Tim McGarry has become a familiar face on our tv screens over the last 20 years or more.

He is perhaps best-known for his role as a fictional Sinn Fein spokesman ‘Da’ in the evergreen comedy series ‘Give My Head Peace’.

These days he might best be described as a comedian, actor, broadcaster, and as his Wikipedia page points out, a fan of Cliftonville Football Club…

Having said all that, I haven’t invited Tim onto the Historical Belfast Podcast merely for the sake of it. His work, at times, has strayed into the field of history. More recently, a radio series titled ‘The Long And The Short of It’ has been investigating complex matters of Irish history from different perspectives.

In previous years I’ve seen him do a stand-up show on the events of 1916 as well as a hilarious overview of Irish history called ‘Tim McGarry’s Irish History Lesson’…

And so, when I thought about Tim, and how he engages with history, it intrigued me. At times he uses his comedy to confront contentious issues from our past and he seemingly gets away with it where others might not.

In this episode you’ll hear from someone who is extremely well-read in their history, instilled during his younger years at a Christian Brothers School and then at St Malachy’s College, itself steeped in history. Tim is endlessly witty and open minded about history and identity, but more importantly he’s an all-round good guy. 

Don’t forget to listen to the previous 8 episodes of the Historical Belfast Podcast. You can subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your content and this will ensure that you never miss an episode. But for now, I hope you enjoy Episode 9, I’m calling it 'The Famine’s Not Funny' with Tim McGarry, and I started off by asking him to describe his relationship with history…

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