Irish Bard Corner

By William Martin

A record of building my #BridgeToBetter.

Taking a new outlook and path in life for 2020.

Building my #BridgeToBetter

This Podcast is not only a record of my journey but also a celebration of the ma... more

· Society & Culture

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The podcast currently has 35 episodes available.

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January 12, 2020 Dinosaurs Beware, Extinction Beckons:
The people of Northern Ireland should rightly salute Julian Smith and Simon Coveney for their commitment to restoring a political administration at Parliament Buildings.
I was recently struck by a comment I saw online concerning the controversy surrounding the proposed commemoration event for the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police.
Rather than discussing the merits or justification for such an event, the person made, in my view, a much more profound point which should be a wakeup call for both nationalists and unionists in Ireland, both North and South.
They simply stated that if this event can cause the level of furore it appears to have, they dreaded the prospect of discussing arguably more difficult issues such as parading, flags, language etc. in the context of Irish unity.
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14min
January 11, 2020 Modernism Must Not Forget It's Roots
Having read the wonderful article by Kevin Meagher entitled 'All Must Have Prizes’ I must concur with lots of his thinking.
Indeed, as he says so elequently 'Short of planning to ignore the Patron Saint and instead remember the snakes he banished, it’s hard to imagine how the Irish Government could have dropped a more epic political clanger during the past week than in proposing to remember, or ‘commemorate’, the Royal Irish Constabulary.
This ‘decade of centenaries’, concerning the founding of the two Irish states (well, state and statelet) undoubtedly throws up challenges and complications.
But some decisions about what to remember and what to pass over are easier to make than others. Commonsense and political awareness along with a sense of empathy have been, for the most part, sadly lacking.
For Irish Justice Minister, Charlie Flanagan, to seriously suggest a state event to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary, is, one would have imagined, an obvious candidate to place in the ‘let’s not bother’ tray.
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11min
January 09, 2020 Dawn Shoot - By Seamus Heaney
Dawn Shoot' by Seamus Heaney:
A poem about two men, Heaney himself and his friend Donnelly, who go out at the break of dawn determined for a kill. They climb over an iron gate into a large field of broom, dew and gorse. The pair settled on their bellies, hidden behind a bunch of dead plants and awaited the animals return. When a fox came into view, Donnelly put his hand over Heaneys' barrel and told him that he had this one and shot it twice while Heaney finished it off. After they had killed it, they strolled away leaving it lying in the open.
The theme of 'Dawn Shoot' is Man versus Nature, and this is shown throughout the poem in various ways. I hope you like the poem, it's reading and review.
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12min
January 09, 2020 Independence News: Episode 1
Independence News 1920 - January 1st - 7th (S2 -E2)
From our comfortable vantage point 100 years on in present day Ireland it is hard to perceive or realise the destruction and devastation which was witnessed upon Ireland during the War of Independence.
Ordinary people tried to continue their ordinary lives during extraordinary times.
The Irish War of Independence was a guerrilla conflict between the British state and its forces in Ireland and Irish republican guerrillas in the Irish Volunteers or Irish Republican Army. The war is usually said to have run between 1919 and 1921, but violence both preceded these dates and continued afterwards.
Violence intensified in early 1920. Much of the Sinn Fein political leadership had been arrested. Eamon de Valera, the President of the Republic, had gone to America to raise funds. The two leaders of the IRA, Collins and Richard Mulcahy, ordered Volunteer units around the country to raid RIC barracks for arms. Though the Dáil eventually endorsed the IRA’s campaign in 1921, some Sinn Fein figures such as Arthur Griffith disliked the use of violence.
This series of Podcasts curated from archive sources of the time tries to capture the development of the conflict and give an account of its effect on the lives of the citizens of Ireland a century ago.
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14min
January 09, 2020 Guerilla Days In Ireland: Episode 5: Flying Columns
EPISODE 5 – FLYING COLUMNS (S2/E1)
Welcome back to the series of weekly Podcasts on the theme of - Guerrilla Days In Ireland - Recalling the experiences and actions of Tom Barry over the period of the Irish War of Independence. It is wholly based on his personal memoirs which were written down in 1948 and published in 1949.
This week EPISODE 5 – THE FLYING COLUMN
In this episode Tom Barry gives a unique insight into the organisation, dangers, pressures and needs of organising and running Flying Columns. Their unique set-up meant that although not always militarily active they were highly effective in causing huge disruption and fear to the enemy.
I hope you enjoy the Podcast and also book a date to tune in again next week for Episode 6 – The Fight At Toureen
Thankyou for listening to this series of Podcasts. Don’t forget to Give us a Thumbs Up and a Like whichever platform you are listening to us on.
