Medieval Murder

Today we're exploring some of the Irish folktales that involve the Irish legends of Finn McCool (or Fionn Mac Cumhaill) and his battle against a giant, among others!

Thank you for listening to Medieval Murder! If you have any listener questions, comments, or topic suggestions please feel free to reach our via our instagram account @MedievalMurder or via email at [email protected]. Also, check out our merch available on our website medievalmurder.org. Tune in later for our next podcast.

The National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin includes stories as told by school children from the 1930s, which demonstrates the enduring tradition of story-telling in Ireland, and also gives us an interesting insight into historical events.

Today we’ll be discussing the Irish Folktale about the Murder of Kellagh and the reference to this story is: “The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0147, Page 184” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Today we’re going to start a series exploring Irish folktales, beginning with the Banshee. 

The word “banshee” comes from the Irish “Bean Sidhe” which has many translations including “Woman of the fairies”, “Lady of death,” and “Woman of sorrow.” 

Banshees haunt the Irish landscape, wailing, screeching, and keening in sorrow. The screeching of the banshee can only be heard at night and is said to foretell the death of a family member if you hear her wail. Banshees have also been known to act as an omen of other tragedies or misfortunes as well. In different folk tales, banshees can be are portrayed in two ways, either as a spirit who mourns the dead and shares the sorrows of the family for whom they are warning or as a hateful creature whose cries are a celebration of suffering.

The National Folklore Collection in Ireland has several stories about banshee’s that have been collected from various sources, mostly from originating from the 1930s. One of these stories was called “The Banshee” and was collected in 1936 in County Wexford as part of an oral history project and it is part of the Main Manuscript Collection.

“The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0193, Page 357” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Welcome to Medieval Murder! Today we are discussing King Brian of Ireland and the Battle of Clontarf in the early medieval period.

If you have any listener questions, comments, or topic suggestions please feel free to reach our via our instagram account @MedievalMurder or via email at [email protected]. Also, check out our merch available on our website medievalmurder.org.

Today we will be talking about the viking raid on Lindisfarne, as well as the history leading up to the raid. Lindisfarne was a small island off of the Northeastern coast of England, which at the time was considered to be part of the kingdom of the Northumbrian king, Oswald. The island became home to Lindisfarne Priory which was founded by St. Aiden at the request of King Oswald, which why the island is now also known as the Holy Island.

Thank you for listening to Medieval Murder! If you have any listener questions, comments, or topic suggestions please feel free to reach our via our instagram account @MedievalMurder or via email at [email protected]. Also, check out our merch available on our website medievalmurder.org. Tune in later for our next podcast.

Egil's Saga is coming to an end. Listen in to hear about his final days of Viking Raids, a gross event after a night of drinking, and Egil's massive talent as a murdering beserker!

Do you like to shimmy? Do you like to boogie? Do you like to dance? If you don’t then today’s episode may not be for you because today we are jumping in and talking about something that may become the thing you fear the most, the Dancing Plague of 1518.

 If you have any listener questions, comments, or topic suggestions please feel free to reach our via our instagram account @MedievalMurder or via email at [email protected]. Also, check out our merch available on our website medievalmurder.org.

Today we will be discussing a medieval massacre that happened in Glastonbury in southwestern England. Unlike our normal format where we dive straight into the story, today I’d like to start with the primary source material surrounding this massacre. The primary source we’ll be using today is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.  The podcast will feature some of the most famous murders in medieval history, some mini-episode series on different types of medieval murders and interviews with historians and history enthusiasts alike. Today we are exploring Egil's Saga Part 8.

If you have any listener questions, comments, or topic suggestions please feel free to reach our via our instagram account @MedievalMurder or via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Also, check out our new merch available on our website medievalmurder.org.

Are you all ready for this year’s Halloween special? This year isn’t as gruesome as years past but will still be chalk full of medieval history. This year we are looking at the history of halloween (with a special emphasis of how the middle ages influenced how we celebrate the holiday today!). We also include some bonus content featuring medieval ghost stories!