in Dublin during the War of Independence
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Liz Gillis and James Brady to discuss the IRA in Dublin during the War of Independence. Liz Gillis is an historian and researcher on RTE’s History Show. She is the author of seven books covering the Irish Revolutionary period 1916-23...
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82 Sean Russell
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Gerard Shannon to discuss Seán Russell, the former Chief of Staff of the IRA. Russell continues to be a deeply controversial and divisive figure to the present day and his statue in Fairview Park, near Dublin’s city centre, has been...
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81 The Arms Crisis
On this episode of the Irish History we were joined by Dr. Brian Hanley to discuss one of the biggest political scandals in 20th century Irish history, the Arms Crisis. On the 6th of May 1970 the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, sacked two of his most senior ministers, Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney and...
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80 Partition and the Irish Border
2021 marks 100 years since the creation of Northern Ireland. To discuss this, and the events that led up to the partition of Ireland, we were joined by Dr. Cormac Moore. Cormac is a historian in residence with Dublin City Council. His previous works include The GAA vs. Douglas Hyde, The Irish...
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79 James Hoban – White House Architect
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by the president of the White House Historical Association, Stewart D. McLaurin, to discuss the life of the White House architect, James Hoban. James Hoban was born in 1755 in Kilkenny and trained at the Dublin Society Drawing School in...
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78 Howe Peter Browne 2nd Marquess of Sligo
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Anne Chambers to discuss her book, The Great Leviathan, The life of Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo, 1788 – 1845. His story moves from Westport House in county Mayo to Eton, into the staid family world of King George III at...
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77 Ireland and the Anglo – Zulu War
On this episode of the Irish History Show, we looked at Ireland’s involvement in the Anglo – Zulu War of 1879. We looked at British involvement in South Africa from their formal annexation of the Cape Town Colony in 1806; British immigration into the region throughout the 19th century; The...
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76 Irish Revolutionary Women
On this episode of the Irish History Show, we were joined by Dr. Mary McAuliffe and Liz Gillis to discuss the role of women during the Irish Revolution. We look at the radical political organisations for women in Ireland before the First World; Cumann na mBan; women’s role in 1916, the War of...
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75 Commemorations in 2021
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the upcoming commemorations in 2021 for the Decade of Centenaries. 2021 will mark the centenary of many important events in Irish history such as the Truce, the founding of Northern Ireland and the Anglo – Irish Treaty.
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74 Commemoration & Discontent
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Dr. Laura McAtackney and Dr. Brian Hanley to discuss the controversies surrounding the Decade of Centenaries. Dr. Laura McAtackney is an associate professor in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Aarhus University in...
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73 Tom Barry and the Kilmichael Ambush
On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Kilmichael Ambush. The Kilmichael Ambush occurred on the 28th of November 1920 when a flying column of the IRA, led by Tom Barry, ambushed a company of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The Auxiliaries lost 17…
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72 Kevin Boyle & The Human Rights Movement
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Mike Chinoy to discuss his new book, Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the rise of the Human Rights Movement, published by Lilliput Press. Kevin Boyle was one of the founders of People’s Democracy in Queens University Belfast and was one…
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71 The British Empire, the Middle East and Ireland
On this episode of the Irish History Show, we looked at the Middle East and the Brtish Empire in the period after the First World War. We discussed how the British Empire dealt with their new mandates in the region and how their dealings with these countries compared and contrasted with their...
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70 1917 East Clare By – Election
On this episode of the show we were joined by Dr. Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc to discuss the historic East Clare by – election of 1917. The by – election was held on the 10th of July 1917 following the death of the incumbent MP, Willie Redmond, of the Irish Parliamentary Party. The by – election saw the...
About this show
The Irish History Show is presented and produced by Cathal Brennan and John Dorney. The show looks at many different aspects of Irish history with expert guests from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines.
Hosted by
Cathal Brennan and John Dorney
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