Irish History Podcast

Every November, the Royal British Legion organises remembrance ceremonies and millions of people wear red poppies. Often portrayed as a way to remember the dead of the World Wars, these commemorations have a far more complicated history in Ireland and Britain. They have been contested since their inception.

In the 1920s, remembrance ceremonies in Dublin became a focus for unionist demonstrations after independence, provoking considerable unrest. During the Troubles, commemorations honouring the British armed forces became contentious in new ways given the British Army’s role in the conflict in the North.

In this episode, historian Brian Hanley joins me to explore the contentious history of the poppy and Remembrance Day in Ireland. From British Army veterans and clashes over commemoration in the 1920s to the central place of the Somme in modern loyalism we explore what these ceremonies and commemoration are for.

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

Footage of Armistice Day in Dublin in 1925 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0FHpoGGMZc

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On Christmas Day 1929, postman Larry Griffin disappeared from Stradbally, Co. Waterford. His bicycle was found abandoned outside the village. While evidence suggested his disappearance was suspicious, the case became an enduring mystery.

In this episode, I’m joined by Fachtna Ó Drisceoil, author of The Missing Postman: What Really Happened to Larry Griffin?, to explore a case that became a national scandal. From an illicit Christmas party to a troubled Garda investigation, dramatic arrests and retracted testimony, the story challenges the often idealised image of village life in post-independence Ireland.

At its heart lies an unsettling question: what happens when a close-knit community closes ranks, leaving a family without answers?

Get you copy of the book https://www.mercierpress.ie/books/the-missing-postman/

My guest is Fachtna O Drisceoil. Fachtna is a broadcaster and writer working in both Irish and English. He has presented and reported on television series such as Scannal, Léargas, and CSÍ, and has produced radio programmes such as Tonight with Vincent Browne, The Dave Fanning Show and Drivetime. He has contributed radio essays to the popular Sunday Miscellany programme and is a frequent contributor to Irish language publications such as Tuairisc.ie, Comhar and Scéal in the Irish Times and Irish Examiner. He currently presents the Tús Áite drivetime news and current affairs programme every weekday on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. The Missing Postman was an Irish non-fiction bestseller when it was published in 2011. He lives with his wife and two sons in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

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Childhood in the past was hard, but how children were treated and what their lives were truly like is often left out of Irish history.

In this episode historian Frank Hopkins joins me to look at the darkest corners of childhood in 18th and 19th century Ireland: the boys sold to master chimney sweeps, the trade in stolen children's clothes and the poverty that could lead to infanticde. 

We explore how children were viewed Irish society, why people sold and bought children, how the courts treated child criminals as adults and how reformers eventually won the 1875 ban on child sweeps. 

Content warning: not suitable for younger listeners. This episode contains references to violence against children and sexual violence. 

Sound by Kate Dunlea

You can get Frank's latest book, A Motley Crew, at https://www.newisland.ie/shop/p/a-motley-crew-true-tales-from-irelands-criminal-past

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In the late 1960s, the Provisional IRA and what became modern Sinn Féin emerged from a bitter split in the Irish republican movement. This split would shape not only the Troubles but also Irish politics down to the present day.

However, for the last five decades, the story of how and why that split occurred has been clouded by enduring conspiracy theories.

The most prominent of these claims that the Irish government in Dublin orchestrated the split to create a more conservative force in the Provisional IRA and neutralise left-wing republicanism. Many opponents of the Provisionals in the rival Left Wing Official IRA understood these events through this lens. 

Meanwhile, unionists believed the Provisionals had been created by politicians in Dublin in the hope of destabilising the Northern state. The theory also found adherents among the political enemies of Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney, two politicians whose actions lie at the heart of these claims.

