Bittersweet, an impressionistic radio documentary on the rise and fall of Carlow Sugar Factory by Marc-Ivan O'Gorman featuring interviews with previous employees and Carlow people as they speak to their memory and feeling on the beloved local industry.

Bittersweet 

Contributors:

Dermot Mulligan
Myles Carsons 

Tom Clowry

Paul Doogue

Loretto Kenny

Pat McCarthy

Joe McDonald 

Douglas Murray

John O'Donovan

Eamon Sunderland

The Voice of Bhearu: Beatrix Herriott O’Gorman

Produced and edited by Marc-Ivan O’Gorman

Music by The Spinning Boy

Mixed by David Ayers

Thanks to John Shortall, John O’Gorman and Christopher Power

This project received support from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and was produced on behalf of the Carlow County Council Commemorations Committee.

Even though Carlow and the surrounding counties were sometimes called the ‘Quiet Counties’ during the War of Independence, Carlow and Carlow people have been central to Ireland’s struggle for Liberty across the centuries. Not only do the history books testify to the actions of people like Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne, Kevin Barry, Thomas Traynor, Michael O’Hanrahan, Michael Fay, Tom Kehoe, Miley Carroll, Jim O’Toole, and others, but the songs and poems of the Oral Tradition also confirm the strong engagement of the Carlow folk imagination with the struggle for Liberty.

Carlow and its people have been deeply involved in the long struggle for Liberty. This struggle and its formative effect on the minds of our young people is explored in this podcast.

The research and essay were conducted by Dave Barron; the musical direction was arranged by Ollie Hennessy and recorded by Shaun Hennessy.

Adam Kane is a BA Hons. Graduate of Carlow College, and is currently engaged in further study in the History Department at Trinity College. In this podcast, with Carlow Libraries’ John O’Gorman, Adam discusses the findings of his study of the R.I.C. in the county, and how it compared with others, namely Kilkenny and Cork. The role of, and attitudes to, the force prior to the commencement of hostilities in 1919 will be examined, and Adam will outline how, and why, these roles and attitudes changed. Also mentioned is the topic of the scholarship of the R.I.C., especially in recent years, and the issues that still demand further study and reflection.

This episode forms part of the Carlow County Council’s Decade of Centenaries Podcast Series, which is presented by Carlow Libraries, Carlow County Museum, Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society, Carlow College, St. Patrick’s, Carlow County Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The Decade of Centenaries initiative is tasked with co-ordinating state commemorations for the period 1913 – 1923.

This episode focuses on the podcast series created by Fin Dwyer, the creator of the Irish History Podcast. He is an archaeologist, historian, author and podcaster, who in 2010 established the podcast which has grown to be amongst the most popular of its kind in the country. He is also the author of two books on Medieval Ireland.

In 2021/22 the Irish History Podcast presented a series examining the events of the Irish War of Independence, which took an over-all look at events throughout the island. In conversation with Carlow Libraries’ John O’Gorman, Fin first explains how his podcast came about, and how and where he drew inspiration for it. The place of the history podcast in 21st Century historiography is also examined. Finally the issue of “Podcasting the Revolution” is discussed, and Fin explains how he set about tackling such a mammoth event in Irish history, some themes that he found particularly interesting, and some events and characters that especially stood out for him.