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Irish History Podcast
Shipwrecked: The Story of the Samson
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The story of the Samson is one most bizarre shipwrecks in Irish history.
When this enormous sea crane ship crashed into the Irish coast, it's owners got more than they bargained for.
While an RAF helicopter rescued the crew, a local man battled mountainous seas to climb aboard and claim the ship as his own!
This began a 40 day saga…
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Your Prehistoric Ancestors: More Sophisticated than you think!
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32:54|By the late 1950s, over 20,000 individuals in the Republic of Ireland were confined in asylums—a staggering figure equivalent to 1 in every 133 Irish people at the time. This episode delves into how such a situation arose. Were Irish people inherently more susceptible to mental health issues, or was there something else at play?Centered around a single incident—a murder in Kilkenny in 1890—this episode uncovers how the Great Famine, emigration, and Victorian attitudes toward mental health created a society where anyone deemed to be suffering from mental ill-health was institutionalized.Originally released as Chapter 8 of my Irish Times bestseller, "A Lethal Legacy: A History of Ireland in 18 Murders," this episode marks the release of the book's paperback edition. I'm thrilled to share the audio of one of my favorite chapters with you. While it focuses on a murder, it offers profound insights into past and present attitudes toward mental health in Ireland.If you enjoy this episode, you can get your copy of "A Lethal Legacy" at linktr.ee/alethallegacy.The Dirtiest City in Europe? Why Did Typhoid Thrive in Victorian Dublin?
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34:33|In the 1850s, Portlaw was Ireland's most successful town. The population had grown tenfold in the previous 30 years. The local Cotton Mill, built by the Malcomson Family, provided work for thousands of people. However, by the early 20th century, everything had changed. The Cotton Mill was silent, and many of the houses had been abandoned.This episode explores the story of the Malcomson Family. Once known as the Kings of Cotton, they built one of the most successful business empires in the world in rural Ireland in the space of forty years. Their downfall was no less spectacular. This episode reveals the dramatic rise and fall of the Malcomson dynasty, showcasing their remarkable achievements but also uncovering the dark secrets of a company with controversial work practices that benefited from US slavery.Episode 2 of Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast is out now! You can hear the story of Ann Glover - The Irish Witch of Boston. Listen here.Who was the first Irish person to cross the Atlantic Ocean?
44:29|I am delighted to share the very first episode of Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast. It's a new show I am making with historian Damian Shiels which looks at Irish-American History. It's separate from the Irish History Podcast and Season 1 will be released each Monday. You can subscribe to Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast to get future shows. In this first episode we look at who the first Irish person to reach the Americas was. There are a few intriguing candidates.Was it St. Brendan, the intrepid Irish monk who is said to have voyaged across the Atlantic centuries before Columbus?Could it have been an Irish woman taken captive by Vikings who reached Newfoundland around 1000 AD?Perhaps it was an Irish sailor aboard one of Columbus' ships?Next week I will be back with the Irish History Podcast with a show on the House of Malcomson, a dramatic story about the rise and fall of an Irish dynasty known of the Cotton Kings.Meanwhile the second episode of Transatlantic whcih looks at the Forgotten Irish Witch of Boston comes out next Monday and will be available here https://linktr.ee/transatlanticpod.Resisting Nazi Occupation: Ireland's Forgotten World War II Heroes
41:03|John Keany, Monica de Wichfeld, and Delia Murphy are not well-known figures, yet they are some of the most extraordinary people in modern Irish history. During the Second World War, they found themselves in Nazi-occupied Europe and took extraordinary risks to resist the Nazis. Some paid with their lives.This podcast tells their stories.The episode is based around a conversation with John Morgan and Clodagh Finn. Their new book, The Irish in the Resistance: The Untold Stories of the Ordinary Heroes Who Resisted Hitler, details the lives of Irish people who fought the Nazis. You can find links to the book below.**My big announcement for podcast fans https://linktr.ee/transatlanticpod ** You can buy John & Clodagh’s book https://linktr.ee/irishintheresistanceYou can follow John & Clodagh on Socials Clodagh Insta https://www.instagram.com/clodaghfinnwritesTwitter https://x.com/FinnClodaghJohnInsta https://www.instagram.com/johnm436/Twitter https://x.com/maoilmordhaBig News: Transatlantic - A New Podcast
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