Irish History Podcast

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.

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/maoilmordha

I am delighted to announce historian Damian Shiels and myself are teaming up to create a new history show called Transatlantic - An Irish American History Podcast.Season 1 starts next Monday September 9th. You can subscribe here. This podcast explains what you can expect to hear in the first ten episodes.I am delighted to finally share this news with you - it been eight months in the making!Most importantly subscribe today and get #ep1 of Transatlantic which it drops next Monday.I also have an update on the 1798 series and i would like your advice on how it should be structured. its all explained in this episode.BestFin

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Ireland adopted a position of neutrality. However, throughout the conflict, senior figures in the United Kingdom and the United States suspected the government in Dublin harboured Nazi sympathies. While the Royal Navy believed German U-boats were refuelling along the West Coast, actions taken by the Irish government only seemed to confirm a view that neutrality masked pro Nazi sympathies. For example when the Taoiseach Eamon de Valera paid a visit of condolence to the German legation on the death of Hitler, in a move that provoked outrage across the globe. This was just one of a catalogue of incidents that seemed to confirm that the Irish government was sympathetic to the Nazis. However at the same time, the Irish government were providing secret aid to the Allies.In this podcast I explore Irish attitudes during the Second World War and whether the Irish government really harboured Nazi sympathies.

In this riveting episode I delve into one of the most intriguing and lesser-known stories of World War II: "The Mystery Nazi Flight to Ireland." On May 5th 1945, a German bomber unexpectedly landed in Ireland, sparking a media frenzy and wild speculation. Newspapers across the globe sensationalized the event, suggesting that Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi officials were on board, seeking refuge as the Third Reich collapse.Recently I visited the military archives to access the Irish Intelligence file on the incident. The plane had three passengers, all in German military uniform. Who were these men, and what led them to undertake such a perilous journey in the dying days of the war?Join me as we uncover the real story behind this mysterious flight, exploring the soldiers' backgrounds, their motivations, and the incredible circumstances that brought them to Ireland.Additional Narrations by Aidan Crowe. Sound by Kate Dunlea.

Portal Tombs are scattered across the Irish countryside. These monuments, around 5,000 years old, have been sites of ritual for millennia. Generation after generation, while spiritual beliefs changed, these ancient sites often remained sacred. In this podcast, I explore two of these tombs to understand how and why these mysterious tombs were built, and why humans return to particular landscapes over thousands of years.

Brehon Law, the ancient legal system that ruled Ireland during the Middle Ages, is often romanticised as egalitarian and even feminist. But, in this riveting episode, Dr. Gillian Kenny shatters these myths. Join us as we delve deep into a world where sex magic and slavery were prevalent, and discover how Brehon Law actually reinforced a patriarchal society.Tune in to this classic episode, originally released over five years ago, for an eye-opening journey through ancient Ireland.

Hi folks, I didn't realize this episode never posted here—it was sitting in drafts for a few months! I am currently working on the final episode in the series on the outbreak of the Troubles, and that will be out in a week or two. I will also have a pretty exciting announcement about the next supporters' series.In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this episode.Bloody Sunday was a defining moment in late 20th-century Irish history. The massacre in Derry in January 1972 was a turning point in the early history of the Troubles.In Part 5 of my exclusive series on the history of the Troubles, Dr. Brian Hanley and I delve into what happened. We begin by exploring the context of the deteriorating situation across the North in late 1971. The episode continues by detailing the events of Bloody Sunday. Brian also explains the dramatic aftermath, including the mass protests that took place across Ireland.