Yet the history of those fateful years tells a different story: one of uncertainty and desperation. Conspiratorial interpretations also overlook how politicians in later decades were happy to court such understandings to suit their own ends. In this episode, I am joined by Dr Brian Hanley to thrash out what happened in late 1969 and 1970 and why the IRA split. We discuss where conspiracy theories come from, why they are more common than we might imagine and what purpose they serve. We then explore how the Provisional IRA emerged and became the dominant force in Irish republicanism.

The picture that emerges is far from straightforward and at times, disquieting. Rather than being controlled by a handful of people, events sometimes seemed to gather a momentum of their own. There were many forces at play, but no hidden hand at work.

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

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The 18th century was a golden age of Irish smuggling. It's estimated that as many as one third of all luxury goods entering Ireland were brought in by smugglers. Far from being a fringe activity, smuggling was woven into the wider economy and remarkably was often a community enterprise with entire villages involved. It's very different than we imagine: while perhaps less glamorous, it was far more lucrative and important to the Irish economy. In this episode I'm joined by historian James Doherty to explore why smuggling boomed in the 18th century, who was involved and why entire communities along the Irish coast got in on the act.

My guest James Doherty is a historian based in Waterford with interests in Military History and the history of smuggling in Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Sound by Kate Dunlea

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On 26 August 1940, two German aircraft crossed the coast of County Wexford and flew towards the small village of Campile. One aircraft dropped bombs near Ambrosetown, while the other attacked the tiny village of Campile a few miles further east. Three women, Mary Ellen Kent, Catherine Kent and Kathleen Hurley were killed. 

The bombing shattered the belief that Ireland’s neutrality could protect it from the Second World War. It also ignited a debate that has lasted for decades: Was the attack intentional or were the pilots lost? While politicians attempted to reduce tensions, investigations by An Garda Síochána and Irish Military Intelligence reached disturbing conclusions. 

They believed Campile had been deliberately targeted by the Nazis. In this episode I explore what happened. I also explore why Irish Military Intelligence were convinced the Nazis intentionally bombed this tiny Irish village at the height of the Battle of Britain and what it purpose it served. 

Written, researched and presented by: Fin Dwyer

Sound: Kate Dunlea

Additional narration: Aidan Crowe and Therese Murray

Further Reading and Listening:

The Campile Bombing, August 26th, 1940, Horeswood Historical Society. This detailed local history includes eyewitness accounts, photographs and primary material relating to the attack. 

Michael Kennedy, Guarding Neutral Ireland: The Coast Watching Service and Military Intelligence, 1939–1945. 

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On 7 May 1915, the passenger liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off the coast of County Cork. The enormous ship sank in just 18 minutes, killing over one thousands people.

The sinking became one of the most controversial events of the First World War, provoking questions that remains the source of debate today. 

Why did the Lusitania sink so quickly? What caused the second explosion reported by survivors? How much ammunition and war material was the ship carrying? Did this cargo make the ship a legitimate military target or was the attack a crime against civilians?

In this episode, I am joined by Shannon Forde, manager of the Lusitania Museum and Old Head Signal Tower in Kinsale. We discuss the history of the famous ocean liner, how it compared with the Titanic, the events of its final voyage and the experiences of those caught up in the disaster. We also examine the enduring controversies surrounding the sinking, from the Lusitania’s cargo to the actions of the German submarine and the British authorities.

Support the Irish History Podcast at patreon.com/irishpodcast

The Lusitania Museum & Old Head Signal Tower is open 10am – 5pm 7 days a week from March to October. https://www.oldheadofkinsale.com

I will have more detail on the supporters tour mentioned in the episode later in the week!

Sound by Kate Dunlea

My Guest is Shannon Forde. Shannon is a native of Kinsale, County Cork. She completed a MA in Irish History in Maynooth University, and has worked in Charles Fort, Kinsale and as a Heritage Specialist with Cork County Council. She researched and authored a local history book on the War of Independence in Kinsale. Shannon has been the Manager of the Lusitania Museum & Old Head Signal Tower since 2022 – which is a non profit community project at the Old Head of Kinsale. In 2025 she authored a book detailing the story of this community project from restoring a derelict Napoleonic signal tower to plans for a dedicated Lusitania Museum onsite.