Please share this PROMO and subscribe to The Irish Bard Corner wherever you listen to Podcasts. Follow and like the Podcast and join me on Twitter @IRLBardCorner to get regular updates.
You can also use the unique voice message option to comment, suggest future topics, join in the discussion, make or just to leave us a message.
Once again thankyou and Slan.
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19min
December 21, 2019 Irish Bard Corner (Trailer)
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1min
December 21, 2019 Winter Solstice - The Holly King Versus The Oak King
WINTER SOLSTICE - THE HOLLY KING VS THE OAK KING
‘Things have to get worse before they can get better!'
With each passing day of autumn we lose daylight. However, as the Winter Solstice arrives, the shortest day arrives, and we gain more daylight going forward.
Ancient people, who spent more time outdoors, were acutely aware of this annual ebb and flow of daylight, the two poles of which are the Winter Solstice and its summer counterpart. For the Celts, what we know as Christmas holly trees had a place in their rituals marking these two poles, each of which indicate when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator.
In Celtic mythology the Oak King and the Holly King were twins, pitted against each other in a never-ending fight for supremacy. Oak Tress, sacred to the Celts, lose their leaves, while the Christmas holly trees are evergreen. As cold weather approached, the Celts marveled at how the evergreen Christmas holly trees, hidden amongst the leafy oaks the rest of the year, now stood out prominently on an otherwise barren landscape. The Holly King had won out, as it were, as the incarnations of his twin brother had shed all their leaves and stood naked in defeat.
Every year at the Winter and Summer Solstices, these two fight for dominance. In actuality, these brothers are two parts of the same thing, the waxing and waning of the yearly cycles of the Earth.
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10min
December 21, 2019 CHRISTMAS POEMS
CHRISTMAS POEMS - INTRODUCTION
It is fast approaching Christmas and at Irish Bard Corner preparations are in full swing.
As part of the build up to this festive season
I have chosen three of my favourite Irish Christmas poems to share with you as we go into the final weeks of the Advent season. They are…
“A Christmas Childhood” by Patrick Kavanagh
“Christmas Eve” by Celia and Ruth Duffin
“The Magi” by William Butler Yeats
As we race headlong into the second decade of this century please take the time to sit back relax and Enjoy!
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8min
December 19, 2019 Guerilla Days In Ireland - EPISODE 4 – TRAINING CAMP (S1/E14 )
EPISODE 4 – TRAINING CAMP (S1/E14 )
This episode looks in detail at the need for and the organisation of training for the volunteers of the West Cork Flying Column. Tom Barry gives a unique insight into the dangers, pressures and needs of organising and training a group of men right under the enemy’s nose.
Tom Barry was born in Killorglin, County Kerry, the son of a former RIC officer who had become a shopkeeper. His family moved to County Cork in his youth, and he was educated for a period at Mungret College, County Limerick from 25 August 1911 to 12 September 1912. The reason for his short stay is indicated by a reference from the school register of the Apostolic School, Mungret College, ‘Went – Home (ran away) without knowledge of superiors – no vocation’.
“In June, in my seventeenth year, I had decided to see what this Great War was like. I cannot plead I went on the advice of John Redmond or any other politician, that if we fought for the British we would secure Home Rule for Ireland, nor can I say I understood what Home Rule meant. I was not influenced by the lurid appeal to fight to save Belgium or small nations. I knew nothing about nations, large or small. I went to the war for no other reason than that I wanted to see what war was like, to get a gun, to see new countries and to feel a grown man.”
In 1915, during World War I, he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery at Cork and became a soldier in the British Army. He fought in Mesopotamia (then part of the Ottoman Empire, present day Iraq). He rose to the rank of sergeant. Barry was offered a commission in the Munster Fusiliers but refused it. While outside Kut-el-Amara Barry first heard of the Easter Rising.
On his return to Cork he was involved with ex-servicemen’s organisations. In 1920, Barry joined the 3rd (West) Cork Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) which was then engaged in the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). He was involved in brigade council meetings, was brigade-training officer, flying column commander, was consulted by IRA General Headquarters Staff (GHQ), and also participated in the formation of the IRA First Southern Division. The West Cork Brigade became famous for its discipline, efficiency and bravery, and Barry garnered a reputation as the most brilliant field commander of the war.
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21min
December 18, 2019 Guerilla Days In Ireland - Episode 4 - Training Camp
Looking in detail at the need for and the organisation of training for the volunteers of the West Cork Flying Column.
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1min

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Irish Bard Corner

FAQs about Irish Bard Corner:

How many episodes does Irish Bard Corner have?

Irish Bard Corner episodes:

FAQs about Irish Bard Corner:

How many episodes does Irish Bard Corner have?