On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Penal Laws in Ireland. The Penal Laws were a series of legal disabilities imposed in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries on the kingdom’s Roman Catholic majority and, to a lesser degree, on Protestant “Dissenters”. Enacted by the Irish Parliament, they secured the Protestant Ascendancy by further concentrating property and public office in the hands of those who, as communicants of the established Church of Ireland, subscribed to the Oath of Supremacy.

The laws were repealed through a series of relief acts beginning in 1771. The last significant disability, the requirement that Members of Parliament take the Oath of Supremacy, was removed in 1829, after Ireland had been incorporated by the 1800 Acts of Union into a United Kingdom with Great Britain.

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Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Gerard Shannon to discuss his new biography of Rory O’Connor.

Rory O’Connor was an Irish Republican who was Director of Engineering for the IRA in the Irish War of Independence. O’Connor opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and was chairman of the Republican military council that became the Anti-Treaty IRA in March 1922. He was the main spokesman for the Republican side in the lead-up to the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in June of that year. On 30 June, O’Connor was taken prisoner at the conclusion of the attack by Free State forces on the Four Courts in Dublin. On 8 December 1922, he was executed along with three other senior members of the IRA Four Courts garrison. All four men were executed without trial or court martial.

Gerard Shannon is a historian from Skerries in Co. Dublin. In 2019 he wrote his MA thesis, for the School of History and Geography in Dublin City University, on Liam Lynch. His biography of Lynch, Liam Lynch: To Declare a Republic, was published in 2023. Gerard has also written numerous articles for the Irish Story website.

We have recently started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show, John was joined by Tomás MacConmara to discuss his book Days of Hunger, the Clare Volunteers and the Mountjoy Hunger strike of 1917.

The book deals with the events of 1917 culminating in the death of Volunteer leader Thomas Ashe after force feeding while on hunger strike.

MacConmara argues that the events of 1917, in particular the death of Ashe, crystalised and ‘gave new meaning’ to the Easter Rising of the year before. What emerged at the end of 1917 was a Republican movement that was ‘more coherent’ more popular and more politically astute than the disparate coalition that had launched the Rising.

Central to this was a form of passive resistance, whereby activists would openly defy the wartime ban on unauthorised military drilling or seditious speeches, get arrested in full view of the public and once imprisoned, hunger strike for political status. This culminated with the death of Thomas Ashe.

Tomás Mac Conmara is an award-winning oral historian and author from County Clare. In 2016, he was commended by President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, as one of seven recipients who have made outstanding contributions to culture over the last 100 years for a Comhaltas Forógra na Cásca Centenary Award. He began documenting oral tradition and folklore in the townland of Ballymalone in east Clare as a teenager and is now recognised as one of the leading oral historians in the country. From 2008 to 2014, he led the foundation and development of Cuimhneamh an Chláir (Memories of Clare) and was also a founding member of the Oral History Network of Ireland. He is also a former County Heritage Officer and in January 2016 was appointed by UCC as Manager of the Cork Folklore Project.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we spoke to Dr. Spencer Jones about the Boer War. The Boer War, also known as the Second Boer War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. The war resulted in the British annexation of the Boer Republics and the creation of the Union of South Africa.

In the show we looked at the background to the conflict, we asked who were the Boers, what were the different stages of the war, the relative military strengths, public opinion in Ireland and Britain during the war, the effects of the war on the civilian population and the long term impact on the British Army.

Dr. Spencer Jones is an award-winning historian and author. He is Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton and serves as the Regimental Historian for the Royal Regiment of Artillery. His key works include From Boer War to World War: Tactical Reform of the British Army 1902-1914 and Stemming the Tide: Officers and Leadership in the British Expeditionary Force 1914, which was runner-up for the Templer Medal in 2014. He has published several critically acclaimed books on the British Army in the First World War including Courage without Glory: The British Army on the Western Front 1915 and At All Costs: The British Army on the Western Front 1916. His most recent volume is The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917. Dr. Jones is also the co-host of the popular First World War podcast Not So Quiet on the Western Front.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we spoke to Colonel Gareth Prendergast about his new book, Clear, Hold, Build: How the Free State won the Irish Civil War.

He discussed how the National Army defeated the Anti – Treaty IRA using the counter – insurgency tactics of clear, hold and build.

Dr Gareth Prendergast is a serving Colonel in the Irish Defence Forces with over 30 years’ service. He has seven operational tours of duty overseas including the Middle East, Balkans and Mali. He has also served in the Military College and Defence Force Headquarter on numerous occasions, including appointments in the Command and Staff School, OIC Military Finance Branch and Director of Logistics. Academically he has a Masters of Military Art and Science from his year spent on the US Army Command and General Staff Course in Fort Leavenworth Kansas and he recently achieved his Doctorate (PhD) after six years study and research in the History Department of UCC.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we spoke to Professor Neil Davison and Vincent Altman O’Connor about the Irish – Jewish politician Albert L. Altman. We explored the idea that Altman is a possible inspiration for Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Professor Neil Davison is a member of the faculty of the School of Writing, Literature and Film at Oregon State University. Professor Davison’s works include James Joyce, “Ulysses,” and the Construction of Jewish Identity; Jewishness and Masculinity from the Modern to the Postmodern and An Irish-Jewish Politician, Joyce’s Dublin, and Ulysses: The Life and Times of Albert L. Altman.

Vincent Altman O’Connor is a civil servant and a descendant of Albert Altman. He has written and lectured on Bloom and Altman.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Economic War, also known as the Anglo – Irish Trade War. It lasted from 1932 to 1938. When Fianna Fáil were first elected to government in 1932 they refused to continue paying the Land Annuities to the British government. This led to a series of retaliatory tariffs from both governments.

The Fianna Fáil government used the dispute as an opportunity to build up domestic manufacturing behind these new tariffs. The economic war led to political instability and violence from sections of Irish society whose livelihoods were damaged by the trade war such as cattle graziers and exporters. It also led to the rise of the Blueshirts.

The Economic War was concluded by the Anglo – Irish Agreement in 1938.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode off the Irish History Show, we spoke to Dr. Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc about his new book Burn them out! A history of Fascism and the Far Right in Ireland.

Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc is an historian from Clare who has a BA in Archaeology from University College Dublin and a PhD in History from the University of Limerick. He has published eight books.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode off the Irish History Show, we covered part three of our series on the history of Irish elections. We looked at municipal elections and the reforms of Thomas Drummond, the British Under – Secretary for Ireland.

We looked at the evolution of party politics in Ireland in the 19th century and the unionist / nationalist divide.

We also looked at the impact of the Reforms Acts and the expansion of the franchise.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode off the Irish History Show, we covered part two of our series on the history of Irish elections. We looked at the Protestant Ascendency in the 18th century and the Penal Laws. The contentious 1713 General Election and the riots that took place in Dublin and how the Irish Parliament lagged behind Westminster in terms of electoral reform.

We looked at party politics in Ireland, the growth of the Patriot movement and the Constitution of 1782.

We looked at the Act of Union and Daniel O’Connell’s famous election to Westminster leading to Catholic Emancipation in 1829.

We have started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.