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Every year, fragments of long-lost ships wash ashore on Irish beaches. They are remnants of the thousands of shipwrecks scattered around our coast, dating from Prehistory to the Second World War. Each wreck has a fascinating story from how they went down to their rediscovery often centuries later. 

In this episode, I speak with Dublin Port Heritage Director Lar Joye at a new exhibition exploring the shipwrecks of Dublin Bay. Our conversation explores several disasters including the famous cases of the Leinster, the Dorset and the Tayleur.

We discuss the stories behind these ships, why shipwrecks were so common in the past and why fragments of wrecks continue to wash ashore today.  

Visit the exhibition: https://www.dublinport.ie/shipwrecks-of-dubln-bay-exhibition-at-the-substation/ 

Upcoming events at the Substation:https://www.dublinport.ie/heritage-week/ 

My guest, Lar Joye, has served as Port Heritage Director at Dublin Port since 2017. He cares for the 300-year-old Port Archive and leads projects reconnecting the working port with the city through heritage, culture and public access. Before joining Dublin Port, Lar worked as a film archivist and as Curator of Irish Military History at the National Museum of Ireland. There he led the team behind the award-winning Soldiers & Chiefs exhibition which explores the history of Irish soldiers at home and abroad from 1550 to the present.  

Sound: Kate Dunlea 

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In 1922, Ireland gained its independence. The new state promised to revive the Irish language. A century later, English still dominates daily life. What went wrong?

In this episode, I speak to John Walsh of the University of Galway, author of One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022, about why a movement that had real momentum in the years before independence stalled in the decades that followed.

John traces the high ambition and lofty ideals to the failed policies of successive Irish governments. He also reveals how at times outright hostility to the language within the political establishment emerged in the later 20th century with devastating consequences. The episode also looks at the very different experience of the language in the Northern State, where the unionist government treated Irish as a threat.

Support the show at www.patreon.com/irishpodcast

If you want to find out more

Find out more about John and his work: https://research.universityofgalway.ie/en/persons/john-walsh/

To find out more about this subject, check out John's book One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022 https://www.peterlang.com/document/1248601

Check out this episode with Dr Nicholas Wolf on why the Irish language went into decline in the 18th and 19th century. https://shows.acast.com/irishhistory/episodes/the-irish-language-why-ireland-became-english-speaking

John's forthcoming book Ar Lámh Shábhála? Coimisiún na Gaeltachta 1926 will be published by Cló Iar-Chonnacht this autumn https://cic.ie/

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

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In the 1920s, the newly established Irish Free State embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in its history: the Shannon Scheme at Ardnacrusha.

This was a state-of-the-art hydroelectric plant that paved the way for the electrification of Irish society. The scheme developed an almost mythic reputation, becoming a powerful symbol of independence, progress and modernisation.

But behind the concrete and turbines was a darker story. Thousands of poorly paid labourers worked in brutal conditions, dozens were killed and hundreds suffered life-changing injuries. Many were left in poverty while Irish society celebrated their achievements. In this episode, I explore both sides of the Shannon Scheme: the remarkable project that helped transform Ireland, but also the terrible human cost that was largely written out of our history.

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

Support my work patreon.com/irishpodcast

if you want to read more check out High Tension: Life on the Shannon Scheme https://www.abebooks.com/9781843510611/High-Tension-Life-Shannon-Scheme-1843510618/plp

Andy Bielenberg's The Shannon Scheme and the Electrification of the Irish Free State is a good overview of the project. A Digital copy is also available on the E.S.B. Archives website for free https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/the-shannon-scheme.pdf

Maurice Manning & More McDowell's History of the Electricity Supply Board is also a useful read and a digital copy is also available on the ESB Archive for free. https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/the-history-of-the-esb.pdf

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