Christy Wright is a sprightly 83 year old - volunteering with Milltownpass Tidy Towns, we met when the Bog Bothy, that wonderful yellow and blue bog Tardis landed in Milltownpass Bog for May and June 2026, and we recorded some stories with local people in the Bog Bothy. Christy shared a little of his own story growing up and living in Milltownpass, and working on the bog. Indeed he had just been out cutting and saving turf the week before we met - getting ready for the winter. It's culture, it's habit, for Christy cutting and bringing home turf is just part of the flow of the year and it's kept him fit in his old age. Listen to Where the Curlew Calls for a slice of Westmeath life.

Marie Gilmore, Guide Galway's Living Bog by Tóchar Stories

Mike Kelly - Kilteevan Pod Mix (No VO) by Tóchar Stories

RickyWhelan(w:Music)V2_020626_wav_GK by Tóchar Stories

Marie Gilmore - Galway Pod Mix by Athena Media

Tommy Murray is a writer and play writer living in Roscommon Town but he grew up around Kilteevan bogs and Lanesborough Co Longford where his father was the very well-known blacksmith.

Anne Coffey has been working in Coffey's Drapery Store all her life and she took over the running of the business from her late father. He set it up in 1947 when the Bord na Móna peat harvesting industry was taking off and like many retailers and businesses in the town the shop thrived as Kilcormac thrived. Today Bord na Móna has stopped harvesting the bogs as a fossil fuel and has switched to both bog restoration and renewable energy but the suddenness of that transition has been hard for places like Kilcormac. On September 25th Tóchar Stories co-hosted a community storytelling event with Kilcormac Development Association called 'Sharing our Past, Imagining our Future' and we talked to some of the locals there - including Anne- about their sense of place and belonging.

Rachel's Butterwort by Athena Media

Gerry Rush Reads The Old Bog by Athena Media

The Panti Personals S2 E 8 - Xona

To close Season 2 of The Panti Personals we've a man that Panti Bliss can look up to, even while wearing high heels! It's 6 foot 7" Afro Irish soul singer and songwriter Xona - aka Jordan Onubogu. Xona was born in Lagos but calls Mullingar home, and has now made London his address. He tells the story of how he changed his name to his middle name Jordan, when he came as a ten year old to Ireland and started school. Then, he wanted to fit in and be the same as all the other children but today, as a confident Black Irish performing artist, he has returned to using his birth name. Xona shares with love the story of how his mother, a single mum, made sacrifices and worked hard to make a better life for her children in Ireland. He talks of the challenges too of being the gay kid in a church based Nigerian Irish community and both Panti Bliss and Xona swap their 'coming out' stories.

Xona, accompanied by the gorgeous farmer/musician Colm Conlan, performs two of his songs live for the Queen - 'This Could Be Us' and 'Slow Dancing' both from his recent EP 'In My Head' and you hear the EP version of the title song during the show when he shares his story of writting the album during the pandemic.

To find out more follow Xona on twitter https://twitter.com/xonatheartist

Transcript: https://www.happyscribe.com/transcriptions/f9605b61c5164697975696ef1ddb2165/edit_v2?share_code=3a8e06689ededc3f7ab8

The Panti Personals is an independent podcast produced by Athena Media, made by Helen Shaw and John Howard with additional research by Dara Shaw.

Our theme music is Knots by Lisa Hannigan - used with her kind permission.

To find all the shows, and see videos of the performances, go to www.pantisocracy.ie